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Luna’s Log


Lulu

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Womack water was always my favorite mooring when over on  the Northern Broads. Sadly all too often we'd arrive to find no mooring free. Not only did I  find it a really lovely place to moor, when we did manage to secure  spot we were always lucky with the weather while moored there . It always seemed to  be warm and sunny .

 

Carole

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17th September 2020

After a very quiet night and a wonderful sleep, we left Stracey at 8.00am.  We moored up at the newly refurbished Acle moorings for a short while, hoping that the electric posts will be completed for when we start our autumn/winter cruising.  We then set off up the Bure with Fleet Dyke in mind.  The wind that had been forecast was getting quite strong. We spotted empty moorings at the cross end of St Benets. We’ve always seen boats moored there before and thought our luck was in.   The wind by this time was really strong and we were using all our concentration to get moored up safely.   I got onto the bank with both bow and stern ropes and struggled to hold Luna until Selsie quickly grabbed the bow rope.  The wind was really pushing us away from the quay heading. Finally safely tied up, we saw a flappy thing pinned to the bank on the other side. They were calling for a tow. 

A boat towed them off the bank and let them go as they got near to us.  We yelled across if they wanted help, to which they said yes immediately. They threw us their ropes and we pulled them in alongside Luna and then to the free space infront of us. The young girl looked quite alarmed by it all and we think she must have got a taxi or a lift back by road because the gentleman took the saily off by himself later on when the wind wasnt quite as bad. Again we helped him with his ropes as he left as it was still very gusty. 

We had been at this delightful mooring for a few hours, seen Albion go by, when Selsie decided to check the ropes. He came back saying as he had been sorting the ropes and checking Luna’s hull, he had seen some small signs saying Private moorings St Benets, permission required, or something like that.  Being the law abiding citizen I am, I was horrified, as I put it, we were now “Moored illegally!”.  We've always seen boats moored there.  We tried to do a bit of research on the internet and asked some friends if they knew anything about them but we decided we had to move.  
 

By this time I was completely paranoid everyone passing by were saying they are not allowed to moor there!  But if we hadn’t  have been there, we wouldn’t have been able to rescue the flappy thing.  We had done our good deed for the day so I didn't feel quite so guilty in the end. 

We slunk away at 2.00pm and hoped we weren't going to struggle to find somewhere as we were now looking for a mooring quite late again for us.  St Benets was full. We tried Fleet Dyke and there was a lovely space for us and as we hadn’t  moored there before, another place to tick off. 

It was so peaceful and sheltered and a pretty sunset finished off the day rather nicely. 
 

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18th September 2020

Oh how we loved Fleet Dyke.  So pretty and quiet. The water was absolutely still when I woke up.  Definitely on our favourite list now. We left at 7.50. We wanted to get through Ludham Bridge before the predicted wind got up again. The usual conversation ......if Irstead is free......it wasnt.   As it was our last night, we decided on Paddy’s Lane as usual.  Paddy’s Lane was still full, well it was still really early so we decided to go up to Wayford as we hadnt been there before and wanted to take a look at the bridge for a future trip up to Dilham.

We didnt notice the wind too much as it was so sheltered. Hunsett Mill suddenly appeared. I hadnt seen it since I was a kid when it was chocolate box pretty.  

We got up to Wayford and I got confused thinking the moorings cost £15. We had seen a space at the end of what I now realise are the free moorings but by that time we had aborted our mooring up and was already turning around.  We decided if there was still no space at Paddy’s Lane we would just return to our marina for the night.  By the time we got there, plenty of spaces had materialised. The wind was getting very gusty.  We moored up but a very squeaky tree caused us to move further down. We untied Luna and ‘took her for a walk’ instead of starting the engine and tied up near the corner. 

We had a bit of rubbish to get rid off and went for a walk.  We decided Neatishead was too far to walk to in the end so came back after a while.  We did our usual thing for the rest of the day, doing not a lot.  

The following morning we left early as usual to get back to marina so we could clean Luna and pack away and get home for the weekend.   We had had another fantastic week. We realise we have been incredibly lucky to have picked two weeks over this year of amazing warm and sunny weather.  We will continue through autumn and winter as we are not fair weather boaters by any means, but we will look back on these last two holidays as particularly special, especially with all what has been going on in 2020.   This week was also the cheapest holiday we have ever done.  Moorings, water and pump out £36 plus a bit of diesel when we fill up again.  

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You have indeed been picking some of my favourite places. Fleet Dyke and Paddy's Lane are places we love to moor too. I also like to be first away from the moorings in the morning if I can. Don't always make it but it's the best time for cruising.

