Newfies Afloat

[Tempest]

17 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Amazing. We have had some moorings to ourselves in March, probably 2 or 3 years ago. But I don't think we saw Ranworth empty even then. Hope the rest of your trip goes well. It's definitely been a wet and blustery day.

It's been a tad breezy that's for sure, although we moored at Potter Heigham without issue and likewise Ranworth and the New Inn, Horning albeit I have moored side on at the New Inn as we are the only boat here

 

Before we left Ranworth we were joined by Thunder.

We met friends in the New Inn and Fred and I had gammon, whilst Lisa had salmon and Julie went for the Tika Masala

An absolutely brilliant evening which was made even better as for the first time ever Roxy and Yogi could join us in the New Inn

I recall one December evening sat on the decking freezing with our dogs at the back of the New Inn with one customer sat at the bar and a refusal to let us come inside

That night we moved on to the Swan

Tonight the New Inn is busy, vibrant and we will definitely be back

 

[LizG]

If it's busy and vibrant with just one boat moored the locals must be back?

[Tempest]

Roxy and Yogi got lots of attention in the New Inn

We had one slight issue though when returning to the boat!

We needed our wellies!

 

It was slightly wet!

The joys of winter boating!

Lots of beach towels needed...not for the beach, but to dry wet paws!

We are safely back on board and chilling!!

[Tempest]

2 minutes ago, LizG said:

If it's busy and vibrant with just one boat moored the locals must be back?

Yes very busy

Between 20 and 30 customers inside, with the majority having meals.

Definitely not holiday trade..these are locals and good on them for attracting the locals, because they are the foundations of your business

[SwanR]

I’ve been waiting for the New Inn to get back on its feet a bit and attracting better reviews before giving it a go. Sounds as if it would be worth a visit soon. We were at the Swan a couple of weeks back. Atmosphere was good but the food was mediocre chain pub standard. However the staff couldn’t have worked harder to welcome and look after us. 

[CambridgeCabby]

After just two visits to the New Inn since their reopening it has become a must visit for us on our winter cruises , warm , very welcoming and for the area very well priced , the food whilst not “fine dining” is again very well priced , good portion sized and above the standard of average pub grub .

During warmer times we tend to venture less into pubs for meals , and drinks and set up our own hostelry ashore where moored .

A bonus during the winter cruising is the good chance of a mooring on the green at Horning where electric hook up is available 

[Tempest]

Today was a challenge!

I set my alarm for 7am, in case I overslept as we planned to go back south today and I wanted plenty time to walk the dogs prior to setting off...

It didn't go to plan though as we got up and noted the windscreen was completely covered in snow

I went outside to take a look and there was no way (without deep wellies) we would be taking our dogs through the beer garden at the New Inn this morning as it was completely flooded

Quick change of plan, as I brushed off the snow, cleaned the windows as best I could, switched on the nav lights and off we set towards Ranworth again

We had a look at Cockshoot moorings but they were overtopping also so headed to Ranworth where we successfully moored in our usual spot and were able to take 2 crossed legged dogs for their morning stroll

 We then set off heading south on a day that brought snow, hail stones, rain and bright sunshine!

We had black skies, grey skies and blue skies

We came over Breydon around 1pm and are now sat in the Bell Inn St Olaves with our dogs at our feet and a nice pint in hand

We didn't plan a pub crawl, but it's just nice to sit in the comfort of a welcoming pub in winter, with a roaring fire, doggy treats and water bowl provided

Another pub we haven't visited for over 15 years and the experience is such that we won't be waiting 15 years for our next visit

The only slight issue is we note the moorings appear to also have overtopped recently!

 

 

[SwanR]

Love your photos. It certainly has been a contrast of weather through the day. Beautiful sunny skies this afternoon after wind, rain and hail through the morning. Stay safe and warm this evening. We had a lovely meal at the Bell Inn ourselves earlier in the year. Your post is a nice reminder to make sure we go back at some point.

[YnysMon]

Thanks for the Bell Inn recommendation, another place we haven’t visited yet. Hope you are cozily on electric at St Olaves.

[Tempest]

6 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Hope you are cozily on electric at St Olaves.

We haven't had one evening on an electric post yet

Every evening has been with the webasto heater providing the warmth

(Which has been a bit hit and miss! as the bugger likes to cut out every now and then!)

Tomorrow though we plan to head to Beccles and we will be plugging in!!

 

[Mouldy]

2 minutes ago, Tempest said:

Every evening has been with the webasto heater providing the warmth

(Which has been a bit hit and miss! as the bugger likes to cut out every now and then!)

Doh!!  Thought that had been sorted.  It was like that when we first joined the syndicate.  Suspect it may be a battery issue.

Don't forget that the Harbourmasters office at Beccles will close early for an electric card, unless you already have one.

[Tempest]

Just now, Mouldy said:

Doh!!  Thought that had been sorted.  It was like that when we first joined the syndicate.  Suspect it may be a battery issue.

Don't forget that the Harbourmasters office at Beccles will close early for an electric card, unless you already have one.

It definitely is a battery issue

If I run the engine the webasto works perfect

The batteries sit on around 14.50 volts until you use something and it quickly drops to around 12.50 volts

Drop to below that and the webasto cuts out

It seems as though the domestics aren't holding charge as they start to drop as soon as you turn the engine off and when it gets below 12 volts the webasto cuts out

It's happened 3 times up to now and we have started conserving battery so the heater lasts longer

I didn't even know that the heater used battery...but it obviously does!!

We travelled from Horning to St Olaves today so it should be well charged and when we moored around 3.30pm it was displaying 14.55 volts and now we have the heater on, and the volts are showing 12.62 and dropping...

