Luna’s Log

[Lulu]

9 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

One thing about collies, they are really skinny dogs disguised in lots of hair. At least you don’t have that problem! 

You would be surprised how much a golden/ginger whippet sheds! The hoover was in use most days.  Also on the list for next time is a sticky roller 

[Lulu]

Monday 17th May

The day started overcast and gloomy and at 7.00 I was out walking past both bridges. Desmond wasn’t particularly enthusiastic and kept wanting to turn back. Ive worked out he’s a fair weather hound. 
We turned back and the moorings soon became empty. We had decided on a very short cruise today. The batteries were fully charged after a night on the electric and we really wanted to go to our favourite spot, Womack Dyke.  We arrived to an empty dyke and got our preferred spot right at the end after having a cruise around Womack Island. 
We decided to walk straight to Ludham butchers in case the weather turned nasty. I was eager to try a cake or two from the bakery on the way but sadly they didnt have anything that appealed. I wanted something with cinnamon or almond as thats about all I can taste.   On arrival at the butchers, Desmond was sniffing the air and started barking. Think the aromas from the butchers was causing him to be rather over excited so I walked him over towards the church while Selsie stocked up.  He might just have bought a beef bone for our four legged crew member...
 

As we got back to the boat, the weather suddenly brightened and lots of lovely blue sky and sunshine. A friend stopped by on his boat and a few drinks were consumed.  I decided to take advantage of the dry weather and cleaned the outside of the boat. Finally got rid of the last of lockdown green.  Norfolk Lady cruised past and we had a quick chat.  Later that evening, we went for a walk along the bank towards Potter. That was a particularly lovely walk in the evening sunshine. 
We settled down for the rest of the evening thinking how lucky we were and all the stress of the last few months disappearing 

[YnysMon]

We love that walk along the bank toward Potter too. Wonderful dog walk.

[Lulu]

Tuesday 18th May

We didnt have a good nights sleep. The temperature seemed to plummet overnight and we really missed the use of the oil filled heaters. Desmond was very fidgety and every few hours I had to keep tucking him back into his cave bed (hes such a baby). But never mind, it was a glorious sunny morning and we walked to Womack Staithe to get rid of sone rubbish before heading off to Acle for water and a pump out. 
We stopped in the Pedros basin to fill up with water, turned Luna on her ropes (getting really quite proficient at that now!) and walked her to the pump out. We waited for an hour but no one turned up to do the pump out so abandoned that idea. We could go another day and find somewhere else the following day.  We could have gone to Bridgecraft but it was getting busy with people returning  their boats.  We headed off back up the Bure with either St Benets or Fleet Dyke in mind.  As we slowly made our way back, we waved at Cerise Lady.  We approached St Benets which had one space but decided we would rather try for the lovely spot in Fleet Dyke.  Once we moored up, everyone else left.  We are not getting a complex!  It was so quiet. A cuckoo was cuckooing away in the distance.  Had a lovely couple of walks in both directions. I don’t understand why in all the years on the Broads Ive never bothered walking before.  Its been an absolute joy exploring with the hound.   After my disturbed sleep, I had a nap in the afternoon, lulled to sleep by the passing boats. We checked the weather and thankfully the temperature was going to be a bit warmer than the night before so were hopeful we would get a better nights sleep 

[vanessan]

Lovely pics. Fleet Dyke will always be one of my favourite moorings. 
Russell’s (Marine Tech) is open again on South Walsham broad. All facilities available there, I think their pumpout is still around the £10 mark. We had pumpout, diesel and water on the Monday. The boatyard services are not very obvious as there are no signs but it’s such an easy place to get into, boats can queue on the broad if necessary! 

[Lulu]

9 minutes ago, vanessan said:

Russell’s (Marine Tech) is open again on South Walsham broad. All facilities available there, I think their pumpout is still around the £10 mark. We had pumpout, diesel and water on the Monday. The boatyard services are not very obvious as there are no signs but it’s such an easy place to get into, boats can queue on the broad if necessary! 

That’s brilliant. Thank you! Really useful to know. We weren’t sure if they were open and didn’t go to investigate. 

