Freezing

[PaulMargaret]

We have to be back at richardsons a week tomorrow 

[SwanR]

2 minutes ago, WherryNice said:

There is also a visitor mooring at Wayford Marine, £15 overnight charge.

I didn't know that. Whereabouts is this please? Could be useful to know.

[SwanR]

2 minutes ago, PaulMargaret said:

We have to be back at richardsons a week tomorrow 

Ah ... in that case, still plenty of time to explore. I would strongly recommend some time cruising the Ant at a leisurely pace. As well as a trip back to Womack Dyke to see if you can get in at the staithe at Womack Water or down the Dyke itself. And don't forget to turn down Fleet Dyke (opposite St Benet's). There are a couple of stretches of moorings down there which are lovely as well as having a cruise around South Walsham Broad.

[WherryNice]

17 minutes ago, SwanR said:

I didn't know that. Whereabouts is this please? Could be useful to know.

As you approach the bridge you have the large Boatyard on your right which is Wayford Marine, there is an entrance dyke (third dyke/entrance along)which is shared with StayGB and the mooring is on the river at the corner of this entrance dyke. I believe there is signage to mark it.

I think that's the official space but I have seen hire boats in other spots too always worth asking if you need to moor up, I suspect if they can fit you in somewhere then they will.

 

 

[doc]

1 hour ago, PaulMargaret said:

Was going to head towards potter and probably stop half way st Bennett  more or less stopped most places then stay at potter then head back towards stalham stop at Ludham not stopped there yet and not been to Wayford Bridge either

have you stopped at horning? thurne , upton ?

[BrundallNavy]

If your heading down the Ant stop at How Hill and explore the secret garden it’s well worth the effort.  

[PaulMargaret]

9 hours ago, doc said:

have you stopped at horning? thurne , upton ?

Stopped at horning and thurne in the day for a walk but not overnight 

 

[Gracie]

11 hours ago, SwanR said:

 

Sutton Staithe is very nice and a popular place for people spending their final night before going back to Richardson's. 

Absolutely, If you can get the very end mooring it's a lovely view, caught some nice roach and rudd there too. Book a table at the gorgeous Sutton Staithe Hotel for a final meal and a few drinks. It's a lovely little pub and just a very short walk from the mooring x

[PaulMargaret]

3 hours ago, Gracie said:

Absolutely, If you can get the very end mooring it's a lovely view, caught some nice roach and rudd there too. Book a table at the gorgeous Sutton Staithe Hotel for a final meal and a few drinks. It's a lovely little pub and just a very short walk from the mooring x

Sounds nice we stopped at Sutton on our first night but did not know there was a hotel until a walk the following morning been to Walsham again couldn't get in so now at st Bennett for the day

[vanessan]

3 minutes ago, PaulMargaret said:

Sounds nice we stopped at Sutton on our first night but did not know there was a hotel until a walk the following morning been to Walsham again couldn't get in so now at st Bennett for the day

Presumably you mean the Fleet Dyke moorings leading to South Walsham Broad? (There are two sections of formal moorings plus a few wild moorings.) Fleet Dyke usually has a reasonable turnover of its moorings as some people seem to moor up for a short while (maybe for lunch) then move on again. It might be worth trying it again sometime. Nice walks from those moorings, even over to the main part of South Walsham village and Fairhaven Gardens. Two Broads to chug around as well, the outer Broad which you can moor on and the inner Broad which you can’t. 

[SwanR]

St Benet's is a nice mooring especially when the river quietens down in the evening. Until then it's another place for watching the boats go by. And you can get out for a walk over to the mill and the cross. There's been a lot of work done there over the last few years. And your mooring skills must be coming on a treat as it's not always the easiest place to get into. Hope you're enjoying your time afloat a little better now. :)

[PaulMargaret]

5 hours ago, SwanR said:

St Benet's is a nice mooring especially when the river quietens down in the evening. Until then it's another place for watching the boats go by. And you can get out for a walk over to the mill and the cross. There's been a lot of work done there over the last few years. And your mooring skills must be coming on a treat as it's not always the easiest place to get into. Hope you're enjoying your time afloat a little better now. :)

Yes swan I'm still finding it a little difficult to moor but less stressed and not bothered about what other people are thinking like I was at the beginning.

 

[NorfolkNog]

28 minutes ago, PaulMargaret said:

Yes swan I'm still finding it a little difficult to moor but less stressed and not bothered about what other people are thinking like I was at the beginning.

 

I've been on the Broads dozens of times and still don't always get it right. Sounds like you are relaxing more which is good. It's very easy to watch what other people are doing but another thing doing it! Simple advice, try to approach the mooring slowly, come in against the tide if you're on the main river and have one of you ready on deck with ropes (both if possible). Practice does help honest! 

Presume you are a bit warmer now? 

