The 2 W's Afloat In Oct 22

[Smoggy]

13 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

We don't have dipsticks in France

What about the car designers? C'mon Griff you're missing an opportunity here.

[CeePee1952]

Sunday 16th Oct 22

I had phoned the yacht station at Yarmouth yesterday afternoon to find out the best time to pass under Vauxhall bridge and they told me to leave Stracey Arms at 7.30 so up at 6.30, morning chores sorted and finished and departed at 7.25.  We passed under both bridges having not seen many boats underway with a good 12 inches to spare under Vauxhall! I must mention that the skipper’s manual gave 8’ 6” clearance with the screens lowered but next to the inner helm it stated 8’ 2”!!  To be safe, we always used the 8’ 6” guide!! Breydon was almost flat calm and we spotted another 4 boats in front of us making their merry way across the water. I had estimated about 5 and ½ hours to Beccles from Yarmouth so we were in no rush and slowly made our way across. Spirit of Breydon passed us going the opposite way about halfway across and gave us a cheery wave which was duly acknowledged. Half a dozen other boats were following them – strange that none of them were going exceptionally fast! Finally we turned down the Waveney spotting a few curlews, swans and an otter (why is it we never have the camera to hand when we see an otter!). We passed under St Olaves and Somerleyton bridges again with ample room to spare and arrived at Beccles at 12.50 having spent 5 hrs and 25 mins cruising from Stracey Arms. (So much for my estimate of 5 hrs 30 mins from Yarmouth!!). We decided to moor up on the right-hand side and take advantage of the shore power that was available. Another perfect mooring manoeuvre (surely I was due a mooring dilemma at some point during the holiday!).

I hooked up the shore power and thought there was 91p left on the meter and then discovered that the wireless cards do not work with Beccles shore power posts!!  I ambled down to the office and paid the £12 for the overnight stay and found out that Beccles use their own card system which must be loaded with credit and then poked into the slot on the meter.  Ok, so we spent another £2 to have a card sorted (usage is charged at 50p per kilowatt!) and finally had shore power to the boat. One of the Rangers then turned up in his boat, had a quick chat with the station guy and then came over to say hello etc and asked if we would mind taking part in a survey.  We had done one of these last year at Ranworth so knew what to expect.  During the survey, the Ranger informed us that if we wanted to go down to Geldeston we would get under Beccles old bridge even in our boat but he couldn’t guarantee our return!! We graciously declined the idea! Survey completed we then set about having bacon and mushroom sandwiches for lunch (we’d had toast and jam “on the hoof” once we had got across Breydon). Lunch eaten and washed down with a much needed beer, I set up the fishing rods for a quick dabble.  I had one decent rudd, 2 decent sized skimmer bream and a few tiddly roach and perch within the first half hour, all caught on two maggots (not the same two maggots!).  Brenda also had a go and ended up with quite a few decent roach and a couple of rudd.  All the fish looked very healthy and all were returned to the water once unhooked.  So far the weather was excellent and as at 4.45 pm, there were a total of five boats in the marina including us. The couple who I had helped moor up at Stracey Arms had followed us down to Beccles and were moored up on our port side and had disappeared up into Beccles town with their pooch. Evening meal would be cooked on board again, Chinese flavoured pork steaks, red cabbage and carrot and swede mash – delicious!!

Chris and Brenda

Crossing Breydon!

Being followed by our newly made friends from Stracey Arms

Breydon view

[CeePee1952]

Beccles - 16th Oct 22

Just entering Beccles yacht station

Poser!!

Peace and tranquility

Anything you can do - so can I!!

See - this is how it's done!

[CeePee1952]

 

Woke up to the sound of rain bouncing off the cabin roof! Decision time. Today is Brenda’s birthday and the plan was to cruise to Oulton Broad and have an evening meal in one of the local pubs/restaurants.  The weather forecast for the day wasn’t looking too good and although we don’t mind cruising in any weather condition (within reason), we decided to stay another day at Beccles. Breakfast was duly consumed (toast and jam) washed down with coffee and tea. I sauntered down to the office to pay for another nights stay and checked the shore power post to see how much we had left on the meter.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had plenty left in credit, despite having used the microwave the previous evening plus the tv and lighting etc AND that although the cost was 50p per kilowatt we hadn’t used as much as we thought we would!

