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A HOLIDAY OF TWO HALVES


Guest DAYTONA-BILL

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

What use to be Buccaneer boats basin. This brought back happy memories of October 1977 when we picked up "Gold Pieces" from here. She was a Seamaster 25, and was the first boat i`d hired in my name.

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

The rail bridge to the east of Thorpe river green. This bridge gives fishermen prcious little protection from pouring rain.

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

Thursday morning, and we awake to the usual mixture of broken clouds and patchy blue skies. There`s nothing much to do at Rockland staithe, so we have a leisurely breakfast, followed by a quick photographic session of Swallow at the staithe, and a wander around the staithe and a look at other boats, which there were`nt many. I`d got chatting to a guy on a private boat that i`d seen for sale in one of the brokerage websites, so asked if he`d had any problems with it. It turned out when he bought it, he spent months doing it up, as it had`nt been properly looked after, so fore warned is fore armed as they say, so when we look at boats in brokerage yards etc, it gave me ideas of what and where to look. cheers mate. By this time, one of our neighbours for the previous night, Pacific Star had already gone, and we were looking to get going before 10am so we would have the ebb under us so we could keep the revs down and have an economical as well as leisurely cruise down to Reedham for lunch, and then take the flood tide back up river, and into the Chet for Loddon. I got back to the boat and did the usual engine checks, and fired up the the trusty Perkins and went outside to untie when our Neighbour on Moonlight Shadow invited us onboard to have a look around. As many will know, and as stated in one of the posts above, "Moonlight Shadow" is a "syndicate" boat through BCBM boat management, and is immaculately turned out, and for anyboady who cannot afford the outright purchase AND high annual running costs of a boat on the Broads, they represent an excellent way of boating on a budget, and is something i`ve considered on and off for some years, and when we looked over Moonlight Shadow, i have to admit to thinking "maybe we should go down that route ourselves?". After bidding our neighbour farewell, we untied the stern lines, but the mudweight was well and truly stuck. No matter how hard i tried, she just would`nt come free, so a little trick i learned years ago, was to go slowly ahead for a few yds, and then into neutral, and the suction was broken. The mudweight came up nice and easily, but i pulled something, and was aching for several days after. Strange how it did`nt hurt when the thing was stuck, but when it was free, that`s when i pulled it. Message to self, if we DO ever get a boat of our own, fit an electric windlass. As we slowly moved out of Rockland staithe and into the dyke to the Broad, it`s apparent that somebody has had an accident with one of the local boats. An Eastwood 24 moored on the southern bank has had its gunwhale rubbing strake ripped off, with the steel strip being bent right back and into the channell. The only 2 boats that left the staithe which were large enough to exert such a force to inflict such damage, were Richardson`s "Bolero", and "Pacific Star" form Pacific cruisers. I wonder if they knew they`d done it, and also wonder whether they reported it?. Once back into the main river, we were once again a lonely little boat, though not for so long this time, as several Brundall based hire boats were making their way back up river, probably to hand over in the morning, or stay nearer Brundall, ready to go back on Saturday. As we were enjoying our gentle cruise down river, we notice the pontoon moorings on the west bank for the restored mill, and see the sign saying £5.00 for ovrernight mooring. Another one to remember if we`re looking for somewhere well away from a built up area, and i think they may have had leccy hook-up too. The rest of the run to Reedham was peaceful and relaxing, and as we approach the swing bridge we turn and head up tide to our chosen mooring spot, and again Swallow glided in on tickover revs and we`re moored for our last lunch afloat. Conveniently, we moored right near a water hose, which was not being used, so we take the chance to fill her up before settling down for lunch. After lunch was had, and everything was squared away, we decided to go for a walk to see if any of the forumites were on there boats at the marina, but alas when we got there the cupboard was bare. Not a soul in sight, so we headed back to the boat, which as it turned out was a good plan, as just as we got there, the rain started to come down again. We left Reedham for the last time this year, and head upriver with the flood passing the ferry, which for some reason this year, seemed completely inactive. A little further up river, and the Chet comes into view, so in we went. Yet again, for some reason, the Chet seems narrower than it did when we came it a few days earlier. I think it must be coming from the widest river on the broads, into the narrowest, and because it`s low tide still, you can`t see over the reeds or banks, so its easy does it. By this time the rain had stopped, and we had the roof open, probably for the last time, so as they say, make hay while the sun shines. But it did`nt shine for long, as after our gentle cruise up this beatiful little river, we`re passing the moorings at Pye`s mill and the boatyards come into view, and it was at this time the Heavens opened again. I did`nt want to get drenched trying to moor, so we decided to run upriver on tickover untill the rain shower stopped, which it did just as we reached the head of the river at the Staithe. We turned round, and slowly went back down river to our home yard (Maffett Cruisers) where we were going to moor for the night. Just a s we neared the yard, the sun came out, so the roof was opened again for ease of mooring, and we gently reversed into the basin for the final time this year. All tied up and it`s off and finished with engines for another year. We`re greeted by Lynda who was watching us come upriver in the rain and laughing that we`ll get soaked mooring up, but we timed it well, and got away with it. We got the keys to my car, so started to pack things away, and got Swallow looking all ship shape, and left the bare essentials ready for the morning. I`ve been hiring from Maffett cruiseers for years and love the fact they treat their customers as friends, and are always very happy to know you`ve had a great holiday, and are equally as happy to stop and talk about things that are going on, both with you the customer, and them with their buisness. Years ago, i hired the Kingfisher, and when we returned her to the yard on the friday, we all sat chatting on board till the late hours, and its things like this that makes them a pleasure to deal with. After we got the car mostly packed up, it was early evening, so Karen and i decided on fish and chips for dinner, so it was a quick drive round to the chippy, and back to the boat. After dinner, John came round to check the deisel as it would save him time in the morning, so yet again, we were chatting while getting Swallow ready for her next visitors. I did the engine checks ready fior the next day, as he dipped the tanks and refilled them. By now, we`d lost Karen and Lynda, but were soon found sitting in their caravan chatting about Karen parents caravans and the fun they`d had in them. John and i joined in the conversation, and before we knew it we`d wittled the evening away, so much so, that it was in fact the early hours of Friay morning. This is the sort of friendship you get from this small family run buisness. We bid goodnight to eachother, and headed back into Swallow for our final night afloat this year, after all, it was by now nearly 1am. Good night all.

