Norfolk Lady Tales

[Mouldy]

8 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Those shepherds pies sounded tasty Malcolm. Are you getting all cheffy during your retirement? . . . . . . .

I wouldn’t say cheffy, but as Deb is still working and I’m not, I have a bit more time to be involved in the kitchen, especially as some of her WeightWatchers recipes need time to prepare (last nights shepherds pies not being one of them!!).

[Mouldy]

Well, what a change in the weather overnight.  Having reached an age when a very early morning visit to the loo for an old man pee has become the norm, I settled back in bed and listened to the sound of rain rattling off the roof!    That’ll teach me for spending an hour or so hitting the stainless steel with a tube of Solvol yesterday!  I eventually drifted off to sleep and woke this morning to more rain.

It left off long enough for Deb to take Harley for a walk, but has been on and off since, but the sky is grey and dark and my Willy Weather app says it’ll be like that until the afternoon.  Time to take Norfolk Lady back to the yard, pack and go home for what will be, I’m sure, a testing week.

At least there is the promise of a week in Cornwall to look forward to and we have a plan for an extended break back on The Broads in July, before the school holidays start.

A couple of photos from between periods of precipitation earlier.

 

[MargeandParge]

Wonderful photos. Just once for a pee, I normally get to the destination and think why am I here get back to bed and then it dawns on me so I have to get up again to settle the problem.

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge

[Broads01]

I love the last photo, Malcom. It makes me want to be there. I've made daytime stops at Langley Dyke but not overnighted for many years. I shall have to put that right.

[Mouldy]

Back onboard Norfolk Lady for the weekend and strangely enough, moored at Langley Dyke again.  Only passed two hire boats on the way from Brundall and just three private craft moored at the BA moorings here.  Bliss!

[Bytheriver]

7 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Back onboard Norfolk Lady for the weekend and strangely enough, moored at Langley Dyke again.  Only passed two hire boats on the way from Brundall and just three private craft moored at the BA moorings here.  Bliss!

 

[Bytheriver]

Been pretty quiet hire craft wise on the South Rivers since early in the week - suspect poor crossing times from the North 

[Mouldy]

After a promising, sunny start to the day today, it stated to cloud over and by the time we arrived at Pyes Mill, there were few breaks in the cloud cover.  Not only was it cloudy, but the wind had got up and there was definitely a strong breeze blowing.  I later discovered that it was bad enough for the BA to close Breydon to hire craft.  We had some lunch before wandering into the village to pick up a couple of bits from the Co-Op and returned to the boat via the footpath from the back of the cemetery.

For a time, the sky looked quite threatening, with some dark grey clouds, but fortunately the rain held off and we were able to try out our newly acquired Cobb oven.  Pork belly, corn on the cob and jacket potatoes were on the menu and we were very happy with our first attempt at cooking with it!  It will certainly be getting some use when we return to the boat a week tomorrow for two weeks, when we hope to cross Breydon and spend some time on the northern rivers, which we are really looking forward to.  Hopefully the opportunity will arise to meet up with a few other Forum members whilst there!

Its currently quite a pleasant evening.  The wind has dropped and we’re sitting in the aft cockpit, drinking in the peace, quiet and fermented grape juice!  This is the life!

[SwanR]

Loving your photos as usual. It certainly has been a breezy day, more so than I thought was in the forecast. I saw that Breydon had been closed for a few hours to hire craft. Must have been a bit choppy out there.

[YnysMon]

I see you managed to bag your favourite Pye’s Mill mooring. Looks idyllic.

I hadn’t realised there were strong winds today, so surprised at Breydon being closed to hirers. Is that a new, more cautious policy? 

[Mouldy]

12 minutes ago, SwanR said:

I saw that Breydon had been closed for a few hours to hire craft. Must have been a bit choppy out there.

Certainly was.  It’s not often that I’ve seen white horses on The Chet!!

10 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

I see you managed to bag your favourite Pye’s Mill mooring. Looks idyllic.

I hadn’t realised there were strong winds today, so surprised at Breydon being closed to hirers. Is that a new, more cautious policy? 

