Back On Goosander For A Few Days

[DAVIDH]

I am currently on Goosander, so i thought I would try writing a true blog, rather than a recap when I get home. (it's Wednesday as I write) I arrived on Sunday around midday after the most traffic free journey i can remember. From Leeds. my fastest time was 4.5 hours, with a 20 minute stop en-route. This time, just 4 hours, I set off at 8am, but what with no holiday traffic, no tractors and perhaps many people still in bed, it was bliss. It took me an hour to unload the car and then load up the boat. Less choice of clothing for all weathers needed in winter, but more seasonal equpiment, such as a convection heater for use at moorings with electric posts. I had a meal at the Ferry, mainly because I didn't feel like trudging in the rain to The New Inn. Wasn't expecting much as the Sunday carvery was coming to a close, but was pleasantly surprised. The  roast beef was tender, plentiful and not dried out as I had feared. Back to Goosander for the rest of the night. A few images of Wroxham, which I visited in he afternoon. Sure you will guess the location.

[DAVIDH]

Monday morning. 
So it was time to leave Boulter's haven and out into the mighty Bure. Of course, there were no other boats out so I had the river to myself. The rain, which had fallen overnight had thankfully ceased. It really was quite mild but very grey. Lunchtime stop was Neatishead. There was just one other boat about half way down the dyke, so I opted to reverse in (much easier when nobody is watching). It was quite easy as the thrusters kept the stern alongside the  moorings. I had planned to overnight at Sutton Staithe and have a meal at the hotel, so I did'nt go down to the White Horse. I stayed there until around 2pm. Whilst there a kingfisher perched on one of the escape ladders at the end of the quay. The image which follows is the nearest I could get to it. Still, it was a first for me to get one on film. Approaching Sutton Staithe, I was amazed to see 3 other boats on the moorings outside the Hotel. Thankfully, there was still room for one more, next to one of the electric posts, which I gratefully snaffled. I had a walk into Sutton whilst it was like and stumbled on the garden centre. It must have been 20 years ago since i was last there. They didn't remember me. Poor service nowadays. I was back at the boat by 4pm, as it was getting dark. The meal at the Sutton Staithe Hotel was good. I had liver, bacon and onions, with mash and veg. Then back to Goosander for the rest of the evening. 

Lots of cormorants around

Neatishead staithe

Sutton Staithe

[Broads01]

Good to read this David, looking forward to more. I'm pleased to hear the Ferry isn't all bad as when we had the carvery in September it was abysmal. 

[YnysMon]

Love the kingfisher photo.

‘It must have been 20 years ago since i was last there. They didn't remember me. Poor service nowadays.’
Lol.

[DAVIDH]

Tuesday 26th Nov

It's still very mild, if very dull. I am making my way back to Goosander's home base in Horning, as my team, Leeds United, are playing Reading tonight and the game is on Sky. I will take the car back to Wroxham and hopefully watch the match at The Kings Head. So after a cereal breakfast, I disconnected the 240v line and turned Goosander around at the space just before the Sutton Staithe boatyard. It's amazing how easy these manoeuvres are when nobody is watching! I decided to stop for lunch at How Hill, where the moorings were deserted apart from one other boat. The rain was keeping away so i decided to go walk around the trail. Sadly, much of it is closed off in winter, so i had to make do with a walk up to the house and then around the Secret Garden. The only people I met were what looked like a classroom of kids, who gushed passed me at "max" on the decibel scale, notebooks in hand. So back to the boat for lunch and then on past Ludham Bridge before tunning into teh Bure. By 3.30pm I was tied up and electrically connencted at Boulters, so time to relax before setting off for the match. I arrived Wroxham around 15 minutes before it started. Entering The Kings Head I could see the Leeds match was on the screen in the pool room so i headed there. I ended up watching the match with another Leeds United fan, a chap who was currently working in Wroxham. We won 1.0 with almost a last minute goal.

How Hill, The Marshman's Cottage (He wasn't home!)

Overflow car park at Horning

[Guest]

I'm not much of an eater so can't comment on that, but I do like the Ferry at Horning. I think it gets a little unfair criticism, but glad you liked it.

Have a great time mate 

[MauriceMynah]

11 hours ago, Jayfire said:

but I do like the Ferry at Horning. I think it gets a little unfair criticism

Agreed !

[Lulu]

We like The Ferry. Good basic pub grub. We don’t want anything fancy. We often have the carvery. Love the gravy! 

[SwanR]

Lovely photos and write up David. Enjoying reading about your time afloat. :)

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Those photo`s from How hill are amazing. The autumn colours especially in the fourth pic of the tree, absolutely stunning.

[DAVIDH]

Wednesday 27th November

It had been very mild overnight, but still thick cloud up above this morning. I've forgotten what the sun looks like! I wanted to get to Potter Heigham and back to Ranworth today, so I set off from Boulters around 10am, after filling up with water. I've got into a routine of listening to  5 Live in the morning, with Emma Barnett, who is like a Rottweiler, getting her teeth into some of the things the politicians say. She never lets an untruth pass by without challenge. In the afternoon, I listen to music from my phone, which is channeled through the radio speakers on  Goosander. I can't get "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I out of my head at the moment. If you haven't heard it yest, just enter the name into Youtube and prepare to be surprised! I arrived at Potter and found I had to share the moorings with just one other boat. The water was very high, making the jump off Goosander, a little precarious. Bridgestones was calling, so after walking around Lathams to see what I didn't need to buy, I arrived in my favourite cake shop, spied the "cake showroom" and chose a dark chocolate fudge cake to accompany my latte. It was around 1.30pm on a Wednesday afternoon and the place was packed. You have to admire the operation. The owners have made a great business from a standing start just a few years ago. By 2pm, I was on my way again, heading from Ranworth. The rain had started to fall again, but the sounds from my phone were distracting enough to ignore it. It  was just starting to get dark when I arrived at Ranworth. I moored on the front, with just one other boat in close proximity. The Maltsters provided my evening meal, where I had a sort of beef stew, followed by a dark chocolate and raspberry torte, with ice cream on the side. Very nice! By 9pm, I was suitable stuffed and heading back to Goosander for the night.

