Carried Away By A Moonlight Shadow...

[YnysMon]

Day 5 – Wednesday 30th June

Another early start this morning. We set off around 7am, aiming to reach the New Cut for 10am. Actually, after the turn-off for Oulton Dyke we slowed right down as I’d allowed us too much travelling time. I find most of the distance charts a bit generous in their estimated times. It’s not that we are speeding.

After we’d left Beccles behind, Graham made breakfast. He’d picked up an IKEA recipe leaflet for a porridge using IKEA muesli. Very nice it was too.

As passed Evening Shadow again at Somerlayton, as they were moored up there. No one in sight to wave at though.

We ended up getting to the start of the New Cut almost an hour earlier than planned, despite taking things fairly slowly. We had the New Cut to ourselves. Not surprising out of season, but in June?

The tide was against us as we turned out of the New Cut, but there was plenty of room on the Reedham moorings for us to pause our journey. I hadn’t realised yesterday when we did our Lidl shop that Dad was running short of (dairy) milk, so intended going up the hill to the village store to get some. However, first I wandered along the quayside and discovered a new deli, which had opened in the old ‘Cupcakes’ building. They have a few tables outside and in, so are also a small café. The milk that I bought there was from a farm near Aldeby and from Friesian cows. That’s a bit unusual nowadays. It wasn’t unduly expensive either compared to the normal price of milk.

On returning to the boat, I reported on the deli and their nice-looking cakes, so we all took a walk back there to check it out. Graham got himself a coffee (they have a ‘proper’ coffee machine) and slice of coffee and walnut cake. Alec bought himself some savoury pastry items. Dad had forgotten his mask, so couldn’t go in.

I couldn’t help noticing how friendly and helpful the on-duty BA Ranger was. He noticed the chap on the boat in front of us had a bag of rubbish in his hand, so offered to take it as he was ‘going that way’. Just before we left, we overheard him giving some good advice to people on another boat. Seemed like a man who really enjoyed his job.

Ducklings spotted at Reedham.

By the time we returned to the boat the tide had slackened, so we set off again. Dad had another go at helming, once we were safely passed the ferry.

Alec took over again just before Brundall.

We spotted Mark (Psychicsurveyor) and his wife on their boat Whitey as we passed Brundall Gardens Marina and exchanged waves. Shortly after that we moored at Bramerton Common so that we could eat our lunch together (Lidl quiche and salad)

Norwich Yacht Station was reasonably busy, but with plenty of spaces left. We just paid for a day mooring, preferring not to stay there overnight because of the road noise. Alec and I went up to the Cathedral.

I was amused to see that the cloisters were being cleaned.

After our tour of the Cathedral we returned to the boat and left the Yacht Station in search of a more peaceful mooring. There was space at Whitlingham moorings, so we stopped there, even though we knew it wouldn’t be that peaceful in the morning (trains and rowers). Much better than the Yacht Station though. Seren loves watching the rowers that frequent that part of the river. Late afternoon/early evening seemed to be the turn of the younger members of the club, with several early teens in the rowing skiffs accompanied by training boats, and even younger kids out in canoes with instructors with paddling along with them.

Alec and Seren watching the rowers and canoists.

Dinner this evening was the reheated remains of Alec’s roast veg (he had made far too much) mixed with the pasta sauce I’d made earlier in the week and served with pasta and some more of the Ludham loaf. Dad had a ‘Parsley’ ready meal, so that he could eat earlier in the evening.

Another evening of dominoes, a walk for Seren and then another early night.

[SwanR]

Wonderful write up and great photos as always. Must have been lovely to have some more family enjoying the trip with you. 

I would also have a problem getting on and off MS I think, one of the reasons we have stuck to forward steer cruisers for a while despite how much I love the helm of a centre cockpit. 

The bakery at Ludham is a delight. Yes they can be expensive but the food is always good and a welcome treat. 

We visited Beccles a few days ago and it reminded me how much I would like to hire on the southern rivers  again at some point. You mentioned about Monday starts. I think short breaks are very common. Prices definitely seem to have gone up and we would think twice about paying for a week at any time at the moment. 