[Lulu]

Wednesday 19th May

We woke up as usual around 6.00. It had been a much warmer night and slept really well. The cuckoo was continuously cuckooing in the distance.  After another lovely walk, we left Fleet Dyke with the idea of either getting a pump out at Horning Ferry Marina or Southgates.  We cruised really slowly enjoying the peace and quiet. We were in no rush. Ferry Marina’s pump out mooring was empty so we took advantage and as usual the service was excellent.  We used to use them when we had a mooring in the marina. After also topping up with water and I had a wander around NYA (just window shopping honest!) we decided to make our way slowly up the Ant. We hadnt intended on going back to the marina so soon but the weather was predicting strong winds on the Thursday and the temp was going to drop again,  so we thought we would just moor in the marina and go home the following day,  but if Irstead was free we would stop there. 
Sadly Irstead was occupied so decision made we carried on to the marina. Barton was as lovely as ever. 
After arriving back around lunchtime, we spent the afternoon doing a few maintenance jobs and cleaning in readiness to leave in the morning. The weather over the week had been erratic to say the least but our early morning cruises had been wonderful. Desmond got into the routine and I think has earned his captain’s hat.   The next time we are onboard will be quite an intensive maintenance weekend, although if its nice weather and Irstead was free ........

[vanessan]

That really is a cracking photo - where did you take it? 

If you are looking for decent walks, there is a nice one from How Hill. We often stop off there to walk our dogs. From the moorings, walk away from How Hill along the track to the end. Carry straight on (don’t turn left which is more obvious) and through the gate opposite and follow the track. It winds around and eventually comes out on the road where you turn left to return to the moorings. (Or you can go straight across the road and continue on the track until you join another road  where you turn left and which takes you back to the How Hill grounds.) It’s a quiet walk and very enjoyable. Hope you didn’t mind me mentioning it. 
 

This is one of the views, I think they may be the same yachts as in your picture above!

[Lulu]

Of course I dont mind you mentioning it! The walks are giving me a totally different perspective and keeping me fit lol.  I will definitely try the How Hill walk.

The photo was taken at Fleet Dyke. We were moored right at the end of the curve and it was just down on the right going towards the broad

[vanessan]

50 minutes ago, Lulu said:

The photo was taken at Fleet Dyke. We were moored right at the end of the curve and it was just down on the right going towards the broad

Where we’d walked twice the day before you! Doh!!

[addicted]

Hi  Sam, Glad you're having such a  relaxing time on the boat. it certainly makes for enjoyable reading. A suggestion to  help keep Desmond's hair loss down,  try giving him a slice of bread and butter (not spread) once  a day it really seems to help keep moulting down, Hope the weather is reasonable for the rest of your stay,

 

Carole

[Lulu]

Hi Carole. We are home now as we didn't want to get caught up in the worsening weather. Desmond now on a diet. He had too many snacks on holiday but he did so love his beef bone from Ludham butchers 

[CambridgeCabby]

3 hours ago, Lulu said:

Hi Carole. We are home now as we didn't want to get caught up in the worsening weather. Desmond now on a diet. He had too many snacks on holiday but he did so love his beef bone from Ludham butchers 

That’s why we decided to return yesterday afternoon , just as the winds were getting very blustery , plus Katie back to work on Monday and wanted to get things ready .

Lovely to see your photos of beautiful Desmond , I’ll make sure I’ve got a supply of gravy bone treats aboard in case we see you moored anytime soon 

[Lulu]

2 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

Lovely to see your photos of beautiful Desmond , I’ll make sure I’ve got a supply of gravy bone treats aboard in case we see you moored anytime soon 

He will be your friend forever lol. Probably too many photos of him but he’s part of our boating life now! 

[YnysMon]

Never too many photos of your best buddy enjoying his time on board.

