Four Days In September 2020, In Pictures.

[Jonathan]

I left home early on Monday morning (7th), aiming to arrive at Brundall at 7:00.  It was light at around 5:00 and the bright blue sky was encouraging, but as I got close to Norwich it became overcast and quite foggy.  My friends, Pauline and Mervyn, were already drinking tea and thinking about breakfast when I arrived at their shared-ownership boat, so that started my relaxing “unwind” into this trip.  With breakfast completed and after a walk to the Co-op the fog had had time to lift again when we set off.

The grey sky persisted, and it began to drizzle almost immediately. This became the theme for the following days too; engine on caused grey sky, engine off meant sunshine, but we had ways to cope with the rain.

Further down the river Yare I spotted a forum name but not until they were well past!

And, even though we were not hurrying, it seemed like we were soon on the Chet.

We stopped at Pyes Mill and walked around Lodden and the local area.

Tuesday started brightly.

But clouded over again as we re negotiated the Chet and turned right for Beccles.   With hot water and showers completed the grey overcast continued as we turned up the River Waveney.

As soon as we moored at Beccles the sun began to shine, and we enjoyed a walk around the town, collecting supplies as we did so.  The sunshine brightened the evening too. … I think it was the sunshine!

It continued to be clear and bright on Wednesday morning in Beccles.

With clouds rolling in again as we set off.

The barges on the Yare were struggling with the wind and tide, making little progress and occupying a lot of the river.

Rockland was our destination.

Where, the next morning was bright again, and Mervyn was able to enjoy some fishing before a later start.

Some of the locals were fishing too:

We meandered past Brundall via Bargate broad and slowly on to Whitlingham where a U-turn began a return to the home mooring.
During that final journey I saw a kingfisher at rest.  We had spotted several over the few days but they move quickly!

Once moored in Brundall, cars were packed and the boat cleaned.  Several times during this visit we had remarked at the clarity of the water at various locations.  The boatyard was no exception and whilst tidying up we noticed some large fish next to the boat.  I would guess that they were between 18 inches and 2 feet long.  Someone in the boatyard suggested that they were Mullet

The journey home was slowed by school traffic in Brundall and several tractors on the A140, but I was not in a hurry to get home.

Many thanks to Pauline and Mervyn for their hospitality and the copious supplies of food and drink throughout the four days.

 

 

[SwanR]

Lovely photos. How wonderful to see that kingfisher posing for you. Sounds like you had a nice trip. 

[vanessan]

1 hour ago, SwanR said:

Lovely photos. How wonderful to see that kingfisher posing for you. Sounds like you had a nice trip. 

Did you mean Sweet Kingfisher as in picture no 4? I wonder if that was before Ian bumped his head 🤕! 

[Jonathan]

No, the bump was a week or more earlier, and although Sweet Kingfisher was moving quickly enough to flash past without me noticing the name (actually, I was a bit slow) it was not moving as fast as the birds.

[vanessan]

59 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

it was not moving as fast as the birds.

I should hope not! 
(Lovely photos by the way. Meant to say that in my last post.)

[YnysMon]

Thanks for posting. Lovely photos (especially the one of the kingfisher) and interesting to hear a perspective from a guest on a syndicate boat.