Fair Prince 12th - 23rd August 2019

[Kron]

To say we have been looking forward to this holiday would be an understatement. We booked right at the beginning of September last year and at the time due to my work was tied to holidays in school holidays only. We have been on the Broads at peak time in August a couple of times so know it can get busy, had we have had a choice we would have holidayed in June or September. Next year we will have better options available being able to take time off not at peak times! Anyway, I digress, we have been on countdown for what seems like an eternity and finally the time was upon us.

We packed the car up last night with just last minute stuff to pack this morning. We left home at 8:45am and traffic was not too bad. It was reasonably quiet on the A1, we did our usual bypass of the Newark turn off and came off at Coddington before turning on to the A17. Unfortunately we got stuck two cars behind a young lady doing at maximum 40mph in a 60 limit for a little way before we managed to get passed, then apart from the occasional tractor, which to be fair one pulled into a lay-by, one turned right and the other kept well into the left we had a fairly decent run. We didn't stop at Benny's for breakfast as neither of us were ready for a pit-stop, so carried on and pulled up into Faircraft's car park at 11:45am.

Let reception know that we had arrived (early) and that we were heading off for something to eat and a bit of shopping. They said the boat was nearly ready and would ring as soon as it was. We were going to have a quick McDonald's but it was rammed so opted for a portion of fish and chips between us and sat at the bridge watching the world go by. Although they looked and smelt really good I have to say I have tasted much better! Off to Roy's for a few bits when Diane phoned to say the boat was ready.

Back to the boatyard, unpacked the masses of bags etc (does everyone pack too much, or is it just me?), handover done and headed off just before 2pm.

Can't believe how quiet the river is. Apart from dayboats there wasn't much about at all. Salhouse looked quiet and even Horning was. Cockshoot had spaces but we were put off by the private boat on the entrance. Now I know that people do their washing and hang it out on their boats but grundies and all? And not particularly clean ones at that .  Would have out me right off my tea! I apologise if any of you were the said owner but .......

We past Gooseander and gave them a wave David .

Headed towards Ranworth, plenty of spaces on the island and one on the staithe, but someone was fishing there and we didn't want to spoil it for them. There's plenty of time on this trip so will come back another day. What was really perculiar was that no-one was mud-weighted on the broad, not a sole! Like I said it seems very quiet - eerily so.

Carried on towards South Walsham and moored on of the wild spots on Fleet Dyke. Absolute peace and quiet, not a sound to be heard apart from the occasional aircraft and about half a dozen boats. Oh and we heard a dog bark in the distance, just once!

Off now to make some tea and enjoy our first night afloat this trip. Tomorrow we are heading south. This will be the first time for us although we have been on the northern broads many times.

More tomorrow ....

 

 

[Kron]

Hope these come through ok!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

If you like peace and quiet, and heading south, give Langley dyke a try, there are no facilities, or shops / pub etc, but it`s a beautifully quiet and peaceful spot. Go right up to the end, and the public moorings are on the south bank.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Pics are fine, and really make me envious.

[SwanR]

Looking forward to this holiday tale. We have hired both Fair Prince 1 and 2 a few years ago and loved them. Great boats that we would definitely take out again. I did hear that the canopy had been converted to electric and wondered if that is the case.

Agree with Speedtriple that Langley Dyke is wonderful if you get south.

Have a great time. :)

[YnysMon]

Will you people stop trying to persuade people to moor at Langley Dyke! At this rate we won’t be able to moor there week after next! It’s really horrible there, believe me!

Love the tale. You aren’t the only one to pack the proverbial kitchen sink. In fact, we get worse every trip as we think up more things that it would be handy to have with us. 

Helen

[Kron]

1 hour ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

If you like peace and quiet, and heading south, give Langley dyke a try, there are no facilities, or shops / pub etc, but it`s a beautifully quiet and peaceful spot. Go right up to the end, and the public moorings are on the south bank.

We definitely will be doing. Sounds like our sort of spot!

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . You aren’t the only one to pack the proverbial kitchen sink. In fact, we get worse every trip as we think up more things that it would be handy to have with us . . . . . . . . . . .

You won’t need to take too much on MS, Helen, pretty much everything you need is already there, including the kitchen sink😁!

[Mouldy]

5 minutes ago, Kron said:

We definitely will be doing. Sounds like our sort of spot!

There are some good moorings on Short Dyke, leading to Rockland  Broad, too and it’s only a short walk to the pub from there following the path round the Broad.  If you like good ‘pub grub,’ The New Inn is well worth the effort, but you’ll need a torch for the walk back!

[Kron]

1 hour ago, SwanR said:

Looking forward to this holiday tale. We have hired both Fair Prince 1 and 2 a few years ago and loved them. Great boats that we would definitely take out again. I did hear that the canopy had been converted to electric and wondered if that is the case.

Agree with Speedtriple that Langley Dyke is wonderful if you get south.

Have a great time. :)

We're on 1 and yes an electric canopy. So much easier than winding the handle.

[RS2021]

I understand that NBDs new boat(s) for 2020 are to be similar to Fair Prince.

[YnysMon]

We have really enjoyed hiring with NBD, and we had been planning on hiring with them again...but we decided instead to join a boat syndicate. Whoop! 

[Kron]

8 hours ago, RS2021 said:

I understand that NBDs new boat(s) for 2020 are to be similar to Fair Prince.

They are building one in the shed at the minute.

[vanessan]

10 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Will you people stop trying to persuade people to moor at Langley Dyke! It’s really horrible there, believe me!

That’s absolutely right, I don’t know why people keep saying how great it is! Ever so narrow and weedy at the end, even a 20 footer can’t turn up there. 