We usually prefer to be a bit further away from the car park, but I think there’s an unofficial meet going on.  The crews of about five or six craft moored are sitting together and had a big barbecue a while ago.  A few of the more hardy ones are still sitting together, enjoying some banter and a few drinks, but fortunately they’re quite civilised and not causing any nuisance.

As for Breydon, I think the attitude now is to err on the side of caution if it’s thought to be too windy.  It was still open to private craft, just closed to hirers.

[Mouldy]

So back to base this morning to give the old girl a bit of tlc in preparation for our extended break away starting next Sunday.  She comes up quite well with a compound and wax!  Hoping to cross Breydon on Sunday afternoon, after that we have no real plans, aside from calling in to Horning Pleasurecraft to fit a fender basket to Moonlight Shadow on Friday afternoon before Helen starts her next week on board.

 

[Ray]

Beautiful job Malcolm, which compound and polish do you use? I was planning to do Keleka in the autumn but the gel coat looks like tree sap or something has got on her and it looks a mess.

[Mouldy]

25 minutes ago, Ray said:

Beautiful job Malcolm, which compound and polish do you use? I was planning to do Keleka in the autumn but the gel coat looks like tree sap or something has got on her and it looks a mess.

I use Menzerna Heavy Cut Compound:

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/menzerna-heavy-cut-compound-400

with a dual action polisher and a heavy cut microfibre pad, followed by a coat of August Race Smooth Opacity Wax

https://august-race.com/collections/for-yachts/products/smooth-opacity-polish-uv

It’s quite hard work but the results are worth it!

The compound is essentially for cars, but is fine to use on gel coat.  If it’s not badly faded, you might get away with this:

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/menzerna-one-step-polish-3-in-1
followed by a coat of wax.

[Mouldy]

Well, we spent today visiting family in Milton Keynes and Northampton.  We’re making the relatively short journey to Brundall tomorrow morning to start a two week break on Norfolk Lady.  All being well, we should be across Breydon and somewhere on the northern rivers by tomorrow evening.  We’ve no itinerary planned, just a few places we want to visit and with the promise of at least a few days of good weather in prospect, it’s fair to see that we’re keen to get going.

[YnysMon]

Have a good time!

 

[Mouldy]

Sunday 10th July

We we’re up early, showered dressed and had the car loaded and ready to leave our bungalow by just after 08:00.  About 45 minutes later, we pulled up at the marina and started to unload our possessions into Norfolk Lady.  To create a bit of extra space, we moved a few bits like our electric heater back to the car - looking at the weather forecast I didn’t think we’d be needing it!  By about 09:45 it was time to cast off and head down the dyke and onto the main river.

The were a few boats about, both hire and private and we made good time.  Helped by the falling tide, we arrived in Reedham a little ahead of schedule so moored up for about half an hour to time our Breydon crossing a bit better.  The sun was blazing down, although a few whispy clouds had developed, along with a gentle breeze.

We set off again just before 12:30.  Low at Yarmouth was at 13:35 and I aimed to pass through between 14:00 and 14:15, before the clearance under bridges prevented our progress.  As we passed the end of the New Cut, I looked along and it was busier than I think I’ve ever seen it.  On the way to Breydon, we were passed by Spirit of Breydon, who wasn’t sparing the horses and was showing blue flashing lights.  I wondered what the panic was and probably found out about half way across, where one of Barnes boats was in the mud!

Breydon was busy with craft crossing in both directions.  We looked to be one of the last heading towards Yarmouth though, as there were only a couple of craft following.  The crossing was uneventful and we turned at the yellow post into the falling current of The Bure just after 14:10.  Boats were moored nose to tail through the yacht station, with just a little space left at the furthest end.

We’d planned to try to moor at Stokesby.  Lulu had message me earlier to say that she was there, but by the time we arrived the moorings were full (although space for about three more craft could have been made if better use of the moorings had been made).  We drew alongside Luna Aurora briefly and exchanged greetings, hoping to eventually meet up properly later this week, before heading through Acle and finding a suitable spot at the end of Upton Dyke.

