September/October Holiday

[Hockham Admiral]

Our “Indian Summer†holiday actually started a week ago last Wednesday when Mary-Jane took me for a 3-day Birthday-Break to “The Moorhen†in Horning. We arrived via Burgh St Peter where we dropped off clothes and food for our fortnight’s cruise immediately after leaving Horning.

The Moorhen is a B&B on Lower Street facing the Staithe (see pic from our bedroom window) and we cannot but wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who wants a simply superb retreat! The breakfasts were a culinary delight!

We had three meals out, Tuesday at the New Inn, Wednesday at The Swan and Thursday at the Bure River Cottage Fish Restaurant.

At the New Inn we had an old favourite, Steak and Stilton pie.

Wednesday night is Steak Night at the Swan and we both had the sirloin steak, excellent value at £29.95 for two and a bottle of wine! The 9oz sirloins were cooked perfectly and much enjoyed.

Thursday night was a Birthday present from Son and Daughter-in-Law and Mary-Jane had a smoked salmon starter followed by scallops in a wonderful garlic and herb butter. I made do with Tiger Prawns in garlic butter with crusty bread followed by a whole grilled plaice with shrimp butter and vegetables; truly delicious!

During Thursday we drove over to Woodbastwick to pick up the winnings from the Woodforde’s Wherry Trail; you visit 60 pubs and get a numbered stamp in each to win a 36 pint polypin of Woodforde’s… we chose the “Sundewâ€, which is going down very nicely!

Friday morning and off to the WRC to pick up Friday Girl. We left at 10.20 and pushed the flood to Reedham where we had to dramatically reduce revs to keep within the speed limits! We arrived at Coldham Hall at 13.30 in time for a couple of pints before closing! Later in the afternoon Gav and Annie and Wayne and Tracey arrived.

Saturday……….. What can I say that hasn’t already been said?

Sunday morning saw the sun shining as ever and we slipped our mooring at 10.00 to arrive at Reedham Ferry for lunchtime beers. The moorings are much improved now that the geese are departed and chicken-wire is nailed to the jetty walkways.

After lunch I called an old chum who we haven’t seen for over 3 years and he turned up later on with his wife and children. The ladies and children had assorted alcoholic and fizzy drinks while Martin and I had two pints of our Sundew each onboard and then sat outside the pub for a couple of Old Sharpies! (Which is labelled as Ferryman’s for the pub).

In the evening it was time for a bucket of mussels for me and strips of steak in a mushroom sauce for Mary-Jane.

Monday morning was fine and bright and we left the Ferry at 08.30 to arrive at Gt Yarmouth at 10.10 using only 1200rpm.

1.30hr AFTER LW and the flood still hadn’t started on the Bure… I have always taken slack water at 1.00hr after LW with a pinch of salt and again proved it so. The flood finally caught up with us approaching the Stracey Arms and we passed by a very quiet looking Bridge Inn at 12.10 narrowly avoiding a mini-floating island enroute!

Our destination, Womack Water, was quite crowded when we arrived at 13.10 and by mid afternoon was so full that numerous boats turned away… in October!

We were told that Ranworth, our next destination, had been full for the last few days; so we opted to spend a further day at Ludham before arriving at Boulter’s, in Horning, for our engine servicing on Wednesday morning (at 08.30!).

Leaving Sonny’s we found, amazingly, a spare slot on the Staithe immediately outside The Moorhen! Wednesday again and so another steak night in The Swan.

TBC

[loribear]

hi john it sounds like you had a really great time & great weather too, & drunk alot of beer it just a pity that the weather has changed, lets hope it does'nt get too cold for both, how long are you on the water for ? lori

[Boaters]

Hi John you certainly get around the Broads.I posted on here last week after Diane thought she saw you on that Tuesday in Horning from a distance in the car.I posted ( from a BT hot spot but it never got on to the forum ) that we hoped you had a good time at the Bash and you had better get a move on to be back in time,not knowing you land based.

[littlesprite]

Hi John,

Sounds like you've had a good time, just wish I was on the water.

Still with any luck I'm hoping to be up at the end of the month.

[loribear]

come on john, when are you going to finish the story off ? lol. lori

[Hockham Admiral]

come on john, when are you going to finish the story off ? lol. lori

I was going to yesterday afternoon, Lori, but read my penultimate paragraph...

Thursday morning and it’s off to Coltishall…. a slow cruise at 1200rpm to view the wildlife en-route. And why are the moorings at Hoveton Great Broad still closed? Approaching Wroxham Bridge we see 6ft 6ins on the board and under we go (Rod says it’s OK at that and it was!). The bridge did look quite close as we went under.

The River Ranger told us that the Bure was navigable up to the head of navigation as the water level is quite high at the moment after the strong NW winds of late (beyond the Rising Sun).

Back to Wroxham Bridge… Friday morning and the board showing between 6ft and 6ft 3ins; so we’re not going anywhere just yet! Lunchtime there was 6ft 3ins and the Pilot starts to take a few Alpha FD’s through for a while. The BA ranger later told me that the Pilot had snagged the bridge.

When we woke up on Saturday morning the board was reading between 6ft 3ins and 6ft 6ins on a rising tide; so it’s “Hey Ho and off we goâ€â€¦. Gosh, the bridge did look very close this time with the board showing just over 6ft 3ins! So it’s on to Burgh Castle catching the flood just after the Thurne Mouth.

Going through Gt Yarmouth at half tide is quite exciting! I was throttled back to 1050rpm to give me decent steerage but we whistled past the moorings getting a smile and a wave from the Quay Rangers! Then it was up to 1750 rpm (the maximum I ever use) and an hour’s slog to Burgh castle against a strong tide. The Fisherman’s was still open and we had an interesting chat with Jan for an hour. We then stayed overnight there for an early departure to Oulton Broad on Sunday morning.

We arrived at OBYS on a rainy morning yesterday and were most grateful when Peter and Gerry turned up to tie us on. We moored stern-on on the west-facing side of the floating pontoon, which seemed like a good idea at the time. We later saw Clare and promised to meet up in Broadview at lunchtime. 2.30pm and we were just about to leave Broadview when Luke, Clare, R&R and Mason arrived….that put paid to that idea for another hour and a half!

Overnight and the wind has blown up to a good F4-5 gusting 6 straight down Oulton Broad towards our bows!

[Lucky]

Certainly was a bit windy out there last night John !

Great to see you yesterday for a few pints, we ended up going to the Waveney for a nice lunch then back to the boat about 8pm and kept waking up to the rocking motion of the wind and waves.

Had to leave early this morning and Claire had arranged to go shopping in Norwich, so now back at home. Hopefully you'll see the yacht station guys leave to try and move our mooring bouy again in a while....

See you soon !

Luke & Claire

[Hockham Admiral]

It's even windier now!

[Guest]

Hi John

give me control of Friday girl ill get the lass across

Jonny

[Hockham Admiral]

Hi John

give me control of Friday girl ill get the lass across

Jonny

Across where, Jonny?

[Guest]

Across where, Jonny?

from the pic looks like oulton broad

Jonny

[loribear]

oooer john, that looked abit chchchopppy on there, i remember going across breydon a few years ago when it was like that, i loved it bouncing on the water, but my sister was very keen i think she wanted to go back, but we had to go to get back to boat yard, luckily we had a big boat, lori