By midday most of the other boats had departed, including the couple who had followed us down from Stracey Arms.  They had planned to cruise to Loddon and we said we would perhaps see them there the following day (Tuesday) if they were still there. By now the weather had changed a little and we decided to have a spot of fishing to pass the time away.  We had already been informed by the guy in the office that no fishing was allowed from the side and we would have to fish off the boat.  This is because the local fishing club are only allowed to fish in the yacht station after 1st November when the hire season finishes and they get a bit miffed if people on hire boats are not covered by the same restriction!!  Oh well, never mind.  Superior Light does not lend itself to being the ideal fishing platform but we made do and had a reasonable afternoon, hoodwinking quite a few fish to fall on our baited hooks! I caught a few nice skimmer bream and Brenda had some nice rudd and roach.  Suffice to say, Brenda beat me fair and square on quantity caught but I think I just edged her on weight (thank you bream!!).  By 5.30 pm the yacht station had a few more boats moored up, the last one to arrive for the day was a Broom Captain White Heron 1 which moored up on our port side.  We both concluded that although it was a nice looking boat it wasn’t our cup of tea and we wouldn’t be tempted to hire it.

Because we had amended our itinerary (no surprises there!), we booked a table for 7 pm at Prezzo’s up in Beccles for our evening meal. We set off up the gentle hill about 6.40 and after 10 minutes we were sitting down at the table. For starters Brenda had the calamari and I had the Tomato Bruschetta.  Main course was Sea Bass with Pesto Gnocchi for Brenda and I had the Tre Carni Calzone.  All washed down with a glass of Prosecco (guess who!) and I tried a bottle of Ichnusa lager which was quite enjoyable. The quality of the food was excellent, table service was good and the price was reasonable.  We were back on board the boat for 8.30 ish, had a cup of tea and retired for the night.

Chris and Brenda

A few of Brenda's birthday cards!

 

[CeePee1952]

Tuesday 18th Oct 22

Another early morning, waking up at 6! Outside temperature was showing 9 degrees Celsius! Time to get the kettle on and have a hot cuppa. The initial plan was to leave for Loddon at about 8 ish, high tide being at 0709 hrs but due to it being very misty and minimum visibility, we decided to put our departure back until 9 or when the mist had lifted enough to have a safe cruise to Loddon. As it turned out, the mist only just started to lift at 9 so we cast off and made our way slowly along the river, making sure that we could see far enough ahead at all times.  We spotted a couple of kingfishers en route but as always didn’t have the camera to hand to capture the moment! By the time we got to Somerleyton bridge all the mist had disappeared and the morning transformed into a bright and sunny day (we have really been lucky with the weather so far!). We passed under the bridge with a about a foot to spare and turned up the Haddiscoe Cut on our onward journey towards Loddon. We passed a couple of boats coming towards us, one of which was HW’s Royal Light! On passing it I shouted “We’ve got that one booked for next year” to which the reply came back “we were on your boat last year”. Spooky!! 

We passed under Reedham swing bridge, noting there wasn’t that many boats moored up at Reedham but there was a large party of infant school children sitting at the bankside tables, they received the customary wave from us as we passed!  Next experience was to pass the Reedham ferry which turned out not to be an experience at all as it was stationary on our port side with no signs of movement.  Finally we turned down into the mouth of the Chet with me reminiscing the last time we sauntered down here all those years ago! I need not have worried as we didn’t meet anyone coming from the opposite direction and we enjoyed a nice relaxing cruise down to the quay. There were only 3 other boats moored on our arrival and again I executed another perfect stern on mooring. (It always seems easy when there are fewer boats around!). It was now that I discovered that none of the shore power posts were working – drat!!). Anyway after a phone call to HW to get the right telephone number to report it, I phoned Broads control who told me to ring back after 1 pm and they would put me through to the appropriate department. When I rang back they thanked me for reporting the problem and assured me that a Ranger would be out who would hopefully fix the fault.  Sure enough a while later a Ranger turned up and having introduced herself and examined the posts, she went and reset the main trip in the box up by the car park.  Happy days – posts working again so we hooked up for the night.  In the meantime, the local bobbies turned up (It wasn’t me guv – honest!!) and had a walk round the area after saying hello.  Later they turned up with their “meat wagon” and I did notice that they “invited” someone into the back of it – never to be seen again!!

We had a slow walk up to the Coop to see if we could find something for our evening meal and top up with milk.  Didn’t visit Rosies tearoom because I’d forgotten which pub she was using and by the time we’d got back to the boat my leg had started to ache for some unknow reason so we opted for a relaxing spell aboard.  (We did find that the Coop was a tad expensive – for instance we usually have the BOB milk which retails around the £2 where we live – in the Coop it was £2.80 – bloody hell!! So we bought the normal semi-skimmed at £2.10p!!) I decided to do a spot of fishing as it was such a nice afternoon – usual roach etc fell on my hook but nothing of a decent size.  The guy on the boat to our starboard side must have been a keen angler because he had a fish finder floating on the surface near him and informed me that although there were plenty of small fish around, there was nothing of a decent size! (I think he was looking for pike!).  By 4.30 pm there were a total of five of us now moored up in the quay and it was time to think about our evening meal.  We decided (having read some decent reviews) to have a takeaway from Lims fish and chip shop. Brenda opted for plain chicken and chips and I had steak and kidney pie and chips and curry sauce.  The reviews weren’t wrong and the quality was excellent – the chips were to die for and so was the curry sauce.  The chippy was busy as well, with some customers placing large orders – so glad we got our order in before them! So, evening meal consumed along with the obligatory beer and Koppaburg, it was soon time for a hot cuppa and bed!  Tomorrow is back over Breydon and another adventure.