[YnysMon]

Hi Jean,

I don't find getting off and on MS too bad normally, except when there's a really high tide. Luckily the side deck slopes down from bow to aft.

Day 6 - Thursday 1st July

We didn’t wake as early today, despite the trains. The early morning rowers were active just after 6am though, so we started off from Whitlingham around 7am. It is lovely to be out early on the river. The best part of the day.

As previously reported on my ‘live’ Carried Away thread, the upper Yare seemed very quiet, with very few boats moored at Bramerton Common, even fewer outside the Surlingham Ferry Inn

and only one boat at Brundall Gardens BA moorings.

As we were only planning to go as far as Loddon today, we took our time and had a detour into Surlingham Broad (Bargate), where we mudweighted for a while, watched the birdlife and Alec cleaned the decks.

We also took a detour through Rockland Broad before carrying on down the Yare.

Do you think Seren is sitting comfortably?

Breakfast was had en route again (croissants and coffee this morning). We stopped briefly at Hardley Cross and took Seren for a walk before setting off up the Chet.

Even though we passed quite a few boats on our way up, and passed an almost empty Pye’s Mill, the staithe was pretty crammed. There was just one smallish space in the corner furthest from the road, with a small yacht moored on the side near the favoured fishing spot, but we managed to squeeze in quite nicely without a problem. Later the two boats moored on our port side left, so we were able to shuffle up a bit and reposition our aft starboard rope onto a post instead of being tied to the safety ladder (we were not across the safety ladder).

We had a light lunch of chicken wraps, using up the last of the roast chicken, then Alec and I went up to the church. Dad elected to stay on board, despite my assuring him that it wasn’t far to walk. Before Covid he had acted as a Steward in his home church, greeting visitors and telling them about the history etc. He’s really missing the social contact that gave him.

More deck scubbing.

There was a very friendly lady in the church who made us very welcome. She had links to Anglesey, so we had a lovely chat. We also got to see the interesting local history display that is in the room above the church porch (accessed via narrow spiral staircase near the main door).

We didn’t do much the rest of the day. Dinner was early, to suit Dad, and we had a very quiet evening.

[YnysMon]

Day 7 – Friday 2nd July

Our final day.

Yet again we started off fairly early, though not as early as other mornings. This time we had breakfast before setting off. Even so, we were the first boat to set off from the staithe. Alec helmed this morning, leaving Graham and I free to start packing and cleaning.

We passed this vessel just after Beauchamp Arms. Isn't it cute!

Even though it was quite warm this morning, Dad decided to wear a sweater today. He told me that 'Content' had been the name of the 25' sailey that he and Mum had.

Isn't it itonic that the weather brightened up today - our last day. By the time we got to Short Dyke, leading to Rockland Broad, it was getting very warm.

We took Seren for a run along the path that runs past the bird hide. (The entrance to the hide was boarded up. Presumably another victim of Covid?).

Rockland Broad.

We then continued on our way ‘home’ to Brundall.

 

Refuelling etc. took a while, as Lightening was on the fuel quay when we arrived. We made a bit of a hash turning the boat on its ropes. She was a bit reluctant to turn, even with bow thrusters. I’m not sure what the tide was doing, it just wasn’t doing what I expected. As mentioned on my ‘live’ thread, I almost messed up leaving the fuel quay too, distracted by Dad who, at that moment got up out of the well onto the side deck. I shouted at Graham (who was releasing the bow rope) to get his Dad back in the well, so Graham hurried to get his lifejacket onto his Dad before guiding him back in. Meanwhile, I got the boat away from the quay. Afterward Alec told me I’d almost left him behind. As I said, Dad has been a very capable man all his life, but his current memory problems make looking after him and keeping him safe a bit of a challenge. At least he doesn’t have the mood swings that normally come with dementia, so that’s a positive. He’s very easy going and good tempered.