🙈

[Mouldy]

Something else for Brooms to sort out then!

[petersjoy]

40 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Don't forget that the Harbourmasters office at Beccles will close early for an electric card, unless you already have one

Give them a ring, if you're late and they have gone they will leave a card for you to pick up and sort payment when you are ready to leave.

[Tempest]

3 minutes ago, petersjoy said:

Give them a ring, if you're late and they have gone they will leave a card for you to pick up and sort payment when you are ready to leave.

Cheers Peter

I didn't know that!

Every day is a school day!

😉👍

[petersjoy]

I only know because they did it for Neil and Karen (speedtriple) on Lightning the other week when we met up with them.

Paul.

[YnysMon]

Gosh, I’ve been watching the latest YouTube post from the ‘New Name, Same Me’ lady of the flooding at Potter H today. If it’s like that down south you might be better off on the pontoons at Oulton Broad or Hardley Mill (both have electric) rather than Beccles. It looked a lot worse than we’ve seen before, and we have been to Potter several times when there have been flood warnings. We stopped at OB ourselves last month when the key a Beccles was forecast to overtop, went to Beccles the following day instead.

[ranworthbreeze]

11 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Something else for Brooms to sort out then!

That course of action is a sign of deep pockets and repeated repairs We have been there until we wised up and went elsewhere.

[JanetAnne]

The Waveney is on flood alert for the next few days and the water is certainly expected to be well over the quay at the yacht station at times. It was just over at Oulton Broad yesterday with the tides building up to Sunday before easing back next week.

Bring wellies!

[Tempest]

Anyone know what loddon is like? As we have decided to head up the Yare instead and take in Loddon and Rockland St Mary, with Loddon tonight's destination

We have to compromise with 2 X 65 kilo Newfoundland's to take into consideration

This may be our last winter trip for the dogs with so much flooding around as all they want to do is swim in it!! 🤣😂

[ranworthbreeze]

17 minutes ago, Tempest said:

Anyone know what loddon is like? As we have decided to head up the Yare instead and take in Loddon and Rockland St Mary, with Loddon tonight's destination

We have to compromise with 2 X 65 kilo Newfoundland's to take into consideration

This may be our last winter trip for the dogs with so much flooding around as all they want to do is swim in it!! 🤣😂

We moor at staithe at Rockland St Mary and at Loddon and Loddon has always been one of our favourite locations, both have electric points but they are limited to the end of the staithe at Rockland St Mary.

 

[Bytheriver]

I was by Reedham Swing Bridge at 10am tide already just on the ebb & already showing 10'4" under the bridge & had not been much higher by the looks of it

[PaulN]

7 hours ago, Tempest said:

Anyone know what loddon is like? As we have decided to head up the Yare instead and take in Loddon and Rockland St Mary, with Loddon tonight's destination

We have to compromise with 2 X 65 kilo Newfoundland's to take into consideration

This may be our last winter trip for the dogs with so much flooding around as all they want to do is swim in it!! 🤣😂

Loddon is one of our favourite places, all moorings are stern on and all have electric. A good place to stock up as the Coop supermarket is very close to the moorings. Also our favourite place to eat is the White Horse at Chedgrave, turn right onto the road go over the bridge and only a short walk.

Rockland St Mary has only 4 moorings in reach of the electric, which is one pedestal with 3 electric outlets, several good stern on moorings on the grassed area, but no electric on these

[Tempest]

We are safely tucked up at Loddon, connected to the electric points and the winds have dropped considerably

Just a few fishermen and a yacht

We moored stern on as it's easier for the dogs and keeping the boat clean

We have had some nice walks today and we are going for a chippy tea tonight

We passed Reedham close to high tide this morning and it was good to see the river was not overtopping the quay heading

It was great to have a shower, have a heater that worked whenever you switched it on and a dry calm day 

Today has been extremely relaxing and enjoyable, which allows you to forget the days which aren't so great 

Off to the King's Head now as they allow dogs, for a couple of drinks prior to visiting the chippy across the road 

 

[Tempest]

I know it's frowned upon, but we actually stayed at Loddon for 2 nights as the tides were a real issue, the domestic batteries were a concern, which meant the webasto heater cut out, so we needed shore power and although we had company on the moorings with 2 private boats and a hirecraft from Brooms on the Saturday, there was still plenty room at Loddon staithe 

The evening was lovely and Roxy and Yogi were so relaxed at the very welcoming White Horse Chedgrave

Loddon staithe is particularly pretty at night in December

We had a couple of drinks in the White Horse then made our way to the Raj to collect an Indian meal we had ordered for collection, which we took back to MS

On the Sunday we moved off and made our way to Rockland St Mary as we planned to try the Sunday roast that evening

We noted the river had overtopped at Cantley again

These high tides did make it a challenge for us with 2 large dogs to consider

But Yogi does love sitting on the back watching the world go by

He is really good and to be fair, both have been brilliant

Another view as we approached Cantley

We noted as we came into the mooring at Rockland St Mary, that the quay heading was being renewed near to the electric post, which was certainly an improvement as there is now some hard standing before you reach the grass

As for the welcome and meal in the New Inn?

Outstanding!

Monday we headed back to our mooring in Brundall before Storm Barra arrives as we decided it would be safer all round if we stayed at our home mooring and visited places by car

We have already visited Wroxham/Hoveton and tonight we plan to drive to the Ferry House, Surlingham for our evening meal as we are heading home tomorrow which was always planned as we have a prior engagement back home

This trip has been a challenge at times, we have had to compromise at times, but it has been thoroughly enjoyable and we certainly recommend those who have not tried it before to give some consideration to winter boating