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Showing posts from May, 2014

Song of Freedom - The Review

Song of Freedom proved to be a very nice, cosy and warm boat.  Although it was not that cold you could certainly tell that the heating would keep things toasty and I liked the way the boat was in four compartments, from forward cabin to saloon, to cockpit to aft cabin - all with their own doors. It is funny how it seems everything these days needs to be bigger, fatter, longer, wider from cars to pushchairs not to mention boats - but it goes to show how a good design and use of space can make 30 feet feel far larger and have plenty of space and drawers to stow your things. Good to handle, and considering the hours we did many against tides I thought frugal on fuel too.  Would be a really nice small family boat and while not the most modern has some nice touches - such as a refitted galley and salon space to make evenings spent on board pleasant, rounded off with a fair price you really can't go wrong. So now you can watch the walkthrough and see for yourself.

Song of Freedom - Day Four

We had spent the past days cruising for many hours and often getting up early - today therefore was going to be slightly less hectic so it was a later start and not before 9:30am that we departed Loddon Staithe.   It was low water and I was anxious as it did feel like we were cruising in a paddling pool leaving the Staithe and me worrying how much water was under us - our all but one of our neighbours having departed earlier when perhaps there was more water to be had.  However my worries became true when having passed the last set of moorings (just before the Staithe on the left hand side as you approach Loddon) there was a large floating mound of Reeds.  I moved to the centre of the river to avoid them and just as we came past what now appears to be a type of basin (the bank works scooping out a very large area oblong in shape) I felt the boat touch bottom and slow momentarily as if just struggling to keep going through the water and then no sooner as had sped up

Song of Freedom - Day Three

An early start today - I was up around 6:15am doing the usual engine checks, making sure there was water in the header tank and how was the oil doing etc - these being all the more important on these old BMC's who always like to drink a little water and burn a little oil. By about 6:50am I was casting off from the quay and heading off over a still Oulton Broad who was just beginning to wake up - and finally, there was calmness and no wind so with canopy lowered it was destination Beccles. I should note that last night at Oulton Broad we had a very peculiar fault - start the engine, turn on heater - heater starts turn off engine once was running and within 5 minutes the heater would be off and the LED blinking.  Try as we might the heater would simply not stay on longer than a few minutes - yet we had ample power.  Another job for Andy, so I called him later an arranged to meet later that evening at our final destination - Loddon.  I am sure his eyes rolled, hi

Song of Freedom - Day Two

I had planned to leave Rockland Staithe early before the tide turned, this would mean we would be heading down the Yare at slack water and by the time we reached the Reedham the tide would be coming in - but we would not have much time going against it as we would be taking the Haddiscoe New Cut and upon reaching the end turning right and going with the incoming tide.  Well, that was the plan anyway... However we had found it most strange that despite spending much of the evening in the New Inn upon return to the boat the lights seemed dim, and the heating would literally only kick in for a few moments before switching off.  Something was not happy electrically somewhere, only there was a rather odd anomaly going on that the 240v side of things was working just fine so we had television and I could use my laptop but the 12v side was decidedly flat. This morning a call was made to Freedom and Andy was as puzzled as I (batteries had been checked prior to departure)

Song of Freedom - Day One

It felt rather odd boarding the train at Liverpool Street with my Dad for usually whenever we come to Norfolk it is in the car, but alas that was being worked on and so the train would need to take the strain. It was not long before we were in sunny Norwich, and walked from the station to the large Morrison's stock up for the 4 night break ahead - and as ever you always seem to go a bit mad on things especially considering we were going to be eating out on 3 of the 4 nights.  Once out of the store it was a called to ABC Taxi's to collect us and take us to Freedom's boatyard , just off Bungalow Lane in Thorpe.   We set off and our driver turned out to have grown up not far from where we live in London - funny old world - and soon it was time to turn into the unmade lane that leads to the boatyard.  Rather interesting affair, under a rail line at a bridge then further down a manual level crossing - open the gates yourself, drive over the lines, then clos