Down/up? the Waveney

Approaching Somerleyton bridge

In Loddon quay

Chris and Brenda

[YnysMon]

Definitely down (and up the Chet)!

[Karizma]

Great photos Chris 

[CeePee1952]

Wednesday 19th Oct 22

Slightly longer lie in this morning – didn’t get up until 7 and no sign of any mist on the water! I had already phoned Yarmouth yacht station yesterday afternoon to find out when would be the best time to leave Loddon to get under Vauxhall bridge etc without having to duck.  They advised to leave Loddon about 9 ish so with that in mind, breakfast was prepared at a leisurely pace and consumed slightly quicker! I decided that I was going to have a play with the thrusters this morning, so having raised the mud weight and cleaned all the mud off it, Brenda undid the mooring lines and stepped aboard. I used both bow and stern thrusters to slowly move to starboard before engaging forward gear and putting the pointy end in the right direction.  Brenda decided that she wanted to experience helming the boat back up the Chet so at a steady 3mph we made our way towards the Yare. Apart from one boat coming towards us and seeing a load of noisy cows in one of the fields, the trip was uneventful.  Full credit and admiration to Brenda for navigating the Chet successfully for the very first time! Finally we reached the junction with the Yare and made our way down towards Breydon.  Not surprisingly the Yare was void of any boat traffic and we only had to slow down once to allow the Reedham ferry to cross over. We crossed over Breydon at a steady 4mph noticing that it was a little more “lumpy” than the previous trip. Again, not many boats were behind us and we turned up the Lower Bure at the yellow post and passed under Vauxhall bridge with a good 18” to spare. (All credit again to the yacht station staff for their advice). I did find the next couple of hours a bit boring as we cruised up the Lower Bure but we were now starting to see many more boats making their way towards Yarmouth! Our original plan was to either stop over at Acle Bridge or Stracey Arms for the night but that didn’t happen. When we got to Acle bridge I was surprised to see that nearly all the BA free moorings were taken up and what was available would only have accommodated a dinghy sized craft!! I didn’t really want to moor up over on the other side or in front of the pub so we continued on and decided that we would head for Thurne Dyke as we had plenty of time on our hands.

Again when we arrived at Thurne Dyke I was surprised to see so few boats moored up so again another perfect side on mooring was accomplished. Cuppa time!  I decided to have another go at dangling a maggot and enjoy a spot of fishing from the bank rather than perched on the stern of the boat.  No sooner had I started, a bathtub turned up and out of all the places that were still free, they decided to come in astern of us and moor up using a couple of rhond anchors to secure themselves. I did chuckle when I heard one of the guys refer to the anchors as pegs! When we moored up here last year, our mooring fee was collected by a staff member from the pub so we expected the same to happen again. Nah!!  I checked on the Lion’s website and noticed that the £6 fee would increase to £10 if the staff had to come and collect it after 6pm!!  As it was now 5.50pm I donned my Linford Christie trainers and made haste down to the pub! The pub was virtually empty and on approaching the bar I was informed by a member of staff that the fee was now £7.50!  When I said that the website stated £6 the answer back was that the website had obviously not been updated!! Fee paid, I made my way back to the boat. It might be me but I didn’t find the pub in general as good as it was the last time we visited in 2021. On returning to the boat, a large single decker hire craft arrived with young adults on board. They stopped briefly on the opposite bank and the next thing we saw was them coming back past us at a great rate of knots (they must have gone down to the bottom and turned around after deciding not to moor up).  Goodness knows where they were heading as they turned right at the mouth of the river and it was already starting to get dark! It was now time to think about refuelling our bodies and rather than eat in the pub and maybe risk being disappointed with the outcome, we decided on a lavish fry up of bacon, sausage, egg, mushrooms and fried tomatoes and buttered bread.  So, another day done, two more full days before handing the boat back and time for bed at 9.30!

Chris and Brenda

 

The Chet

On the Yare

It's real - honest!! 

Thurne Dyke

[Wonderwall]

Was the mooring fee deductible from the bar/food bill?

If not, on pure principal I would have carried on to St Bennett’s/ S Walsham  . It’s not exactly the most picturesque spot ( though still lovely). If memory serves me correctly, the mooring posts and pathway are not exactly maintained to a high standard. A 20% hike in fees , just because they feel like it apparently, is a poor show.

Anytime I have eaten in the pub, it has been 1st class, but I tend to eat early and moor up somewhere quieter for the night.

[MrBlueSky]

The mooring fee is not deducted from the meals and the mooring rings and missing posts leave alot to be desired. I,d rather moor up at Herbertwoods.