Mermaid’s Meanderings

[Lulu]

21 minutes ago, Ray said:

Desmond looking very regal... or hungry, definitely one or the other 🐾😁

Always hungry! 

[Lulu]

Wednesday 4th June 

Graham was a little bit concerned we may have a little issue with one of the batteries so decided we needed to have a day on the electric and see what’s going on. We decided to go to Potter . Realised it would be very unlikely to get a spot because of the quay heading works as well as it being a bit busier on the rivers.  It would give a good run anyway if we had to turn around and then try Acle instead.   We set off and in almost the same spot as a few days before , a bittern flew over us. Yet again, no photo.    After a very slow cruise up the Thurne we arrived at Potter and there was space!  We later moved to the one right at the beginning of the moorings and plugged into the electric. The batteries seem fine but won’t know for sure until we go back to the marina where Graham can meter them out, think that’s the terminology (he’s left the gadget in the car) or there’s a problem with the gauges. 
 

I obviously had to go to Lathams to get things we actually needed. I was desperate for new trainers after mine falling apart this trip, some socks (I miscalculated) and a new handle for the magic table on Mermaid. The other one stuck out and I don’t know how many times Graham has hit his head on it when getting things out of the bow cupboard underneath it.    On my way, I met Dan (one Dan and his boat ) - without a boat this time. Had a good chat and catch up.  
 

The quay heading works are on the go and the reeds have been cut at regular intervals so you can walk behind them . 

The moorings quickly filled up and I managed to get a nice walk in the sunshine with Desmond on the other side of the bridge.    We had very nice pork chops we’d got from the Ludham butcher for dinner. Just the bacon to go … 

 

[kpnut]

The other thing you need in Lathams is a packet or three of Walkers Banana Split Chocolate Eclairs

[Lulu]

11 minutes ago, kpnut said:

The other thing you need in Lathams is a packet or three of Walkers Banana Split Chocolate Eclairs

Must have missed those! 

[kpnut]

Maybe ‘cos I bought the whole stock on my last trip!

[YnysMon]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

The other thing you need in Lathams is a packet or three of Walkers Banana Split Chocolate Eclairs

Kate... you are naughty. We have decided we just have to visit Latham's over the next week. 

[YnysMon]

We're the same on the dithering Sam. We constantly make plans and change on a whim. That's one of the nice things of being on the Broads ...you just go with the flow, actually and metaphorically. 

[Mouldy]

49 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

 . . . . . . . . . . We constantly make plans and change on a whim. That's one of the nice things of being on the Broads ...you just go with the flow, actually and metaphorically. 

Do you not think that comes with being a syndicate member or an owner?  As a hirer and visiting just once a year, I knew where I wanted to go, checked tide times and planned my week accordingly.  Now, as an owner, aside from when we head north on longer visits and a Breydon crossing has to be planned, we go where we want, when we want.  From Brundall, some weekends we even venture as far as Rockland! 

[YnysMon]

2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Do you not think that comes with being a syndicate member or an owner?  As a hirer and visiting just once a year, I knew where I wanted to go, checked tide times and planned my week accordingly.  Now, as an owner, aside from when we head north on longer visits and a Breydon crossing has to be planned, we go where we want, when we want.  From Brundall, some weekends we even venture as far as Rockland! 

Reflecting on it, you are probably partly right Malcolm. I remember making several plans based around the tides in our hiring days, but even then we didn't always stick with one plan. Having an idea of what the tides will be doing is always good as it gives a flexible framework. I still do some planning around tides now that we are in the syndicate, but only if we are going down south. It's not worth the faff if staying up north.

One thing we would never have done as hirers is what we did today... didn't cruise at all but went off by car to Great Yarmouth to see Andalucia, the reproduction Spanish Galleon. 

[Lulu]

We make a rough route plan each evening with various back up options . The times we cruise , most of the time we are able to stick with plan A unlike the other day,we ended up on plan D I think! 

[kpnut]

59 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

went off by car to Great Yarmouth to see Andalucia, the reproduction Spanish Galleon. 

I think I might do that. I might catch the train from Acle in the next few days. 

[grendel]

I see its only there until the 9th june.

[kpnut]

Thanks for that. I was going to look up the info later.
What’s the date today?
I might go tomorrow in that case. 

[YnysMon]

36 minutes ago, kpnut said:

Thanks for that. I was going to look up the info later.
What’s the date today?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loses track when on the Broads. 

[SwanR]

As hirers we don’t plan our time afloat at all really, other than being in the right place for the last evening. We mostly decide what to do day by day. Having an all inclusive price means that we also aren’t trying to minimise fuel costs so we don’t worry about the tides either. 

