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Broads Boater and Proud


LondonRascal

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It is often spoken about the beauty of the Norfolk Broads and many a visitor will speak of their enjoyment and wish to return for another holiday.

Today, I was reading an article from Motor Boats Monthly back in 2009 where they tested a a second hand Fairline Turbo 36. I think it is a very nice boat actually – but this made me also think about what do people do with boats like this when they have a berth in a marina, for example in Southampton, or one of my mum’s favourite places on the south coast – Weymouth?

You see it was then I thought this is what actually makes the Broads so remarkable, and flexible. For the sake of comparison, you could own one of these powerboats and have it Moored in Brundall, and on a chilly winters day which was a bit blustery you could pop down to it and once the heating was on and warm inside take a tip to Reedham Quay and have a few drinks and a meal at the Ship. 

But for those with moorings close to the sea, it is hardly going to be a nice weekend cruise on a bleak day with the wind making quite a swell past the harbour wall - it might for some, but I thought the Broads offers a real choice.

The Broads also accommodates the couple in a small Shetland   who just want to come down to the boat, spend a night and go home the next day, but those who want to sail can do so to just as someone with a boat built by one of the now long sine closed boat builders on the Broads, for the Broads.  

I know people complain about moorings not being kept up to scratch, moorings going, hirers running engines and tolls on the increase etc but I think we are really fortunate to have an extensive river system that really is most different from one river to the next and with two ways people can come and go from the sea which perhaps caters for the most electric mix of boaters and their boats than anywhere else. 

So, you can take your fancy marinas and boats anytime but I am happy to be a Broads boater!

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I'd hardly call 140 miles extensive (that is the navigable length I have been told exists) and even that is not available to all. But I can see how it can work for the offshore stuff that can just hop in and out of the Broads as and when circumstances permit. Does not work for me anymore though - but there you go

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I spent many holidays as a child down at Weymouth which I liked along with much of the south coast from Southampton through to Lyme Regis. I suppose the nearest down that way to the broads would be Pool harbour 14 square miles of water but much of it is shallower than the broads. You could trundle around the harbour and up a bit of the four rivers. But I think I'll stick to the broads much cheaper and more interesting

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I do find it tiresome when people whine about ( or make reference to the fact that ) not all of the Broads Navigation being available 'to all'.  Potter Bridge was there LONG before the Broads Authority - and it was there before they bought/ booked their boat two gunstwo guns

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3 hours ago, brundallNavy said:

Had a loverly if somewhat blustery cruise up to Wroxham today, the broads are a great place this time of year very quiet and loads of wildlife to see.

Doug.

image.jpeg

I hope you'll be bringing her to Beccles next August old chap?

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5 hours ago, Poppy said:

I do find it tiresome when people whine about ( or make reference to the fact that ) not all of the Broads Navigation being available 'to all'.  Potter Bridge was there LONG before the Broads Authority - and it was there before they bought/ booked their boat two gunstwo guns

Poppy, please read my post correctly before you comment. Where did I mention Potter Bridge. There are other restrictions on the broads apart from Potter - some cannot get under Ludham, some cannot get under Wroxham, some cannot get under Wayford...etc, etc.

5 hours ago, Charlie said:

Even 100 miles is a great deal to explore in its ever changing seasons. I have been coming to the broads since the 60's as hirers but latterly as owners i never tire of it and am happy to poodle about at 3.8- 4 mph all the time enjoying the ever changing scenery

If it works for you Charlie that is great. All I am saying is it does not work for us any more. Actually not sure it ever did really, not from a motor cruising perspective. I much prefer walking around the quieter bits and taking in the general marshy landscape. I am also besotted by the North Norfolk coast. Cracking a sail on Hickling is great fun though. 

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I have never seen it as one or the other. I love sailing on the Broads, I love sailing on the Solent, I love sailing across the channel and I love sailing further afield. The Broads can boast wonderful wildlife, but to have a pod of dolphins surf your wake mid channel is very special. To be out on a clear night where there is no light pollution and see the myriad of stars that can't be seen through the gloam of electric lighting is equally wonderful. To sail up the Ortac Channel on a spring tide has a similar sense of achievement to shooting Potter bridge. Racing on the Broads and offshore racing provide a similar thrill despite the different environments. I cannot choose one or the other. I love my offshore sailing and I love my Broads sailing.

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"Poppy, please read my post correctly before you comment. Where did I mention Potter Bridge. There are other restrictions on the broads apart from Potter - some cannot get under Ludham, some cannot get under Wroxham, some cannot get under Wayford...etc, etc. "

 

Soundings,

Where did I quote you in particular?  No , I didn't, did  I ?  My views are just as valid as yours, surely?

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I saw Poppy's original comment as a valid generalisation. No doubt that people do move to the Broads, do buy boats, to find that either or both have limitations that vex them. Human nature kicks in and they then complain. The classics being that there is no street lighting, that there are church bells that ring and cockerels that crow, and that their boat won't fit under Potter Bridge! I think that Poppy's comment that it is tiresome is perfectly justified. 

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Tiresome but true, JM. Tiresome but true. A fact indeed. A fact that cannot be denied but can be ignored if you are that way inclined (or if you are tired of it). As for me - I just don't give a damn but pray nothing ever changes the blockage that is Potter Bridge. 

There never was street lighting on the Broads - might stop outboard thefts though :-)

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I'm with The Rascal on this, who needs fancy Marinas and Boats the size of a small ships and as Charlie says there's more than enough waterway to explore. That beautiful old Bridge at Potter is a treasure, ok, so we can't get under to go to Hickling, but it's not the end of the world and there are other ways to explore up there.

All the time we as human beings are breathing we will whine about something or other, you will never hear me whining about the Broads though, the place is magical and I feel honoured and grateful it's there for us to be able to explore in anyway we please. You all know how I feel about Sailie things when I'm helming but to sit and watch them from a pub or moored up in a Boat is truly mesmerising and watching families having a whale of a time on their Boats is just the best, what more could you ask for? So the Broads Authorities don't do this or that, people run their engines too early or late and those darn fisher people won't move for Boats coming into moor, blah, blah, blah, I'm just glad that the Broads are available for us all to enjoy and have a whine about when we darn well please lol ;)

Grace

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This is a tricky thread to respond too..... :rolleyes:

The Broads is indeed a very pleasant area for boating, an extensive safe inland cruising area with only one lock.

The 120 navigable miles are therefore "do-able" without queues and delays every few miles.

It would be even better if the transition to the Sea was via a gently widening estuary, rather than two sets of abrupt pier heads straight out into the very exposed North Sea, and the nearest bad weather bolt holes being Southwold or Wells.

I like the Broads so much that I retired here, but I still enjoy places like the Solent, Walton, and Dartmouth. Variety is the spice of life.

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22 hours ago, brundallNavy said:

Had a loverly if somewhat blustery cruise up to Wroxham today, the broads are a great place this time of year very quiet and loads of wildlife to see.

Doug.

image.jpeg

Ahh, a proper boat. Bet that goes under potter bridge, built back in the days when they built boats to go under the bridges. Not like today, they build a boat and then complain that it won't go under potter, etc. Haven't they thought of designing one that will?

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