Spring Meet Weekend

[mbird]

Well, we are back form our weekend afloat. We managed to get to the Spring meet at the Dog .... eventually. I had rather a hectic day at the yard with a couple of breakdowns and then did a couple of trial runs too, so we managed to get away at about 4:45pm in the end.

We arrived at Ludham Bridge at about 5:30pm, and the place was completely banged out. The only space I could see was at the water point, which you are not supposed to moor at for any length of time. We pulled in, and I wandered up the bank to see if there were any other spaces. One was available between "Sandpiper" and "Sally B", which I thought we would fit into. We got slipped moorings and came upstream to the spot, but from the river it looked about 3 feet shorter!

I decided to try to squeeze in, and as luck would have it, we managed it with only 3 inches clear at either end, and I didn't touch either of them, all without a bow thruster A quick adjustment of Sandpipers spring lines, and the addition of one ourselves, soon meant we were not bumping into each other too much as boats went past.

On walking up to the pub it was apparent we had missed the BBQ, as we kept stopping every 100 yards to greet some familiar faces who were all returning to their boats to freshen up.

We decided to order some pub food instead as the BBQ had finished, and upon Dave's (Aquaholic) recommendation, I had the Steak and Ale pie, which was delicious. Slowly people started returing to the pub, and more specifically to the function room, for the evenings entertainment from Jon Collerick and Boycee.

A great evening was had by all and it was so good to once again catch up with old friends, and put some new faces to names too.

We had already planned to go to Coltishall on the Sunday, and it turned out that a number of other members had decided on that route too. As we were the last to get there, all the moorings had been taken outside the Rising Sun, so we decided to continue up to the lock until later that afternoon when the day boats had departed.

We moored at the lock, and it was lovely just sitting by the meadow watching the cattle graze. The kids wanted to play in the mill pool in their Kayaks, so we paddled around there to let them have a bit of fun. Harry was a little wary of the white water, but Jack soon plucked up the nerve and was diving in and out of it in his Kayak. Eventually he bit off more than he could chew, and ended up getting very wet having capsized! I missed this bit on camera unfortunatley!

Having got back to the boat and dried off, we realised it was gone 6:00pm, so decided to stay put for the night. Our apologies to Boycee, Flying Fortress, Red Rover and Boaters for being so anti-social. We would have loved to have come back to spend an evening with you all, but were simply too damned lazy! Hope to see you all again soon though

[mbird]

Jack, just before his capsize! Look at the water pouring over the top of his kayak, and without a spray deck, it was also filling up the boat

[Guest]

Nice tale - and love the pic.

[RedRover]

Yes had a great weekend met the usual people,mbird,happyjax2,boaters,flying fortress,boycee,aquaholic,broads ambition,etc saturday night with John Collerick and Boycee and christine and maggie on bongoe's were fab,BBQ was great met lots of people came last in the welly wanging but was not bothered as did not have a trial run which i think we all should have had .

but never mind we won the TOP prize of a short break in one of Richardsons boats looking forward to it as they are a great company that looks after there customers so that they come back time and again.

have to say the weather was absolutely great warm and hot at times with just a hint of rain on monday night .There was a quiz that you had to find certain clues in the area we got one of the lowest scores as probably the reason was i just want to chill out on a meet and not tax my brian too much each to there own.

On sunday a few of us decided to motor to coltishall for the night followed by a good night onboard Tot Tyme.Monday some of us flying fortress,Boycee,Tot Tyme motored to ranworth staithe followed by a night in the maltzers.

all in all a great weekend.AND it has to be a record of seeing around 30 Heron's in such a short time.

[boycee]

Hi Guys

Just like to thank all of you for a great weekend-Mags & I throughly enjoyed ourselves.A big thanks to Sue,Hank,Pete,Roya,Gandalf & Tina for organising the whole thing & also all at The Dog for providing some great food,good beer & excellent facilities-Well done Geoff,super BBQ chef.Sorry we did not get to say goodbye on Sunday but a decision was made on a quick exit so we could get moorings at Coltishall.

Jon,Sheena Mags & I really enjoyed playing for you & would love to do so again if asked.

It was also good to put names to faces & meet you all "in the flesh", but Colin's Saturday morning dip followed by Dave's ingenious invention to cut the "rogue" underpants from Happy Jax was one of the highlights of the Weekend

Thanks again

Alan & Mags

[Happy Jax 3]

Hi All

Well we did have an adventurous weekend, it all started late Friday evening when we left the yard, we decided to take a nice evening cruise from Wayford down to Ludham bridge. Left our yard at 8.45pm. Firstly, I noticed a slight power loss, thinking something was on the prop I decided to put it hard astern to clear it, only to find I had no reverse thrust. I made the decisions to pump on down to Ludham, we had a heavy vibration but kept the revs under 1200rpm. We finally arrived at Ludham at 10.35pm. Clearly fed up with the situation I left loops to finish mooring the boat and I took a brisk walk up to the Dog Inn to have a quick pint with Pete Sue & Hank and I also met Roy (Roya) for the first time. At the pub there was several loud parties going on. Geoff the landlord moved them on and we followed them back to the staithe shortly afterwards. It was then it started, 3 boats all around us partied into the early hours. finally got off to sleep at approx 2.00am. 6.00am a hire boat moored opposite us either the Pink or White Champaign decided to fire up the engine. Personally we think it was a ploy to get back at the party boats as two of them were moored either side of him.

Early Saturday morning all the crowds started to arrive, Barry and Olive, Roy and Diane. Alan (Boycee) & Maggie, and Dave & Chris (Aquaholic) were already there. later in the morning Rod & Shirley (Flying Fortress) arrived. The Broads Ambition crew arrived with both Martina and Paul on board. It was great to meet up with old and new friends. If I have missed anyone of this list I do apologise.