It was good to stop after a long cruise.  We sat on our chairs on the bank, listening to dinner sizzling on the Cobb with a well earned alcoholic beverage.  After we’d eaten and cleared up, we sat and watched the sun go down at the end of an excellent day.  We both agreed that it had possibly been the best one we’d had afloat, since we bought the boat.

Tired and happy, we retired just after 22:00, looking forward to some more good weather to come.

 

[YnysMon]

What a beautiful sunset. Thanks.

[Broads01]

Sounds like a fabulous day, Malcom. You often hear people (not everyone) talking about travelling from South to North or vice versa as "wasting a day" which is nonsense.

[Roy]

Another boat on the mud where about a on Breydon was that ? 

 

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, Roy said:

Another boat on the mud where about a on Breydon was that ? 

 

About half way across.  It was literally between two red posts and not far outside the marked channel.

I really don’t want to start another discussion about blame or fault.  I don’t know whether it was as the result of a loss of concentration or mechanical breakdown.  This thread is for me to post tales of our adventures on our boat and I would prefer it stays like that.

[Roy]

8 hours ago, Mouldy said:

About half way across.  It was literally between two red posts and not far outside the marked channel.

I really don’t want to start another discussion about blame or fault.  I don’t know whether it was as the result of a loss of concentration or mechanical breakdown.  This thread is for me to post tales of our adventures on our boat and I would prefer it stays like that.

Thanks yes I quite agree with you on that.

i enjoy your holiday thred you moor up the dyke from where we used to keep our boat about 30 years ago now Brundall has changed so much in that time 

[Mouldy]

11 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Sounds like a fabulous day, Malcom. You often hear people (not everyone) talking about travelling from South to North or vice versa as "wasting a day" which is nonsense.

Agreed.  We have a good mooring in Brundall and benefit from Paul’s knowledge and skills with problem solving and necessary repairs.  I’ve said before that we were very fortunate to stumble upon a vacant mooring there when we bought Norfolk Lady.  Visiting for weekends has limited scope for places to visit and we often find ourselves at Langley Dyke or Pyes Mill, so having a longer break give us the opportunity to revisit some of our favourite haunts on the northern rivers.  I’ve never considered crossing Breydon to be a waste of time.

[Mouldy]

Monday 11th July

We woke to a glorious, sunny morning.  The heavy mist that had been present when I’d gone for my early morning visit to the loo (it’s an age thing) had burned off.  We both dressed , the wife to take the dog for her walk and I went to fly the drone and get a few pictures.

By the time she returned, the drone flight was over and photos transferred to my tablet.  We had breakfast before leaving what had been a very pleasant mooring - our destination was Womack Dyke.

As we approached the moorings, I noticed Luna Aurora was already moored there, with space behind, so I turned and moored. Bee met up with Sam and Graham and had a lengthy chat and to complete the random Forum meet, we were joined by garryn, who was actually moored in front of Luna.

I headed off for a shower, before the wife and I sauntered into the village, however the dog was struggling with the heat, so Deb sat on a bench by Womack Staithe with Harley, whilst I carried on to the butchers and Throwers.  We had an ice cream from the shop by the Staithe before heading back to the boat.  I wanted some bread and Portuguese Tarts from the pop-up bakery, but they’d sold out of bread!  All was not lost, though as there was a fresh batch due out of the oven in about 10 minutes, so Deb and the dog went back to the boat and I returned to the bench by the Staithe to wait.

With bread and tarts collected, I wandered back to the boat.  By now it was about 13:00.  It was blisteringly hot.  I had a Scotch egg and a tomato for lunch, with a slice of bread, before doing that thing that you do as you get older - had a nap!

When I woke, it had clouded over, but it was still very warm.  We sat quietly reading for a while before Sam walked by with her whippet, so we had another chat (as you do), before she went for dinner.

Neither of us was particularly hungry, but we had a light meal before I had to log onto a virtual syndicate meeting for Moonlight Shadow, which lasted from 19:30 until 21:00.  Shortly after we had our customary hot drink before retiring, very tired after such a hot day.

[FairTmiddlin]

16 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Monday 11th July

 my early morning visit to the loo (it’s an age thing) had burned of

 

I Hope not Malcolm