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Places we intend to go out of season where we havent been before will be Dilham, Neatishead and Sutton and now Womack Staithe. Come to think of it, we havent moored at How Hill or Ludham Bridge overnight yet either, so lots more places still to tick off. :) 

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There’s a number of places where we’ve moored but not stayed overnight. And there’s a number where we’ve never moored. Ludham Bridge was great when we stopped there in March a few years ago with only one other boat there all night. Sutton is another one we like. 

As you say, still places to tick off the list. 

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We are always intending to try out new places to moor but quite often end up mooring at spots we’ve been to before that we have liked. Also, once the nights start getting cold we like to have shore power, so that cuts down on our options. 

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7 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Also, once the nights start getting cold we like to have shore power, so that cuts down on our options. 

Hence why we havent moored at How Hill and Ludham. Maybe we can do this sooner rather than later if we keep an eye on the weather. 

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Great holiday accounts Sam.  Keep up the good work!  The spot where you moored on Fleet Dyke is one of our favourites. 

Funny how people sleep so well on boats. Our berths are narrow and the mattresses are hard, but we always sleep better afloat than we do on land. 

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2 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

As do I , and it’s nothing to do with the beer , wine and whiskey ..... honestly 

With the medication I'm on, it doesn't take much of anything to make me sleep like a baby. Especially with the gentle rocking and the patter of rain on the cabin roof.:default_biggrin:

 

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Guest Jayfire
27 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

As do I , and it’s nothing to do with the beer , wine and whiskey ..... honestly 

Good to hear Mr CC Sir. I'd hate to be the only one on the rivers that sleeps soundly without the need for beer, wine or other intoxicating beverages :default_smiley-angelic002:

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  • 2 months later...

Saturday 5th December 2020

The idea of this weekend was to get a much needed pump out as we couldn’t get this done before lockdown and also to test the new heating installation. We hadnt really intended to go for a cruise but we couldnt resist.

We arrived at the marina at around 8.00am. Ice was still hanging about and we put the ceramic heaters on straight away while Selsie finished the last bit of lagging on on the new heating system.  I cleaned the boat inside and out. Despite having plenty of ventilation there was a bit of mould creeping in in the front cabin. We’ve never left Luna this long over winter so this was a first.  
 

At 9.30 we went to Simpsons for a pump out, fuel and water.  As we were waiting all sorts of weather came and went. Then the sun came out.  Decision made, we would just go for a little cruise across Barton Broad and back. 

5D3206E4-C5C5-4AE2-A88C-A81480A5274D.thumb.jpeg.6f1a8d908a53d48a8e03e1a7a7662f0a.jpegCB5BEEC9-38C9-4DB5-9AE8-F45E33732127.thumb.jpeg.bcbd476105edfa08a2269035067ac79e.jpeg536C43C9-2898-45A8-9992-4395EE551D6C.thumb.jpeg.da26019da36f0a295425cdb94663a325.jpegD0012A3A-316A-49EE-AFEF-402A4CB5203C.thumb.jpeg.d5fc2076a4522919e83b34c194256451.jpegIt was too stunning to go back so we made the decision to go to Neatishead for the first time. We have so far been too nervous to go there during the season. We wanted to have an electric post as a back up as we hadnt properly used the Planar yet.  There were lots of fishermen as we got to the staithe, one of whick very kindly took the rope for me.  We walked into the village and back then as the temperature dropped, fired up the heating. It worked a treat.  When we went to bed, we did shut it down and hooked up to the electric so we could use our oil fired radiator and ceramic heaters overnight. 
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Sunday 6th December

I woke at 6.00 and listened to the owl hooting away like he had done when I had gone to bed. Other than that, it was so peaceful.  The helm was covered in condensation so we spent some time with the Karcher dealing with that. Had a quick breakfast so we could set off at 8.00.   The ropes were frozen. Never experienced that before as i stood helplessly for a momentwith a pile of unbendable rope. I plonked it in its rigid state on the back of the boat while Selsie was dealing with the same issue at the bow. Ropes frozen, hands frozen we set off back to the marina.  Another stunning cruise. We made the cruise last about an hour, going very slowly, savouring every moment of having the river and Broad to ourselves.  Every now and then we have cruises that are extra special and this was one of them .  A very special weekend. 

 

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18 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Wonderful to see your photos and hear that you've had a little cruise. I've been down Lime Kiln Dyke but never attempted to moor at the staithe. Looks like that was as good a time as any to do so. :)

We are still of the opinion that we will not be mooring there during the season. Too nerve wracking with the very narrow approach.  The vlogs Ive seen always seem to appear wider than I thought.  Very lovely though and it will be a regular out of season spot from now on. 

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Just a thought,... I often go to Neatished in the height of the season and I find it one of the safest places. The waterway is narrow. and the staithe is tricky to manoeuvre in. Result... everybody is trying their hardest to get it right and are taking it gently. Any bumps tend to be of a minor nature and it is most fulfilling when you get it all right.

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