Back to the prop issue on HJ2, I went over to Ludham bridge services to see if they could assist, they came over to look at our boat and decided it was to heavy for the crane. I took a number for a diver and established that it was a minimum charge of £180. . Time to go for a swim one thinks. I put on some old cloths and took the plunge, at first I couldn't even put my head under the boat as the cold water took all my breath away. second dive got under a bit further but I still had a element of panic. On the third attempt I managed to get to the prop, which was some 5 or 6 feet in from the stern of the boat, I felt the rag or what ever sitting around the prop, back up to the surface again. I got my divers knife and went under again. started to cut it away but had to get out as I kept loosing my breath and going into panic mode. At this time I was about to give up when Dave (Aquaholic) suggested he tapped his Lazer knife to our boat hook in an attempt to cut away whilst keeping head above water. Unbelievably I managed to start cutting the object off, I then lost it again. I took another dive under, gaining more confidence, I might add, managed to get to the prop and rip out part of the rag. Went down again and freed the rest of the offending article. When I came back up to the surface, to add insult to injury it turned out to be a large pair of men's boxer shorts.

At this time I noticed that at least 20 people were standing around taking photo's and videos of the event. I am now keeping a close check on youtube.

As previously mentioned we all had a fun day at the Dog Inn with Roys's Welly Wanging, Griff (BA) won the mens and Robin won the ladies. a treasure hunt was organised by Paul & Martina and Rod and Shirley beat us by 1 point.

During the day we was joined by Steve & Jax, Good to meet you both, Colin (Newf) with Pebbles. Later on, Mark, Sharon(MBird) and family arrived for the evening entertainment.

The BBQ organised by Geoff & Lorraine at the Dog was fit for a king.

Into the evening we had the pleasure of Jon Collerick supported by our own Boycee on bongo's. The only down side was Boycee's insistence that I came up to the front to sing the chorus of Norfolk & Good in my London/Essex accent. And Mark, yes I do remember the push forward to the front.

The following morning we said our goodbye's and headed down Sarf.

I would just like to thank Pete, Sue and Hank, with the support of Roya, Martina & Paul for all there efforts to make the meet a great success.

[Boaters]

Just to second all that has been said about the "Dog " weekend.Started for us when we went to the White Horse at Upton for our meal that we won here on the Christmas draw.I have heard tales of the fish and chips but you have to see them to believe it .It was the largest ,freshest fish we have had in memory.Ray came in to see who had won his prize and to have a chat .I mentioned we used to use the pub when we had a boat in Upton and our son would play in the outside games room some 25 years ago .Ray has been there for 32 years and that must be some kind of record for a Broadland pub? Next on to the Lion at Thurne where a good evening was provided by Hard Rain a local group of six members who play music for all tastes.Saturday saw us at Ludham joining in the days entertainment ,an excellent time was had by all and our thanks to all involved.We were last to get to Coltishall and had to double bank with Tot Tyme.Got dragged off to the Rising Sun as it was hot and you have to keep your fluid intake up dont you! The girls tried hard to eat the ice cream van dry whilst we were gone. A space had been vacated and the girls had moved and moored the boat whilst we were gone ,and nicely moored I must say.Afternoons dont get much better than that.More socialising in the evening and retired very contented! Our family were joing us on the Monday so we waved goodbye to the rest as they made their way back to Wroxham and beyond.We took the family down to Salhouse and back to Colltishall passing through Wroxham twice which was busier than the M 25 ,but it is good to see so many peaple enjoying the river.We dropped them off and had a quiet night and lazy Tuesday before returning to South Walsham on Tuesday night for our return home on Wednesday.A very pleasant few days in good company

[Guest roya]

It was so very nice to meet new friends,

I hope to make some more ,

Happy chugging or sailey thinging all,

Roy.

[mbird]

Just to second all that has been said about the "Dog " weekend.Started for us when we went to the White Horse at Upton for our meal that we won here on the Christmas draw.I have heard tales of the fish and chips but you have to see them to believe it .It was the largest ,freshest fish we have had in memory.Ray came in to see who had won his prize and to have a chat .I mentioned we used to use the pub when we had a boat in Upton and our son would play in the outside games room some 25 years ago .Ray has been there for 32 years and that must be some kind of record for a Broadland pub? Next on to the Lion at Thurne where a good evening was provided by Hard Rain a local group of six members who play music for all tastes.Saturday saw us at Ludham joining in the days entertainment ,an excellent time was had by all and our thanks to all involved.We were last to get to Coltishall and had to double bank with Tot Tyme.Got dragged off to the Rising Sun as it was hot and you have to keep your fluid intake up dont you! The girls tried hard to eat the ice cream van dry whilst we were gone. A space had been vacated and the girls had moved and moored the boat whilst we were gone ,and nicely moored I must say.Afternoons dont get much better than that.More socialising in the evening and retired very contented! Our family were joing us on the Monday so we waved goodbye to the rest as they made their way back to Wroxham and beyond.We took the family down to Salhouse and back to Colltishall passing through Wroxham twice which was busier than the M 25 ,but it is good to see so many peaple enjoying the river.We dropped them off and had a quiet night and lazy Tuesday before returning to South Walsham on Tuesday night for our return home on Wednesday.A very pleasant few days in good company

You left out the bit about running aground near Caens Meadow, Roy!

[Boaters]

What me? ,but no! but me? no but no ? just a touch,and we soon got under way when we were lifted by the wash from your flotilla ,Mark,many thanks.