Norfolk Broads - LIVE!

I had remembered that I need to change trains at Norwich for the Great Yarmouth branch to get to Acle, and not the Sheringham branch for Hoveton & Wroxham as is more usual.  However, I had not taken on board the number of stops before Acle came up neither did I really take much notice of the stations as we came in and departed – all of a sudden I thought ‘This is it’ and got up took my suitcase and only found that I was in fact at Lingwood (one stop before Acle) as the train departed. What a start to the trip!  Fortunately the station information board had the number of a local taxi firm and within 10 minutes I was on my way by road to Acle – via Budgens to get the basics.  Upon arriving at Horizon Craft, a warm welcome awaited – much like coming back to old friends, good banter, and laughter all round.  I was shown to my boat Mystic Horizon 1 and very nice it was too. After a quick show of the various things to be found on the boat I was off and heading up the

  I t seems that the ducks at Cockshoot Dyke are especially loud and tame – much the same as at Womack Water – and so it was they who woke me and appeared very keen on any food going, and as is always the way you feed one and the whole neighbourhood turn up. Today looked gloomy and felt cooler than of late and there was talk that in the coming days rain and snow would return – quite a difference to the mild sunny weather that had graced me earlier in the week. Because today was my last full day I planned on doing less and would over night at Sutton Staithe where I could pop into the Sutton Staithe Hotel for dinner and take my time packing things away and cleaning the boat. With that in mind how would I spend today? Well first off it was out of the dyke and on the Bure towards Horning – this is such a pretty stretch of river and despite the quietness of place, the public staithe still had two boats – then a further two outside the Swan – the most boats

Having previously looked at the weather forecast I knew that Tuesday 5th March would be the best day – mild, with clear sky and sunshine forecast for much of the day.   With this in mind I had an early night on Monday and rose about 4:45am on the Tuesday. It was cold to begin onboard, but once the engine was going, warm air heating on things were just toasty – this is why I also like out of the way moorings or being on your own because naturally there is no one to disturb – not that today would be a problem as there were nobody about for miles anyway. After a shower and a coffee I was ready to brave the cold morning and it was very icing outside – I used the bucket and some hot water to melt the ice on the decks and I was on the frozen ground just as dawn broke – it was magical – to my right the moon was still out, yet to left the glow of the sun on the horizon had already begun – but it was not just the light that was putting on a great show, the birds were too. 

It has been a while since I have written here, and so wanted to give regular followers a taster of what is to come this year. First off Norfolk Broads - LIVE! will be continuing in the featuring of the holiday tales and Captain's Blogs - and not just be about  the live broadcasts.  This will give those who have a passion for the Norfolk Broads a single point to come to be it to watch the You Tube videos, read up on the day to day events or watch the live broadcasts. Talking of the Captain's Blog they will be changing too.  I am going to try and feature more details about the boat and produce a more formal review.  I will also be featuring more 'river action' and less commentary - or to put it bluntly more interesting things and less me.   This will all begin sometime in March - dates to be confirmed - when I shall be producing the 'Budget Boat Review'.  This will be a four night break on one of the cheapest boats one can hire on the Norfolk Broa

Our first broadcast shall be a crossing over Breydon Water on Sunday 1 st April and all being well shall begin sometime between 12:15 and 12:30pm (subject to tides check Twitter for updates).