Once moored on our home mooring Graham went to get the car and started packing our stuff into it whilst I prepared our lunch. After lunch he cleaned the exterior of the boat whilst I tackled the heads and kitchen. Alec helped out with vacuuming and cleaning windows. Even so, it was late afternoon by the time we were ready to leave. Dad had accidentally stood on the dustpan whilst we were cleaning, so we went to Brundall DIY to replace that. I also managed to get a new 2L pyrex casserole dish to replace the one on board that had no lid, so we had to drive back to the boat to place those items on board. We also wanted to report to Brooms staff some minor damage to the car that had not been there when we left the car in the car park at the start of the week. It was only a few scratches, but I do get annoyed at people who scratch your car and don’t bother putting a note on your windscreen. They took our details and said they would check out their CTV. We also had a lot of recycling in the car (in bags on our laps), so another stop-off was needed in Sainsbury’s to get rid of that. What with all that faffing about it was almost 5pm before we got on our way. We had a good journey back though, much better than the poor people travelling in the other direction who had several tail-backs to contend with.

We are not back on the boat now until 30th October. We originally had 23rd October from the autumn allocation and swapped that for the following week, as we also drew 6th November for the winter allocation, so we’ll have a ole fortnight on board again this year. (Crossing our fingers and toes that we don’t have any more lockdowns).

[SwanR]

Such a lovely write up. And wonderful to have that fortnight to look forward to. 

[YnysMon]

Harry has just told me he’s applied to have the November fortnight off work. Cross fingers he’s successful!

[Lulu]

Great write up and photos. Always lovely to read and you covered a lot of distance. Makes me realise what lazy boaters we are! 

[YnysMon]

I think we did more distance this time because we wanted Alec and Dad to see as much of the Broads as was doable in one week. When we are by ourselves we are settling into ‘lazy boater’ mode too. Especially out of season. 

[Broads01]

Thanks very much for the write up, Helen, a very enjoyable read. You certainly had a full week and no doubt all the more enjoyable for that.

You've reminded me it's years since I stopped at Polkey's Mill, I must give it another try. I've always wondered what all those thick posts along the quay are for?

Those moorings at Richardson's aren't new, in fact but I think they've been improved. It's always my preferred spot at Richardson's.

[grendel]

the thick posts are to stop you being beached on a really high tide if the river level rises above the quay heading

[vanessan]

I’ve always thought that the Polkey’s Mill mooring might have been a wharf, hence the big posts for the wherries and larger boats. I’m probably wrong!

Enjoyed your tale, it reminded me of the time we hired back in 2000 when my Dad was over from Australia. He would have been 82 then but a remarkably fit 82 year old. Happy thoughts. 

[Meantime]

Polkeys Mill mooring was installed by the BA about 10 or so years ago, maybe a little more. The high timbers were installed at that time and are there to stop boats riding over the edge on a high tide. Prior to that there was no mooring there.

It's an interesting place to stop because you can explore the history of the various different types of water pumps that have been used over the years to drain the marshes from the wind pump, steam pump to the more modern electric pump.

The mooring opened in the Summer of 2007

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Meantime
To add the date of the mooring opening.

[YnysMon]

I could see why they had installed those posts at Polkey's Mill. It was pretty impressive seeing how quickly the tide rose again after low tide, rising quickly even whilst still flowing out to sea. If it hadn't been for those high timbers I would have been worried, as we were still quite a few hours before high tide when we settled for the night.

[Meantime]

Its a very strange effect to witness. Basically the incoming tide tries to hold back the outgoing tide which flows out over the top of the incoming tide, until it reaches a point where the incoming tide is high enough to start pushing the current back up stream. Once that happens the rate at which the tide rises tends to slow down dramatically.

[YnysMon]

Thanks for that explanation Meantime. I must admit that the sight of the tide rising so quickly during the first hour after low tide had me a bit worried. If the rate of rise hadn't slowed, it would have overtopped even those posts!

[Helian]

We stopped there for lunch 5 weeks ago. A good alternative to Berny. Would happily moor there overnight, but use spring lines.

Tide flows fast there as one of R########s finest discovered when they managed to hit us despite about 100m vacant quay heading to aim for in front of us, but misjudged tidal flow ...

[YnysMon]

Spring lines a must! Can’t imagine what it would be like on that mooring without. The tide there is pretty speedy. We were speculating what would happen if someone fell in there. We reckoned they’d be half way to Yarmouth (or Reedham) before they got rescued! 

[YnysMon]

The tale of Trip 8 - October to November 2021

 

Saturday 30th October

On this trip: me, Graham, eldest son Harry and dog Seren.

