Are You Loyal?

[LondonGuy]

Hi, virgin boater here.

Are you all very loyal to the broads or have you tried other U.K. waterways?

If so, how do they compare?

[Wussername]

7 minutes ago, LondonGuy said:

Hi, virgin boater here.

Are you all very loyal to the broads or have you tried other U.K. waterways?

If so, how do they compare?

Are we loyal to the broads?

Yes. You have got that bit right.

Have we tried other UK waterways.

Probably not, but no doubt some have.

How do they compare?

I think that you are on the wrong forum, ask elsewhere.

Old Wussername.

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

I've been coming  up to the broads since the sixties, and hope to live there also.So yes.

[Lulu]

When i was a kid we did one canal holiday and one on the Thames but the rest of the time on the Broads.   The Broads feels like home to us and not really interested trying elsewhere..., although I am watching a lot of canal vlogs lately and the amount of available moorings you can stay on for days is rather appealing. 

[Gracie]

Yes I am very loyal towards everything in my life, I would never stray or cheat on anything and that includes the Broads. Having said that we did cruise the Yorkshire Ouse once, although very nice it's the Broads we came back to 

I think once the Broads gets in your blood nothing compares to it x

 

[Smoggy]

Every waterway has it's appeal, I started with a weeks hire on the broads and bought a small boat a week later on my local river (gt.ouse), parts of the broads are very pretty and parts are flat with reeds which can wear thin fairly quickly, the Ely enf of gt.ouse is pretty devoid of charm as it's largely straight cuts through desolate fenland (just my opinion) but the tributaries from that section can be lovely.

Gt.ouse has some very pretty parts and none of the hassle of tides but plenty of locks, some love the locks as they can be very sociable but they can make getting anywhere very slow at busy times, after 12 years of them I don't miss the locks at all.

Nene is a very nice river but due to hillier ground than gt.ouse goes into flood much quicker so can be a pain.

Deben has fantastic scenery but limited places to stop as only shoreside option is at woodbridge with a short tidal window, all others are swinging buoy moorings so you need a tender, not a hire river.

Trent is pretty with manned locks, lower tidal reaches need care and planning, same with the yorkshire ouse.

I keep my boat on the southern broads and a good year for me is when I've not been near the northern rivers as I like to head out to sea and get to other places, all of which hold a different appeal.

There's no point being loyal till you've tried a few others as you could be missing out on some great things. (Don't take that as marriage guidance advice)

[Cheesey69]

Started on the Broads.

Got the bug.

Bought a sailing vessel called Astrid.

Sailed around Britain.

Bought an ex hire.

Gonna end on the Broads.

[Sam]

There is something very special about the Broads. I don’t know exactly what it is but you’ll either get it or you won’t. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else and after travelling the world this is where we have ended our journey. I hope you enjoy your holiday and come to love the place as much as we and many thousands of others do.

[TheQ]

Noting this is sailing,

The outer Hebridies on a inland Loch,

The Broads,

Cheddar Sailing club,

The Broads,

The North Sea  off Scarborough.

The Broads,

Cheddar sailing club,

The Broads,

The Minch  (outer Hebridies)

The Broads,

Kielder water,

The Broads

From Ullapool to Blyth, Northumberland

The Broads

Dovecot / Haversham sailing club (Milton Keynes)

The Broads,

Shotwick lake sailing club (Chester)

The Broads

Dovecot / Haversham sailing club 

Gull island Pond (the Falklands)

Dovecot / Haversham sailing club 

The Broads

North Hykeham sailing club (Lincoln)

The Broads

Then I moved to the Broads... Because of the best sailing..

 

 

 

 

[Ray]

Have retired to the Broads which I guess says something, our boat is here and we won't be moving it!

I'm not sure if 'loyal' is the right word, we like it here best but we hired quite a few years ago on the Cambridgeshire rivers and enjoyed it, certainly wouldn't rule out trying other areas as a hirer. The canals don't really call to me but hey, never say never!

[MauriceMynah]

I have owned boats on the river Stort, the Grand Union and the Broads. There are many differences but the one that stands out for me is atmosphere. On the canals, you stop off at a pub to find it populated by people on lunch breaks, people retired, but very few on holiday. the reverse is true of the broads. The majority of people you meet are either on holiday or are assisting those who are. Everyone is happy. It makes for a  much more enjoyable experience. 