[grendel]

I bet i could turn Jayne 2 there, i managed at pyes mill next to moored boats

[Coryton]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

I bet i could turn Jayne 2 there, i managed at pyes mill next to moored boats

We turned our Diamond 43 down there without much trouble.

We tried to stop there for lunch, but it was full and we ended up next to the sugar factory at Cantley.

Nice views if you looked in the other direction...

[grendel]

ah yes, but i turned next to the mooring, not in the basin at the end, one of the advantages of a 25 foot boat.

[Guest]

14 hours ago, vanessan said:

That’s absolutely right, I don’t know why people keep saying how great it is! Ever so narrow and weedy at the end, even a 20 footer can’t turn up there. 

Im not used to having such small things in my hands Mrs V, but I know that I managed to manoeuvre my much bigger beast around and place it delicately in the narrow channel and I enjoyed it very (very) much, but then I do love everything down South 

You're right though, everyone should stay away from Langley Dyke, it is awful

[Kron]

Tuesday 13th August

Awake at 5am (nothing new there!) and up by 5:30 to make a cuppa. Just had a lazy couple of hours watching the sun come up and reading. I have just started Waterproof by Chris Crowther. 

Two boats came out of South Walsham broad before we cruised down there. On the 1st moorings there were 3 boats and on the 2nd 4 boats, whilst 5 were mud-weighted on the broad itself. We cruised back up to the river and headed off to Potter Heigham as there were a few bits we needed from Latham's, passing Evening Shadow on the way. We gave the Skipper a wave .We moored in Herbert Woods yard as we needed water and then off to Latham's. We bought a few bits that we really did need and nothing at all that we didn't - some people had packed trolleys full! Sat on the bench near the bridge and had a sausage roll/steak bake and then a quick visit to the tackle shop. Had a wander round the boats for sale, Jay is still for sale so obviously Gracie hasn't started her 'C' shopping yet!

Went to suss out the showers and we both can back at the same time saying "I'm not using them!" They weren't very clean at all!

Rang the Yacht Station to confirm the tide times before setting off.  Not many boats about again, only 3 moored at Thurne Duke and from there to the entrance to the Bure we never saw one boat coming towards us. From there to Upton Duke we overtook one private boat and a hire one passed in the opposite direction. Hellllooooo, where is everyone? On through Acle where there were plenty of moorings available with the exception of outside the pub which were full. Stokesby had plenty of moorings and this was at 1:30pm so I would have thought peak lunchtime for the pub. We stopped at the Stracey Arms to have showers and pass a bit of time before heading to Yarmouth. We had quite a heavy rain shower there so had a mad dash to get the canopy shut and secured.

Why is it not just on the rivers, but also on the roads as well that some people seem to have total disregard for the speed limit? These were both hire and private boats and you wonder what they have to gain? Surely travelling at the speed some of them do they miss everything along the way?

We thought there was going to be a collision at one point, we were being overtaken by a hire boat who in turn was being overtaken by a private boat, with a poor unsuspecting Richardson's boat coming round the corner.  He just seemed to be heading straight for them and never budged an inch. The Richardson's crew were luckily able to take avasive action to avoid him but the amount of wash he produced was ridiculous sending both us and the Richardson's boat all over the shot. We both shrugged our shoulders and said 'why?'

Towards Breydon Water we saw several woodies coming back through Yarmouth, including Nipper, a beautiful boat .

Breydon Water was also quiet (theme for the week). We were being followed from a distance by 3 boats and only passed 4 coming the other way. We were heading for Reedham but the other 3 must have gone towards Burgh Castle as we didn't see another living sole until almost at Reedham when we passed a private boat coming towards us. Now whilst it is nice to have the river to ourselves for a little while it did feel rather eerie. I did ask at one time if it was definitely August or were we in some kind of time warp!

There were a few moorings at Reedham but pootled on down passed the Ferry when we spotted what looked like a private mooring but with no signage other than a very small one for Cockatrice B&B. No do not moor signs. So we moored up and went across to enquire at the B&B. He did say it was private but thanked us for checking and said there were some wild moorings a little further down. We explained that we hadn't wanted to just stop only to be moved on once dark. He chatted whilst walking back to the boat and when he enquired if it was just the two of us he said " I'll tell you what why don't you stay here for the night if I charge you to moor". We agreed, it wasn't worth the hassle of untying and mooring again further down river. He checked we had all the facilities on board we would need and wished us a peaceful evening.

This was a cracking spot. We had steak for tea and relaxed with a beer whilst watching the sun go down.

All was peaceful until 8:35pm when a Richardson's boat came out of the Ferry moorings, tearing down the river with lads dancing on the front. The last we saw of them they were disappearing round the next bend going backwards. Again I ask the question 'Why?'

Photos were taken at 6am this morning.

[Kron]

15 hours ago, vanessan said:

That’s absolutely right, I don’t know why people keep saying how great it is! Ever so narrow and weedy at the end, even a 20 footer can’t turn up there. 

A bit like Coltishall Lock - a dreadful place 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Kron said:

Jay is still for sale so obviously Gracie hasn't started her 'C' shopping yet!

One can only hope, but erm...Jay is not on the market at all 

Lovely pics K

[Kron]

Wednesday 14th August

Photo from the back of the boat at 6am this morning

 

[SwanR]

I think early morning on the rivers is very hard to beat and always worth getting up for. Have a lovely day. :)

[Kron]

Thank you Jean we will. 

You're right, I think it's definitely the best part of the day watching the world come to life.

[TostockTimonier]

Thank you Kron for taking the time to share your holiday tales, great pictures too.