Spring Week On White Heron

[SwanR]

Last week I was very fortunate to be afloat on the southern rivers. We hadn't hired down there since 2015, the last year that Swancraft were operating their fleet. Last year we hadn't hired at all, other than a day boat, and many of our trips have only been short breaks. So this was extra special, a full week, a style of boat that was new to us, a hire yard we hadn't booked with before, and a return to the delights of the Yare, the Waveney, and the Chet.

With White Heron came a midday handover. Very friendly staff, good run through of the boat, good trial run on the river, and away by 13.30. We chose a 2 hour cruise to Reedham for our first night. The rangers there are so helpful and definitely provide a valuable service. A short walk up the hill saw us getting fish and chips to eat on board. I don't write a diary or any kind of notes while we're away so this tale will be as best as I can remember and not as detailed as some you might read, but I hope it may contain some useful information along with my thoughts about the places we visited, what worked well ... and anything that didn't!

[SwanR]

Here's a couple of first night photos. It was somewhat grey and chilly.

[kpnut]

Were the Reedham moorings clean or still muddy Jean?

[SwanR]

23 minutes ago, kpnut said:

Were the Reedham moorings clean or still muddy Jean?

They were muddy on arrival on Saturday but as the rain had stopped the ranger went along sweeping the quayside down as much as he could. After several days of fine weather, when we went back at the end of the week it was fine.

[Broads01]

Looking forward to the rest of your tale Jean and interested to hear how you got on with White Heron and if you thought it was worth the premium price.

I see there was no danger of needing to double moor at Reedham, your photos have a winter look.

[SwanR]

20 hours ago, Broads01 said:

interested to hear how you got on with White Heron and if you thought it was worth the premium price.

Loved the boat and yes, worth the money for us. Of course when we holiday on the Broads we don't have the cost of travel on top of the cost of hire. So the overall total cost of the holiday tips in favour of affording a higher hire price compared to travelling somewhere else in the UK. And then the all-in cost including fuel works favourably over the cost of basing ourselves somewhere where we're paying petrol to tour an area over a week. I will write more about the boat later on.

[SwanR]

Sunday dawned grey and rainy. We had thought about getting away a bit sooner but it was very wet and no-one was moving off too soon. In the end we waited until after 9am, when the ranger was there, and helped us to get away against the outgoing tide. But it was very windy. Clearance under Reedham bridge was fine but I knew that Somerleyton could be close. We didn't get down there until after low tide due to our later departure. The air draft on the plaque in the boat is 9ft 2ins. The height on the gauge was 9ft. A bit too close for me to want to be that person all over social media because I took a chance.

I then had an almighty struggle in a high sided boat against the wind to moor up at Somerleyton. The bow thrusters were no match for the strong wind and I was stuck across the river. I'd seen another boat struggle to get away from Somerleyton and now neither could I get in nor could I get the boat facing back up towards the New Cut. Hmmmm ... so thankful there was no-one else about. I did eventually get the boat into the moorings and my husband valiantly braved getting the ropes on.

I called through to the swing bridge operator who said he could open the bridge for me in about ten minutes time. Once the bridge was swung I actually made a good getaway with the steering hard left and turned without problem. Mightily relieved to be through the bridge in very choppy conditions, we then carried on down the Waveney. I do love that river and it was an uneventful cruise down to Beccles although it was raining some of the time.

Mooring at the yacht station in Beccles was also a little challenging. Abysmal weather. The ranger there was well wrapped up against the cold. And we could see how much flooding there has been. We did make ourselves walk into the town later but with my weather app telling me that it was 9 degrees feeling like 6 degrees in the wind we just did a fast loop back to the boat and soon settled in with the heating on as we were plugged into the electric.

Much later in the day the sun did break through to give us a beautiful evening but we simply enjoyed being on board the boat, eating a simple meal that we had taken with us which just needed heating in the oven. The heating worked well, the boat was warm and very comfortable. It was no hardship to make the most of what it offered and stay put.

[SwanR]

What a difference a few hours makes ... Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening.