[YnysMon]

Oh yes!  The whole stress of people watching you moor up. Thinking back, I’m so glad we had our first short break on a motor boat on the Broads first week of the season (March...and freezing!). It’s so much easier when no one is watching!
We had hired a sailing boat the previous summer, but it’s like people expect you to mess up on one of those. We got stuck in a tree one year, and had to be towed off...how embarrassing!

Im sure if you prodded NBN regulars we’d all have our ‘embarrassing moments’ to relate. Funny how they stick in your memory as the notable features of each year’s holiday. Always amusing in hindsight.

[SwanR]

11 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Im sure if you prodded NBN regulars we’d all have our ‘embarrassing moments’ to relate

I totally messed up in Thurne Dyke this time last year. I was really struggling against the wind and being blown across the Dyke. The bow thrusters were no match for the wind as we were on a high sided boat. And the chap on the boat facing me just stood in his bow fishing! He could so easily have come round to help but he seemingly preferred to watch me struggle.

Conversely my best ever mooring is still clear in my mind. Stern on in between two other boats at Ranworth Staithe on Fair Prince. 

I hope you will have good memories by the time you get to handing the boat back next week PaulMargaret. I’m sure you will. 

[ZimbiIV]

The problem with mooring is nobody sees the perfect mooring you make BUT the world and everybody else sees the ones that go wrong,

It's a bit like parking a car you are perfectly central in the bay but if someone is looking you are not.

An old hand once told me, if you have not damaged anything and your boat is still floating it is a perfect mooring!

I tried to teach the son in law to moor, he was doing really well until I turned to tell his daughter to step off when he hit the throttle and turned the wheel to the bank, she nearly got an early bath! He never got the helm again when we had a boat.

paul 

[PaulMargaret]

15 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

I've been on the Broads dozens of times and still don't always get it right. Sounds like you are relaxing more which is good. It's very easy to watch what other people are doing but another thing doing it! Simple advice, try to approach the mooring slowly, come in against the tide if you're on the main river and have one of you ready on deck with ropes (both if possible). Practice does help honest! 

Presume you are a bit warmer now? 

Yes everything a lot better now mooring heating think I would probably have jacked it all in if it wasn't for you guys on this forum so thankyou.

We stayed overnight at St Bennett and it was great to wake up this morning look out of the window and watch an otter playing.

We are now back at potter for supplies going to try and moor at Ludham Bridge tomorrow.

[Guest Jayfire]

Glad you're enjoying your holiday Paul and Margaret. I'm not going to say I told you that you would 

[SwanR]

I was over at Potter Heigham earlier. There were quite a few boats arriving that just got moored up before the rain came down. 

Went into BridgeStone's for something to eat. Can highly recommend them. Food and service is always good and their social distancing etc. is spot on.

[PaulMargaret]

3 hours ago, SwanR said:

I was over at Potter Heigham earlier. There were quite a few boats arriving that just got moored up before the rain came down. 

Went into BridgeStone's for something to eat. Can highly recommend them. Food and service is always good and their social distancing etc. is spot on.

We arrived just before the rain suprised you didn't see  us stargem 2

[SwanR]

Ah ... clearly wasn’t paying enough attention to which boat you were on!! 

I think I did see you slot that very nicely into the moorings. I noticed the little orange boat arrive before the queue and the chaos caused by the little wooden boat sitting right in the middle of a large space. Two boats hung around for quite a while waiting to get in. One was from Barnes Brinkcraft and looked like they were getting blown all over the place including up against your boat. 

If that was you then that was very nicely done. 

 

[Gracie]

Jean you only had to look out for the couple on Star Gem 2 who seem to think they're making a complete hash of it all but are actually doing very well for first timers, very well indeed  x

 

[doc]

5 hours ago, PaulMargaret said:

Yes everything a lot better now mooring heating think I would probably have jacked it all in if it wasn't for you guys on this forum so thankyou.

We stayed overnight at St Bennett and it was great to wake up this morning look out of the window and watch an otter playing.

We are now back at potter for supplies going to try and moor at Ludham Bridge tomorrow.

glad mow enjoying it -- if there's someone with a camera at the bridge ask them to put it down and take a rope 

 

[MrBlueSky]

Unfortunately I,ve noticed that people are at less keen to lend a hand when you're mooring up at the moment 

[PaulMargaret]

1 hour ago, SwanR said:

Ah ... clearly wasn’t paying enough attention to which boat you were on!! 

I think I did see you slot that very nicely into the moorings. I noticed the little orange boat arrive before the queue and the chaos caused by the little wooden boat sitting right in the middle of a large space. Two boats hung around for quite a while waiting to get in. One was from Barnes Brinkcraft and looked like they were getting blown all over the place including up against your boat. 

If that was you then that was very nicely done. 

 

Yes that was me I help the barns brinkcraft moor up in front of us