We weren’t that quick getting away this morning. It was getting on for 10am by the time we had packed the car etc. The traffic was reasonable, though we did notice that the traffic in the other direction was pretty heavy – half-term holiday makers on their way home perhaps?

We had brunch in La Hogue Farm Café. It was fairly busy, but we didn’t feel too crowded and unsafe despite lots of people entering not wearing masks.

As the car was packed to the gunnels, and I wanted to do a bigger shop than usual to cater for the first five days or so, we went to Brooms before doing our food shop and unloaded the contents of the car onto the boat without sorting anything out. Normally we have a 2pm pick-up time for the boat, but the people before us had left a day early and had cleaned the boat themselves (spik and span), so we didn’t have to wait for the cleaners to finish. Once stuff was dumped we drove to Hoveton to do our shop in Roys. The real reason for going to Hoveton was that Graham wanted to visit the chandlery (Brian Wards being closed on Saturday)  to get some varnish and a few other bits and pieces. He was planning to sand-down and re-varnish some of the interior woodwork in the boat, following a discussion at our AGM.

I really enjoyed doing the shop in Roys instead of the Thorpe Sainsbury's. It felt like part of the holiday rather than just doing the food shop. It’s lovely to be able to pick up more local produce than you can in the larger supermarkets. We got some Cromer crab, Norfolk smoked mackerel and a selection of Norfolk cheeses, Norfolk bacon, sausages and ham as well as a selection of Roy’s baked goods.

We didn’t get back on the boat until late afternoon, a little too close to sunset, though I suppose we could have just gone as far as Rockland St Mary, Surlingham Ferry or Bramerton. However, given we have a fortnight, we weren’t in a hurry. Besides, the forecast for Sunday morning wasn’t promising: heavy rain and strong winds, not the sort of weather I like to be about in. I don’t mind the rain, it’s the strong winds that bother me.

Given the amount of stuff we had brought with us, it took us quite a while to sort out the boat before we could relax. Dinner was just an easy pasta with pesto. We watched a little telly: Prof Brian Cox on the Sun and stars, very dumbed down considering it was a co-production with the OU, and then a delightful tour around Harris and Lewis (the Scottish Islands).

An early night was had, though as always I don’t sleep well the first night on the boat. I find the amount of light in the Brooms yard rather much, more so now that we are moored backing onto the main hire area. I kept waking up thinking it was dawning.

[SwanR]

Interesting to read your description of shopping in Roys. It’s definitely less busy in there now. 

[YnysMon]

If I can persuade Graham to make the trip to Hoveton, I'd quite like to do our first food shop in Roys when we are next on the Broads. As I said, it feels more like part of the holiday in comparison to a trip to a 'normal' supermarket. 

It also shows up how little the major supermarkets are doing to support local producers. 

[Graham47]

15 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

If I can persuade Graham to make the trip to Hoveton, I'd quite like to do our first food shop in Roys when we are next on the Broads. As I said, it feels more like part of the holiday in comparison to a trip to a 'normal' supermarket. 

It also shows up how little the major supermarkets are doing to support local producers. 

Looking on the Barnes Brinkcraft webcam this week there have been numerous boats which have arrived in Wroxham and been unable to moor because of the lack of available moorings. Barnes and NBD have both been full of there own boats. The bridge clearance has barely been 6 foot. The Cafe / Dayboat moorings which are normally used as chargeable moorings are occupied by their day boats. The 2 Wroxham Hotel moorings have been occupied by different boats each time I have looked. 

 

 

[Mouldy]

If the pilot isn’t working, can you not moor next to the bridge, where the pilot pick up point is?

[annv]

Hi Helan Your find that Roys submarket does sell local veg where possible. John

[Graham47]

49 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

If the pilot isn’t working, can you not moor next to the bridge, where the pilot pick up point is?

Norfolk Broads Direct had two of their boats double moored on it on Thursday although I couldn’t see any hirers on them.

[YnysMon]

23 minutes ago, annv said:

Hi Helan Your find that Roys submarket does sell local veg where possible. John

Yes, I'd noticed that on previous visits. Another reason I like shopping at Roys.