[grendel]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Thanks for that. I was going to look up the info later.
What’s the date today?
I might go tomorrow in that case. 

today is the 6th

 

[YnysMon]

1 hour ago, SwanR said:

As hirers we don’t plan our time afloat at all really, other than being in the right place for the last evening. We mostly decide what to do day by day. Having an all inclusive price means that we also aren’t trying to minimise fuel costs so we don’t worry about the tides either. 

It’s not always the cost that bothers me, though that does factor in. It’s mostly the noise of the engine. I find it’s far more pleasant to tick along on the southern broads with minimal engine noise and appreciate bird song rather than be fighting against the tide with higher and noisier revs. 

[Graham47]

3 hours ago, kpnut said:

Thanks for that. I was going to look up the info later.
What’s the date today?
I might go tomorrow in that case. 

It is a very popular attraction. There were a long queue of people waiting to go on it yesterday.

 

[YnysMon]

17 minutes ago, Graham47 said:

It is a very popular attraction. There were a long queue of people waiting to go on it yesterday.

 

Queue wasn't too bad today. We arrived around 11'ish. 

[Broads01]

Was the state of the quay heading at Potter so bad they had to do the work in the summer?

[Graham47]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

Queue wasn't too bad today. We arrived around 11'ish. 

It was about 2.00pm when I passed it yesterday.

[Mouldy]

8 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Was the state of the quay heading at Potter so bad they had to do the work in the summer?

Like the replacement of the damaged quay heading at Ranworth Staithe, it was probably planned for the winter months, but due to the high river levels over the winter and spring, our Blessed Authority have decided to take advantage of the summer months to get the work done.  It will cause minimal inconvenience to the majority of river users they seem to wish to attract, as kayaks, SUP’s, canoes and most yachts can find plenty of moorings at Potter on the other side of the bridge.

Was that too cynical? 

[Lulu]

Thursday 5th June

A very peaceful night at Potter.  After a quick walk with Desmond, I popped into Lathams for some cleaning bits and bobs then we set off around 9.00am . The batteries fully topped up from the electric. We had a lovely slow pootle looking at the bungalows. Quite a few for sale.  We thought we might just stop at boundary farm but it was full so turned around and went to the corner moorings in Fleet Dyke. Weather was glorious with the occasional overcast moment.  We had no tv signal  but wasn’t particularly fussed.  
 

Kate and Finlay arrived around 3.30 so Desmond and I joined them for a bit of their walk. Once Desmond realised it was Finlay he was very happy to go for a walk. He’s becoming so lazy and just not interested lately.   Kate kindly gave me some of these very elusive banana eclair sweets.  Should I put them on eBay? 🤔

After a long natter at the staithe, Desmond’s expression says it all (“stop talking mother and let me get home for my tea “)  We returned to the boat and Finlay and Kate carried on.  As I got to the long straight moorings there was only one boat.  I mentioned it to Graham and he said shall we move around there as last week we had a tv signal.  So off we went on our shortest cruise ever and it gave me an excellent opportunity to practice mooring with no one about except just I was coming in , someone appeared and watched but it was all good and I was rather pleased with myself. There is so much visibility on Mermaid and being so low and close to the bow does make things easier for me.

Graham tried the tv aerial again and it turns out there was a dodgy connector. All fixed , great picture and that was another day soon  over.  A very different Fleet Dyke to last Saturday, so peaceful and hardly any boats around! 

[Lulu]

Friday 7th June

We nipped around the corner to get a pumpout at Marinetech when they opened.  I made a complete mess of reversing in and was virtually stern moored but Graham managed to haul Mermaid back side on.  She is so difficult to reverse straight. This crabbing to starboard is so frustrating but we are not going to fork out for a bow thruster as tempting as it is.  After the usual excellent service at Marinetech we set off back up the Ant to go back to the marina.  A lovely slow cruise in beautiful weather.
 

The parish moorings at Irstead were free and we havent been there with Mermaid before so we decided to stop there for a while, except the while turned into overnight. It was just too tempting especially when the BA mooring became free. We moved over , 78p left on the electric. At Potter there had been 68p so we were doing well.  
 

Because we have a completely different view than we did on Luna, I decided there is way too much ‘street/riverside furniture’ on the BA moorings, so many signs!  I took Desmond for a few walks up the lane. He loves it there, squirrels and a couple of muntjacs running about,  did a thorough clean of the boat on the outside and later had a quiet wander on my own around the churchyard. So pretty and peaceful.   
 

Saturday 8th June - left around 7am in lovely sunshine. Took off all the dog blankets, bedding, mats and  even the cushion covers to take home to wash and now home wading through all this washing! A really relaxing 8 nights on board. Perfect weather for us. Mild, some really beautiful sunny days and one deluge of rain which we like so we can check for any leaks.  Its overcast and quite windy at home. I think we left the sunshine back in Norfolk. 
 

 

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, Lulu said:

I think we left the sunshine back in Norfolk. 

No you didn’t!

What did that ranger boat have with him?