[YnysMon]

Somerlayton is lovely but a tad exposed. Great on a still evening though.

 

[kpnut]

Good that you managed to get moored at Somerleyton, even with a bit of a battle. 

[SwanR]

Yes it would have been a shame to just go straight back up the New Cut and back through Reedham if I hadn’t been able to moor so I could wait for the bridge. 

[SwanR]

Now we have reached Monday ... probably the best day of the week. The sun shone, the birds sang ... and we ended up at an idyllic mooring.

As we really hadn't got out for more than a ten minute walk the day before, we decided on a walk at Beccles before we set off on what was now a beautiful sunny morning. I like to spend a day pootling around the Waveney rather than going straight back up to the Yare, so we decided to head down Oulton Broad Dyke.

We know Oulton Broad well from the days when we had a static caravan at Lowestoft. But we've never fancied spending the night there on a boat. However it's always a nice cruise down the dyke. This time with so few boats around we not only could have taken a mooring at the Dutch Tea Gardens but the one opposite was also free. I believe that it's named Peto's Marsh and is ideal for a walk on Carlton Marshes. Our first time there, and our first mooring on a pontoon ... and we had it to ourselves.

We enjoyed lunch sitting in the sun on the back of the boat before walking across to the visitor centre ... yes, with the main purpose of visiting the tea room. 

That evening we waited for the sunset hour and the fading light to walk back out with our cameras. Here's a few photos from the day, which I think will long stand out as one of the best we've ever had on the Broads including the song of the cuckoos.

 

 

[MauriceMynah]

Ahh the happy sound of the first cuckoo of spring.

Of course the very happiest of sounds is that of the second cuckoo of spring.

[Lulu]

Beautiful photos Jean.  I know all about the lure of a tea room 😂 cake! 

[SwanR]

There were indeed more cuckoos and more slices of cake as the week went on. 

[SwanR]

Tuesday dawned fine, and as I recall it was a sunny morning which clouded up later in the day ... with more cuckoos.

We were careful this time to check for the low tide time at Somerleyton Bridge and the time we needed to cruise there from our overnight mooring. At this stage I would like to say another thank you to catcouk for the very comprehensive timings chart which we had printed and taken with us. It was very helpful all week for checking approximate cruising times. And I also used the cruising times section on the following website which rendered well on my phone. https://www.norfolkbroadsboathire.biz/distancecalculator.asp.

So ... we successfully negotiated the swing bridge this time and were soon coming back up towards the Yare. I was at the helm for almost all our cruising this week, and we didn't encounter any other boats on the New Cut for which I was very thankful. In fact we were only followed by another boat on one occasion, and had plenty of room every time we moored up. Interestingly the hire yard from whom we saw the most boats was NBD. All looking very fine and well presented.

We passed through Reedham and headed down the Chet this time. A lunchtime stop in Loddon enabled us to fill the water and dispose of our rubbish. A stroll up the hill allowed us to get some shopping in the Co-op. The Swan was advertising lunch as available on Tuesdays but when we asked at the bar they said there was no lunch on offer that day. Disappointing but there you go, other options were available and their loss was Rosie Lee's gain. I had a lovely jacket potato with tuna and I think hubby had the scampi and chips. The food and service were very good and we would go back. We also enjoyed a nice chat with a couple on another boat who had been at Beccles with us, and who we kept passing all week.

The one drawback to this boat was the very heavy mudweight. Having needed to put it out at Beccles we had decided that it was too heavy to use again as it wasn't electric. Side on moorings were therefore to be our choice from that time on. So suitably refreshed we departed from Loddon. Now I have to say that neither the basin or Pye's Mill were actually that inviting IMHO. We had wondered what Pye's Mill would be like but there was still a large section taped off. All I can say is that if we are ever out on the southern rivers again we would probably give the Chet a miss.

When we reached the Yare we turned to port and headed for another new mooring for us - Rockland Short Dyke. These moorings hadn't existed when we last cruised the south and it was somewhere we really wanted to try. Only one other boat there for the rest of the day, it was just as peaceful as we had hoped. 

[SwanR]

And here's a few photos from the day.