Thurne Windpump

Potter Heigham

You can see how high the water was below. The task of getting from the moorings to the main road, was not easy.

What can I say?

It wasn't my fault guv, they forced me to eat it!

Boats everywhere in Herbert Woods yard

A hint of the weather to come, on the horizon

Safely tucked up at Ranworth , with a lovely view of the Broad

[VetChugger]

32 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

I can't get "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I out of my head at the moment. If you haven't heard it yest, just enter the name into Youtube and prepare to be surprised!

I did and wish I hadn't! Thanks David!  

[DAVIDH]

Sorry Vetchugger. Might not mean much nowadays but it's been top of the charts for weeks and weeks now! 

[SwanR]

We enjoy being able to stop for coffee whenever we’re out. BridgeStone’s is one of the reasons we enjoy visiting Potter Heigham quite often. 
Interesting to see the water levels are still high. I’m not sure they’ve gone back down since we were out about six weeks ago now. 

[DAVIDH]

1 hour ago, SwanR said:

We enjoy being able to stop for coffee whenever we’re out. BridgeStone’s is one of the reasons we enjoy visiting Potter Heigham

Me too. 

The water was high all week. When I came to packing up to go home yesterday, the water was over the walkways at Boulters and flooded all the way to the car park behind the buildings

[DAVIDH]

Thursday 28th November

It had rained all night again, and it's a wonder where all this water was coming from. You will see from the photos below, where it was all going! I planned a short cruise up to Wroxham this morning, before returning to Goosander's home base in the afternoon, as I would be leaving for home tomorrow (Friday). As such, there was no need to leave until late in the morning so I decided to go for a walk along the Ranworth nature boardwalk (or whatever it's called). It was all still accessible despite the amount of rain that had fallen. I was hoping perhaps to stumble upon the odd furry animal or feathered creature, but alas it seems Lathams had ran out of umbrellas and they all stayed home out of the rain. I made my way back to Goosander and cast off around 11am. On the way to Wroxham I passed Thunder and what looked like the ex-Grande Girl from Summercraft. It was still in it's distinctive colours but all hints of a name or owner had been removed. On the way into Wroxham, there were fishing boats out every few hundred yards, so I ended up weaving from side to side to avoid their lines. Is that really why yachts behave in this way. Are they avoiding imaginary fishing boats? 

Moving on quickly. I moored at the pilot's square adjacent to the Wroxham Hotel. It's free and unused between November and April. I stayed for around 1.5 hours before setting off back to Boulters. This would be the third time this break. I think Goosander knew the way and could have berthed herself by now. I decided to walk to the New Inn for my evening meal, arriving around 6.30pm. It was already quite full, but I was able to bag a table near to the fireplace. Within 30 minutes the place was buzzing with people. I had Spaghetti Bolognese, which made a change from the mostly everything with chips you see in the riverside pubs. By 8pm, I was ready to return to the boat so I surrendered my table to  some late comers and head off back to Goosander for the last night aboard. It was noticeable chillier than of late, so I was glad of the electric hook up. That's all for now. Just a little more tomorrow!

All by myself, We're all alone, Alone again naturally, and many other songs which would fit it!

On the way to the boardwalk

Along the nature trail

Look how wet it is!

The mooring in Wroxham. Very high to get off again

All lit up, the Ferry at Horning

[CambridgeCabby]

Taxi rank looks inviting 

[SwanR]

I would definitely be struggling to get off with the water that high. We have a little fold up stool we take with us these days ... just in case!

[DAVIDH]

I have one too Jean. Unfortunately, I left it at home as I never thought the rivers would be so high. Lesson learned!

[johnash]

14 hours ago, SwanR said:

I would definitely be struggling to get off with the water that high. We have a little fold up stool we take with us these days ... just in case!

Great idea! I've put it on our "take or buy" list!

[DAVIDH]

Because i was vacating on Friday this time, I could be a little more leisurely about the cleaning. It was still hard work and I prayed for rain so I wouldn't have to spend long on the outside windows. As it was, even after all the rain I had experienced since last Sunday, it was bone dry. So there was no way out of polishing them both inside and out. I finally got away around 12.30pm which made 4 hours of packing, cleaning, refueling and polishing. What made it worse was that due to the water being over the boardwalks, the only dry route I had to the car, added about 200 metres to the "journey" each time I took something to load. My car was stood in about 3 inches of water so I ended up with soddened plimsoles and wet socks for my troubles. Thankfully, I was able to change before I set off. 

As usual, my plan was to call at The Yare in Brundall, for lunch before setting off home. Below are the final photos of the day:

Lovely sky this morning

You can see the problems loading up the car (the red Clio)

I had the chicken in batter with sweet and sour sauce and chips at the Yare. It was delicious!