A Week On Zircon Emblem

[SwanR]

So ... time to get this tale concluded.

Sunday was our final day onboard. Having seen some very helpful posts on the forum that there was a sailing race taking place somewhere between Horning, Acle and Potter Heigham, we had positioned ourselves out of the way! It was a nice lazy start at Salhouse Broad, we topped up the water, wrapped up in plenty of layers and decided to take the upper helm. Had a nice cruise in towards Wroxham, turned around without mooring and also with no exact plans for the day. 

It wasn't long before there were a few spots of rain in the air, which didn't come to anything much, but nonetheless it felt like coffee o'clock. No-one was moored at Wroxham Island, the BA mooring by Wroxham Broad with room for only one boat. Perfect! Another "never done before" now ticked off the list. Hubby did a little fishing and I relaxed on board watching the world go by. We really didn't feel inclined to do much so by lunchtime we headed towards Horning and moored in Ferry Marina's waterfront. 

A number of reasons for this. Firstly we could plug into the electric and not have to think about batteries or whether to run the heating etc. Secondly we could go to the Clubhouse again for another excellent lunch. Thirdly we could take our time to pack up later and have a quiet start on Monday morning to hand the boat back over and leave. I know it wouldn't be everyone's choice but it worked really well for us. And those moorings at FM are right on the river so there's still plenty to see, which on this occasion included many sailing boats getting back to Horning, some under tow, some joined together three at a time. Quite a sight.

On the subject of the fishing, which I said I would come back to, there wasn't much biting all week. Talking to someone else moored at FM, he had spoken to some people from either the BA or the Environment Agency, I can't remember which. They said that the high tides has pushed a lot of brackish water up the rivers and that their scans had shown there simply weren't any fish in a lot of places. No wonder hubby hadn't been catching.

Here's a few photos to finish the tale and then I will write a review of the boat

[SwanR]

Review of Zircon Emblem and boating in October

Here's my thoughts on the boat and on being afloat in October generally.

Zircon Emblem is a great boat, which I would hire again but out of my budget usually. Ferry Marina have been offering some good discounts this year so we treated ourselves to an upgrade on what we would otherwise have hired.

Good points:

Large double bed, amazing bathroom with full height shower and domestic flush toilet, in fact very good head height throughout the boat, best we've ever had, a large fridge, a small toaster but better than using the grill all the time, effective warm air heating and very good visibility from the lower helm, wide back doors and steps at the side that help with getting on and off at a side on mooring, plenty of cupboard space.

Less good points (I hesitate to say bad as they wouldn't stop us taking this one again):

Two deep steps in through the back doors, not much room in the bedroom but the larger bed is worth it, the Tracvision tv system couldn't always find a signal and is very noisy, the oven/grill is very small, there isn't a full size cooker as on other boats so depends how much cooking you want to do on board. The worst feature is the table in the living area as it is fixed, so you find yourself having to slide in behind it even to sit and watch tv and it takes up a lot of space.

In summary this is a great boat for out of season because it's warm inside and the lower helm has great visibility. However we have experienced high water levels most Octobers that we have been afloat. The air draft is 8'4 so we didn't chance Ludham Bridge which restricted where we could go. The water was overtopping some moorings and very high up in other places so we didn't want to get stuck the wrong side of the bridge even if we could have got under, which I doubt. However if you want to use the upper helm out of season be prepared to wrap up well, otherwise it's a bit of a waste of having this design of boat.

As for October boating in general, this was the coldest year we've experienced, and we've done it a number of times. You do take the chance with the weather, but that's the same with any season in this country. We took sleeping bags and hot water bottles, thermals, winter jackets and plenty of layers. Mostly the moorings were less busy than they would be in the summer but nowhere near as quiet as they were in March. My new top tip is to take your dressing gowns! Mine kept me very warm and cosy as I tended to wear it over my daytime clothes when sitting on the boat in the evening!

Here's a few photos of the inside of the boat.

 

[SwanR]

And finally ... here's a video of our week afloat for anyone interested to take a look. 

 

[YnysMon]

Thanks Jean. Sounds like you enjoyed yourselves despite the cold weather and lack of fish. 
Helen

[Broads01]

Thanks for your write up and photos Jean. Your interior photos of the boat arw intriguing. The shower room looks amazing - it could be a hotel ensuite. That rear step arrangement looks horrible though and why is the bed that close to the stern door? In the saloon, if you were sat in the corner of the L shape sofa, is there enough headroom? From the photo, the sofa upholstery looks basic so I'd be interested to know how it felt in real life. 

[SwanR]

Thanks for your reply Simon.

21 hours ago, Broads01 said:

The shower room looks amazing - it could be a hotel ensuite.

That is absolutely right. The shower was lovely but I think the toilet certainly used a lot of water. We're always very conservative with our water usage when we're afloat but were filling up the water every day instead of every other day.

21 hours ago, Broads01 said:

That rear step arrangement looks horrible though and why is the bed that close to the stern door?

I was surprised by how deep that back step was and almost tripped over the ledge of the door on one occasion. I don't know whether the depth of the steps made the floor any lower and gave the extra head height. As for the bed being so close to the door I think with it only being 36 feet in length this is how they fitted a large double in. The bed was definitely bigger than the usual double on a boat.

21 hours ago, Broads01 said:

In the saloon, if you were sat in the corner of the L shape sofa, is there enough headroom? From the photo, the sofa upholstery looks basic so I'd be interested to know how it felt in real life.

There is definitely enough head room all through the boat. My husband is 6'4 and on most boats would be wearing a baseball cap all week to avoid banging his head but didn't have any problems on Zircon. However the upholstery is a different matter. It hasn't worn that well and the light colour was a mistake. Chatting to various lads at the yard, the fit out wasn't done by FM. I've checked out the photos of Silent Emblem and Fair Marquess at NBD. I think they're the same boat but they've learnt one or two things about the design of the living area.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Great write up Jean, and a very enjoyable video with a great choice of music. 

You mentioned you also went in March, will you be doing the same next year, as we're on Lightning in March, so if so, we'll keep a look out for you. 

[SwanR]

8 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

You mentioned you also went in March, will you be doing the same next year, as we're on Lightning in March, so if so, we'll keep a look out for you. 

I’m not sure about plans for next year yet. I did love being out in March and would be tempted to choose that over October. I loved the quiet of less boats being out, the solitude of having the moorings to oneself on occasion and the abundant wildlife with the coming of spring. Hmmm  .... must give that some serious consideration. 

[SwanR]

8 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

a very enjoyable video with a great choice of music. 

Thank you for your kind comments. The music always takes me longer to decide on than putting the video together. I’m quite particular about the feel of the finished piece. I chanced on the singer Lizz Wright when I found her version of Southern Nights. 

[Hylander]

 

 

 

 

As for October boating in general, this was the coldest year we've experienced, and we've done it a number of times. You do take the chance with the weather, but that's the same with any season in this country. We took sleeping bags and hot water bottles, thermals, winter jackets and plenty of layers. Mostly the moorings were less busy than they would be in the summer but nowhere near as quiet as they were in March. My new top tip is to take your dressing gowns! Mine kept me very warm and cosy as I tended to wear it over my daytime clothes when sitting on the boat in the evening!

 

I agree Jean,  late or early boating I tend to look like 'Nanook of the north' most of the time wrapped up warm and cosy.      Thank you for the video.   The boat looks wonderful and very hotel like as has been said.