[ranworthbreeze]

To be honest although I love my time on the Broads and the memories I have for better times my first love of boating will always be the canals. We spent over 45 years cruising many canals with the last 20 years also cruising on the Broads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vanessan]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

I think once the Broads gets in your blood nothing compares to it

I couldn’t agree more. Bit like a good wine.........🍷

[NorfolkNog]

1 minute ago, vanessan said:

I couldn’t agree more. Bit like a good wine.........🍷

...or gin   

[oldgregg]

I think there's a fair few people on here who have tried lots of different waterways. The Broads is beautiful and it's a fairly unique system but I think trying other cruising areas broadens your horizons somewhat.

People often say to me that they wouldn't want to do a waterway with locks, and yet I've spoken to canal boaters who think that the Broads sounds scary because "it's tidal".

Funny, isn't it.

[Gracie]

I agree about the Broads being unique. There's just something magical about the ruddy place, once you let it in, it stays for good 

As Mrs V pointed out, definitely like a good wine or a naughty man eh  x

[Vaughan]

I grew up on the Broads so it will always be close to my heart.  I have operated hire boats in 15 different areas of the French waterways (all of which are different), 2 in Holland, in Belgium and on the Lagune de Venise in Italy.  Also on the Hudson River and Erie Canal in New York State and the Intracoastal Waterway on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Inland waterways have two categories :

A canal, which is a man-made transport system.

A navigable river, which is made navigable with weirs and locks.  In some countries these are also called canals.

In this respect the Broads is unique to anything else I have seen.  An enclosed system of rivers and lakes, with no locks (of its own) and allowing sailing and other watersports as well as motor boats.  Apart from Holland, there is almost no sailing possible on inland waterways.  Yes, I know about the Thames "A" Raters but even they are restricted to the reaches around Cookham and Bourne End.  The Broads is a boating playground like no other.

Which is my loyalty?

The Broads - by birth - but I naturally have empathy with the Canal du Midi, after 25 years.  I was probably most impressed by the Erie Canal, from Albany to Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain, on the Canadian border.

As for the sea, I prefer not to go to sea in anything under 5000 Tons!

 

[LondonGuy]

2 hours ago, Gracie said:

Yes I am very loyal towards everything in my life, I would never stray or cheat on anything and that includes the Broads. Having said that we did cruise the Yorkshire Ouse once..

 

That's called an "Affair"! 

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

Everyone is happy

Blo*dy well not, the place is inhabited by miserable old gits who are forever complaining and whinging on about the place being called an (insert naughty word) national park and people who get in their way or who go to fast at 4.5 mph or who clutter up their favorite moorings and who hate . . . . . .  . . . . 

[Meantime]

3 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Blo*dy well not, the place is inhabited by miserable old gits who are forever complaining and whinging on about the place being called an (insert naughty word) national park and people who get in their way or who go to fast at 4.5 mph or how clutter up their favorite moorings and who hate . . . . . .  . . . . 

That's just the forums. The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads are a happy place, even if they are a member of the National Parks Family! 

[MauriceMynah]

You can trust the broads, they're looked after by a Dr.

[Guest Jayfire]

2 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

The majority of people you meet are either on holiday or are assisting those who are.

Not me, I only pop to the pub for half a shandy when I need half an hours break from grafting on the boat 

[MauriceMynah]

4 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

Not me, I only pop to the pub for half a shandy when I need half an hours break from grafting on the boat 

Agreed JF. You know, sometimes I feel you and I are just not understood.

[Meantime]

1 minute ago, MauriceMynah said:

Agreed JF. You know, sometimes I feel you and I are just not understood.

What are you trying to say? 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

12 hours ago, LondonGuy said:

Hi, virgin boater here.

Are you all very loyal to the broads or have you tried other U.K. waterways?

If so, how do they compare?

For now as a relative newbie to the broads my first love is still for the canals of the North East. The boats are more colourful and generally older and warmer for winter cruising. There is more to see as you cruise along, pubs are pubs not resturant pubs and it is rare to find one that doesn`t allow dogs inside along the towpaths

That said there are downsides of course. Queueing and arguements at locks in the summer season, idiots thowing pushbikes and shopping trolleys in the water plus there are a lot more liveaboards over staying and leaving all manner of rubbish when they move on to name a few.

Maybe come back and ask me again in three years time and I might have a different view point.