[Lulu]

I wasn't going to post our weekend trips as we usually don’t travel far and end up at Paddy’s Lane to chill out and there’s only so many pictures I can take of the same place lol.  Anyway to change things a bit, we decided to head for How Hill on the 9th July. Selsie managed to get some time off work and we got to the marina at around 10.30. By 11 we were travelling down the Ant. It was a beautiful day. We had the usual conversation “if Irstead is free…..” but it wasn’t so How Hill was the destination.  We arrived at just before 12.30 and found a perfect Luna sized spot behind Hathor.   It was lovely to see a group of school children learning about the stunning Wherry.  We popped a donation in the box after reading their loss of income due to covid.   I took Desmond for the first of three walks.  I think the last time I visited Toad Cottage was in the late 80s.  The dear place was just as I remembered.  As a child I wanted to live there (still do!).   Loads of people were buying tubs of ice cream but I managed to resist.

We relaxed doing nothing but boat watching until the evening and I took Desmond off for another walk past the boat shed and then back up to the field towards the house.  By this time ( 6.00pm ) there was no one around and we had the field to ourselves. Absolute bliss. Just myself, Desmond and the birds tweeting. (He didn't see the rabbits or squirrels thank goodness)

We had a lovely night’s sleep. So peaceful and watched the many Richardsons boats leave early in the morning to take their boats back. It wasnt long before the moorings were virtually empty and we headed back to our marina as yet again we had more maintenance to do which included a thorough scrub of the whole boat and prep for our planned weekend last week of reproofing the canopy and varnishing the helm sides.  (Got to look smarter for the Beccles boat show in a few weeks time)
 

Just a few photos from the weekend :)
 

 

[charlesa]

Gorgeous photos, thank you, I so love How Hill and the Ant.

[YnysMon]

Blue Desmond statue? He seems a very placid dog. 

[Lulu]

3 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Blue Desmond statue? He seems a very placid dog. 

He is a funny character. Very laid back mostly but becomes a quivering mess with new things.  He now relaxes quicker on the boat and doesnt cling to me when we start the engine. I can also walk around the decks when mooring up without him jumping on the draining board.  He kept doing this to start with but then couldn’t get down and stood helplessly in the sink.  I’ve worked out as long as he can see me from the saloon, he’s ok.  

[vanessan]

8 hours ago, Lulu said:

He is a funny character. Very laid back mostly but becomes a quivering mess with new things.  He now relaxes quicker on the boat and doesnt cling to me when we start the engine. I can also walk around the decks when mooring up without him jumping on the draining board.  He kept doing this to start with but then couldn’t get down and stood helplessly in the sink.  I’ve worked out as long as he can see me from the saloon, he’s ok.  

Funny creatures dogs! We have to put ours ‘behind bars’ when we come in to moor otherwise there is pandemonium. They now know that when I don my lifejacket it’s time for a treat and incarceration for a few minutes. Luckily they’re too small to jump on the draining board and get in the sink! 

[stumpy]

2 hours ago, vanessan said:

Funny creatures dogs! We have to put ours ‘behind bars’ when we come in to moor otherwise there is pandemonium. They now know that when I don my lifejacket it’s time for a treat and incarceration for a few minutes. Luckily they’re too small to jump on the draining board and get in the sink! 

Spirit now knows what "Down below" means. We learned early on when she came off with me at Coltishall, by the time I'd thrown a couple of clove hitches she'd found a picnic and scarfed down a plateful of cocktail sausages! Luckily the diners thought it was hilarious. 

[Lulu]

Our rule is he stays in the saloon until we are moored up or on the move. Once moored up he now realises it is a fun thing as I immediately take him for a walk.  We so nearly broke the rule but then decided anything could happen when mooring and we dont want him stressing, getting dangerously in the way or trying to leap out.  

[addicted]

lovely photos Sam. We never managed to visit that part of the Broads as our boat was too high to access it sadly.

 

Carole

[vanessan]

A number of years back we bought a friend’s cairn terrier on the boat with us. We were moored up and I noticed a cairn barking instructions to the helm of another boat coming in to moor. Oh look says I, there’s a dog looks just like Ollie. Of course, it was Ollie! Somehow got himself off the boat and away to explore. 

[SteveO]

Hahahahaha, that last photo of Desmond got me.