Norfolk Lady Tales

[Lulu]

Can’t think of a better way to spend a birthday onboard. Happy Birthday! 

[ExSurveyor]

Happy birthday .

[Timbo]

Happy Birthday!

[Maxwellian]

Happy Birthday. It that 65 or 65 again 

[Guest]

Happy Birthday Malcolm. 

[Smoggy]

32 minutes ago, Maxwellian said:

Happy Birthday. It that 65 or 65 again 

65 +vat?

[Mouldy]

3 hours ago, Maxwellian said:

Happy Birthday. It that 65 or 65 again 

Oooooooh!!  That hurt!!  Seriously though, it’s 65.  It’s just a number at the end of the day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . quite a big number, but I’m grateful to have achieved it.

[ranworthbreeze]

Happy Birthday Malcolm.

 

[YnysMon]

Happy birthday Malcolm. Glad it was a good one. 

Good thing you intended heading back on Wednesday, the weather today is atrocious. At least it is in not-at-all-sunny Anglesey. The wind is battering strength and the rain lashing down. 

[Mouldy]

36 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

 . . . .Good thing you intended heading back on Wednesday, the weather today is atrocious. At least it is in not-at-all-sunny Anglesey. The wind is battering strength and the rain lashing down. 

Not quite that bad here, Helen, but it’s been a cool, grey day with a breeze building this afternoon and a few showers.  Sort of April weather really .  Shame it’s late May!!  Never mind, summers coming!! 😁

[DAVIDH]

It's not very nice here either. I'm tied up at Potter Heigham and the wind is blowing strong across the fields, and pushing Goosander away from the bank. Better than pushing onto the bank you might say, but the sound of the ropes groaning is quite something. Tomorrow it's forecasting 40+ mph winds. Not looking forward to that, or trying to get back to our mooring, which is much like backing into a garage, but with the added joy of gusts of up to 50mph. 

[SwanR]

Happy Birthday Malcolm. Sounds like it’s mostly been a good few days. And it will be nice to have that shorter journey home when you decide to go. Lovely photos again. 👍

[Mouldy]

Thanks all, for the birthday greetings.  Despite the weather’s best efforts, it was a good day.

We woke on Wednesday morning to the sound of rain falling on the roof of the boat, which put paid to my hopes of getting the drone up again.  Deb took Harley for a short walk, short because the dog was not appreciative of the weather, so did her business and came back to the boat!!  To be fair, I don’t blame her - it wasn’t nice.

We had some toast and marmalade for breakfast and set off for the yard.  With the weather forecast to get worse (!) during the day, with thunder and lightning promised, there seemed little point in extending our stay.  We took it in turns to shower on the way back to Brundall.

There we’re a few craft on the river, but as expected it was much quieter than ‘up north.’  The journey back took about two and a half hours and with Norfolk Lady safely tied up in her berth, we started to pack away our bits and pieces, taking the opportunity between showers to transfer our bags to the car.

I needed a couple of bits from Brian Ward.  Them being closed on Saturdays since the beginning of the pandemic has saved me money, but they were open and I was there.  Relieved of the best part of £100 (got off lightly this time), I wandered back to the boat.

We had some lunch, vacuumed through, turned off what needed to be turned off, locked up and set off for home.  All being well, we’ll be back for the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of next week.

I wonder if the weather will improve by then?

[Cal]

Of course the weather will be better by then. We are out in the van for a few days 

 

It is getting the rain in now while we are stuck at home and not going anywhere this weekend 

[addicted]

If we could just find the right boat for us we would definitely be spending the weekend on board whatever the weather. Bank holiday Monday sees me with yet another birthday dammit. Still the alternative is no great shakes either I suppose.

 

Carole

[Mouldy]

So I've finally been able to render the images taken at Fleet Dyke on Sunday evening to a format that will upload to the Forum.  Here are a few.

 

[YnysMon]

Wonderful photos Malcolm. Especially the wildlife ones. I think my favourite is the swan.

[grendel]

well worth the wait

 

[Ray]

Belated Happy Birthday, lovely photos.

Is Norfolk Lady a Broom 29? 

[Mouldy]

8 minutes ago, Ray said:

 . . . . . . . Is Norfolk Lady a Broom 29? 

Yes, she is.  Am I to understand from your post on another thread that you have put in an offer on the one at Swancraft? 😉

[Ray]

I have indeed, offer accepted, deposit paid, river trial enjoyed and now just awaiting a survey.

We were very impressed, just what we are looking for.

How do you get on with the air draft, apart from the obvious bridges which we couldn't get under anyway with our DC30

[Broads01]

I've enjoyed your write up and photos once again, Malcolm. Thanks for sharing.

[Mouldy]

7 hours ago, Ray said:

How do you get on with the air draft, apart from the obvious bridges which we couldn't get under anyway with our DC30

No real issues.  Obviously, we are conscious of the airdraft and plan journeys accordingly.  If you are still going to moor where you used to with your previous craft and intend to cruise during the winter, Ludham may present a problem and it would be good to get used to the inaccuracies with the height markers at the bridge.  However, the extra height at the helm, does give a much better view over the reeds, to the surrounding scenery than with your previous boat and although it won’t have the same character, will be far easier to maintain without the woodwork.

That said, we find ours to be comfortable, practical and easy to handle, although we don’t have the luxury of a bow thruster.   As you are aware, we moor at Swancraft (and may have seen you go on your river trial on Wednesday, if that was when you were there).

I wouldn’t imagine that there will be any issues with the survey.  The previous owners were proud of their boat and kept her in good order and you can rest assured that any work Paul did on her will be of the highest standard.  We consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate to have stumbled across a vacant berth at his yard, when we bought Norfolk Lady, as we have had a few issues which needed his knowledge and skill to resolve.

Good luck with her.  We always keep an eye open for similar craft when out on the rivers and at least we know who will be at the helm when we see yours!!

[Ray]

Thank you, you have confirmed pretty much everything we hoped and planned for with her.

We knew almost the minute we saw her, although our previous boat was lovely it was time to pass on the baton of looking after her.

It was us there on Wednesday! I can see why you love mooring there. Paul is great, a really nice guy and he was incredibly helpful and patient, a pleasure to deal with.

We will be taking her back to our home mooring at Sutton Staithe, Rob the owner is another of the good guys and has gone out of his way to help us many times, a good friend!

Sorry to have hijacked your thread a little, hopefully one day you'll be able to post a photo of our boats moored up and looking like reflections of each other. We will certainly be looking out for you 👍

[Mouldy]

No tale at the moment, just photos.  Couldn’t resist on such a beautiful morning!