Grendels Deferred May Broads Holiday

[grendel]

Well for some strange reason my boating booking for may was deferred, today is the first day of my boating holiday aboard Jayne2 from Marthams.

After a remarkably quick run from kent in just 3 1/2 hours at 60mph all the way (i was in no hurry) the car smoking like timbo for the first 50 miles as it was the first run of any distance it had done for a few months. I arrived a little early at Marthams- 11.30 to be precise.

as the boat had only come back in from hire that morning i was informed it was ready, but needed to be fogged again (they fog the boats after the hirers depart, then the cleaners can go aboard, and the maintenance staff can deal with any mechanical issues that had cropped up, so I had to wait a further 30 minutes after the fogging for it to work (they fog again after their staff have done all their work, to protect the outward bound customer. As a returning customer, the handover was simply a matter of two signatures. and it was time to head off, I doubled the head rope back to the front cleat, and then started the engine, after casting off the stern rope, the wind caught me and took me sideways across the dyke, leaving about 2 foot spare between me and the yacht behind, acting as if i had meant to turn i feathered the front carefully round with short bursts of forward throttle, and spun her in the width of the marthams dyke, timing my departure from the dyke to coincide with when my bow was pointed correctly,

I turned left and headed for Potter heigham, watching out for the fishermen on the way, my dont some of them have long pole rods, one was well into my half of the river, seemingly trying to fish the far bank from where he was sat, this meant there was nearly 50 foot of pole sticking out from the bank, and not too highly visible either. hugging the starboard bank I slowly pootled to potter, where i did my first solo mooring of the trip, I missed snagging a post from the front cockpit, but handily snagged one at the rear of the boat when I got there just as the rear had drifted close enough, bow rope in hand I headed for the stern, stepped off and tied up, at which point someone stepped up to slacken the stern mooring line as i tightened the bow line. many thanks.

after a quick trip to Lathams where i managed to limit my purchases to a few essentials, (only £15 ) I headed back to jayne 2 and swiftly cast off, demonstrated her really impressive turning ability and headed back to Marthams, sticking to the centre of the river to avoid all those fishermen again, past Marthams then I had a choice, carry on to west somerton (apparently the weed on hickling broad is worse than west somerton as it has recently been cut) or take a left and see if there was a slot open at white slea, there wasnt but there was plenty of room at deep go dyke, managed to hook the post at the front this time, so around the post and tie back to the cleat, then look to the stern, unfortunatley the back end of the boat was quite far from the bank, and the stern ropes so short I couldnt walk all the way to where the gap was wide enough to step ashore, never mind the current was swinging the stern over slowly so it wasnt long before she was safely moored up, now it was time to unpack my bags, load all the food into cupboards and generally get things shipshape. 

Then time to catch up on the forum. soon it will be time to decide what to have for tea

pictures may get posted here, or may wait until i get home, it depends if i have remembered the correct cables

[YnysMon]

Great to hear that you are back on the rivers again Grendel. Have a good time. Hope the weather is kind to you. Are you planning to stay up north? We will hopefully be on Water Rail down south from Friday to Monday, thanks to Dave’s generosity.

[grendel]

yes planning to stay up north as I will be next on the waters a week after I get back, on water rail, when I can do the south.

While I was waiting at marthams, I got chatting to the old gent who had turned up, Gordon can remember when they laid the keels and built many of the boats, he is also a great one for customer service, and happy to chat to the customers. to say marthams were busy would be an understatement, they are going flat out, so much so they are not open on sundays as they are all too tired and need the break.

[YnysMon]

Very good news that Marthams are so busy. I did spot some of their boats on the rivers when we were there week before last. More than usual that is. The additional precautions are causing extra work, but the boat yards must be so relieved to be able to open again. 

[grendel]

i think they were grateful that i was having jayne for 11 days as it saves one cleaning session for them

[JanetAnne]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

  As a returning customer, the handover was simply a matter of two signatures. and it was time to head off...

 

Someones let you loose in a boat again?

[Guest Jayfire]

9 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

Someones let you loose in a boat again?

Scuba gear was a requirement of booking 

[JanetAnne]

Have you seen his new 'boating' t shirt though? I rest my case... lol

[Guest Jayfire]

10 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

Have you seen his new 'boating' t shirt though? I rest my case... lol

I don't believe I have had the pleasure of that sight, I do hope it's wash label states it is designed for cold soaks however and for God's sake don't let it shrink it the wash 

Sorry Grendel duck 

[CambridgeCabby]

Thought this may be useful for you Grendel 

[grendel]

the image is on my computer at home, its on a thread here somewhere

[grendel]

1 minute ago, CambridgeCabby said:

Thought this may be useful for you Grendel 

already bumped once, i now know to duck.

[Guest Jayfire]

You'll be OK this time G, no aggressive low lying walls above "that bridge" ready to jump out at you. They all stay further south 

[PCL023]

Hey Grendel, have a great time. White Slea may be occupied by Nice One. Just caught up with them. 

Keep the thread going keeping us updated on your travels. 

Enjoy 

Cheers 

Paul 

[MauriceMynah]

3 minutes ago, grendel said:

already bumped once, i now know to duck.

Well Jayfire already warned you about that!

12 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

Sorry Grendel duck 

Told you!

[Guest Jayfire]

2 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Well Jayfire already warned you about that!

Told you!

Ahh but did he know because he read my warning here

Or did he only know AFTER he read my warning here, just as in your own thread??? 

Alright G duck?

[grendel]

9 minutes ago, PCL023 said:

Hey Grendel, have a great time. White Slea may be occupied by Nice One. Just caught up with them. 

Keep the thread going keeping us updated on your travels. 

Enjoy 

Cheers 

Paul 

i just saw it was occupied when i arrived, but there is plenty of space at deep go dyke, just the two boats here tonight

[Polly]

Have a great time!

[YnysMon]

Ah, Deep Go Dyke. One of my favourite moorings. Enjoy!

[Guest Jayfire]

Always. Always. Go deep 

Edit....Oops, how on Earth did my message delete the words "go dyke" 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Jayfire
oops

[grendel]

i awoke some time in the middle of the night, and the astronomer in me took over, so i opened the roof hatch and stuck my head out for a look-see.

The comet was spectacular, the tail viewed from a site with little light pollution was longer than i had imagined.

But then i turned to have a look at what else was being presented, a stunning view of the milky way just overhead, and the waters were so still, i could see its reflection on the water, truly spectacular.

[Timbo]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

a stunning view of the milky way just overhead

Oh hell, he's got the munchies!

[BroadAmbition]

Well he's gonna need a family pack.  They have certainly reduced in size over the years

Griff

[Guest Jayfire]

35 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

certainly reduced in size over the years

Unlike our Grendel 

[Polly]

You lot have got no poetry in your souls!😋