[Broads01]

Mmm, there should be an electric mudweight really given it's a premium boat because they do make a difference.

[SwanR]

9 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Mmm, there should be an electric mudweight really given it's a premium boat because they do make a difference.

We mentioned it when we took the boat back. I think it’s cost stopping them retrospectively fitting them. Sounds as if the boats were built for private owners and are therefore not identical and some were kept for hire. For example they are advertised with bow thrusters but this one had bow and stern. But maybe that’s why they weren’t on the original spec. The mud weight was in a locker at the bow and they trusted you to tie it to the cleat yourself if you wanted to use it.

[kpnut]

Thanks for all the photos Jean. I know its only next week till I go back to the boat, but even so, looking at beautiful photos makes me very restless.

I have 101 jobs to do here before Sunday pm, so shouldn't even be on the forum perusing photos but that's the way it is, ha ha.

[SwanR]

Well we're now up to Wednesday, and after the long five hours of cruising the day before, we had decided on a shorter day today. We were in no hurry and enjoyed a walk in the sunshine before setting off, enjoying the birdsong and yes, more cuckoos. Such a wonderful experience to hear them.

After a cruise around Rockland Broad we turned to port and along the Yare in the Brundall and Norwich direction. Despite having done it a few times before I will still say that Rockland Broad is just the most confusing place for finding the channel, for keeping between the right red and green markers given they switch sides halfway round.  But we very much enjoyed seeing the wildlife there and it was worth the time and confusion. 

We cruised through Brundall spotting various moorings as back up plans if we needed them for any reason. Approaching the outskirts of Norwich I made the decision to turn round soon after going under the Postwick Viaduct. Given that we are fortunate enough to live where we can visit Norwich at any time we felt no need to carry on down the river. It wasn't long before Bramerton Common came into view. I needed to turn to moor against the outgoing tide and neatly ended up by an electric post. We had a couple of cards with us and decided to plug in as we would only have cruised for about two hours. Not that we use much electric but it seemed like a reasonable thing to do anyway.

So that was it. I called down to the Water's Edge and we took ourselves off down there a little later for lunch. I've seen various reviews of this establishment over time so must give my own review here. Brilliant! Very friendly service, attentive only when needed. The food was delicious, freshly cooked pan fried chicken, roasted new potatoes, tenderstem broccoli and a peppercorn sauce. This was followed by a homemade peach and vanilla cheesecake. What we had was well worth what we paid. We were there over two hours just having a very leisurely and relaxing time. And I very much hope to go back. They were busy, inside and outside, which we got the impression was a mix of a few boaters but quite a lot of folk who arrived by car, including their regulars.

It was then another lovely quiet relaxed afternoon and evening although a lot of people do seem to come down there to walk their dogs. And while we were at lunch the grass had been cut ... which had made a right mess of that side of the boat! 

[SwanR]

As usual ... a few photos of the day.

[Broads01]

15 hours ago, SwanR said:

For example they are advertised with bow thrusters but this one had bow and stern.

I bet you enjoyed the benefits of that. I've only had bow and stern once and it certainly made a difference.

It looks like there was space for another 5 or 6 boats at Bramerton - where was everybody? 

[Mouldy]

8 hours ago, Broads01 said:

I bet you enjoyed the benefits of that. I've only had bow and stern once and it certainly made a difference.

It looks like there was space for another 5 or 6 boats at Bramerton - where was everybody? 

Wasn’t the weekend - the Brundall Navy were all safely tucked up in their home berths! 

[SwanR]

17 hours ago, Broads01 said:

I bet you enjoyed the benefits of that. I've only had bow and stern once and it certainly made a difference.

It looks like there was space for another 5 or 6 boats at Bramerton - where was everybody? 

Not entirely sure how much the stern thrusters helped, but using both together can pull you nicely a little away from the bank and help with getting out of a mooring. Mind you ... we really didn't have any problems with space anywhere. I don't think the season has properly started. Reedham was the one place that got fairly full with boats arriving until quite late, probably positioning themselves for crossing Breydon the next day.