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Neil,

Thorughly enjoyed reading your holiday tales and viewing the photos.

Langley Dyke caught my interest, I have been boating on the Norfolk Broads for 40 years and thought I new every mooring spot.

Where is the entrance to Langley Dyke ? is it nice and quiet for an overnight stay. Is it far to walk to the Abbey.

Regards

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

Hi Mark, thanks for your interrest and kind words. Langley dyke is off the west bank of the Yare about a mile above Cantley sugar factory. It`s not very long at between a quarter and a half mile in length, and with excellent moorings at the head. The Abbey entrance is about 100yds to the north of the road entrance to the dyke. In fact you can see the abbey just over the field that runs by the north bank of the dyke. The river entrance to the dyke is not very wide, and it seems as though the dyke is wider at its head, but always take care when entering the dyke in strong tidal conditions, as there are private moorings at the dyke mouth, and you could quite easily be accidentally blown into them. In fact, if you were going with the tide, it would probably be better to go past the entrance and turn back and enter the dyke while going AGAINST the tide. When are you next going Mark, and what boat have you got?. Regards ..................... Neil.

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

Thanks Jupes. it`s not finished yet, as it says, it`s a holiday of two halves. It`s nice to hear from you again, and it was a great shame you could`nt be at the meet. It would have been great to have said hello, but i hope we`ll meet up in the future. Regards and best wishes ............... Neil.

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Guest DAYTONA-BILL

Friday morning, and we wake up to a nice bright sunny morning. It`s always very sad to leave a boat and do the long drive home, knowing full well we`ve got to wait another year for our next holiday on the Broads. We`d done most of the packing last night, so there was very little to pack away, so all we had to do was to clean the boat ready to be handed back. I`d done the usual engine checks the night before when John did the pump out and fuel fill up, so there was precious little for Lynda to do. We did`nt have breakfast on board as we`d planned to go into Loddon and have breakfast at Rosie Lea`s, so we had a last cup of tea, got the last couple of bags packed in the car, and asked if was ok to leave the car there, while we walked to the village and had yet another one of Carolines very tasty breakfasts. After eating the usual belly buster "full english", it was up to the local butchers for some locally produced meats. This butcher is well known for his high quality LOCALLY reared meats and meat products, and as usual, i wanted to by the whole lot, but Karen keeps a level head and buys enough to keep us going for a few days. We start walking back to the car, and by now, Karens foot (which is still recovering) is starting to tell the tale, so we take a slow walk back to the car ready for the off. On the way past Rosie Lea`s, Caroline comes running out of the shop telling us Lynda has been trying to get hold of me, but because Virgin mobiles signal is non existant over most of Broadland, we don`t get the call, so she leaves a message that she`s had to join John on a dive somewhere. We get back to the car, pick up something they`ve left for us and Leave Swallow for the last time this year. At this time, i`m usually contemplating a long drive home, but this time is different, this time, we`re NOT going home. This time, we`re driving further up into Norfolk, because this as titled is "A HOLIDAY OF TWO HALVES, and we`re about to start the second half. A holiday we`ve never done before.

Part 2 will begin shortly. See you later.

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:wave hi neil you must have sore fingers writing all that lot, it sounds like you had a really nice time, i know what you mean about being sad about having to wait til another year, i always feel sad when i have to leave, me & my sister always have a silly little ritual when we come on our hols, we usually go back to the boat yard on the last night & then get up early & take the boat out again for a last spin just to say goodbye :cry but we are coming in september for our hols & looking forwards to it. cheersbar lori
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