Page published 22 November 2023
Friday 17 November - Window Leaks
There's been record breaking rain since our Last Visit to the Singing the Blues and we found a puddle on the worktop over the fridge. I didn't report or photograph it at the time, but we had found a similar puddle on our previous visit.
Visible on the angled worktop over the fridge is a puddle, clearing formed from a leak around the window above.
Back at the time of our initial viewing there was evidence of a past problem and I photographed some of the panels around the windows during our River Trial. But it's now clear we have a continuing problem and some serious repair work needs doing.
The puddle from another angle. It appears to seeping in round the window frame and dropping from a gap between the Formica and the delaminating plywood.
Mooring for Lunch
We spent half an hour mopping up the puddle and photographing both it and the Dipstick Stowage that I'd failed to take last time. I wanted more pictures to illustrate the report about it that I wanted to add to the site.
After that we started the engine and motored round to The Rising Sun, mooring on the Broads Authority's Coltishall Common moorings.
By 12:44 we are moored close to The Rising Sun and went to the pub for lunch.
Sundowner and Singing the Blues on the Coltishall Common moorings seen from dining area outside The Rising Sun.
We emerge from the pub just before 13:50. The boat we had moored behind is Sundowner. It turned out there was space enough for us in front of it and that would have put us in the same position that we had been on our second Overnight Cruise. I didn't report it at the time, but it was Sundowner that was astern of us while we picked up and ate our Pizzas.
I've always understood that it's not good practice to run an engine for very short periods so, after lunch, we emerge from the pub with a plan to take a short trip up river to allow the engine to warm up and put a bit of charge back in the battery.
A very empty outside dining area was to be seen as we motored past the pub.
We pass the Rising Sun at 14:06 and by 14:21 are at the head of navigation. There's no choice but to turn when you reach what is left of Coltishall Lock. As the idea is to keep the engine running we don't stop and make our way back to our new mooring.
The sluice gates that replaced the gates at the bottom of Coltishall Lock and is now the head of navigation on the Bure.
The Return from Coltishall Lock
Almost the first thing you pass on your way back to The Rising Sun is the Norfolk Mead. Back in 2011 we visited the grounds of the hotel as part of a plan to meet up with canoeist friends Izy and Kevin. One of these days we might try a meal at the place ourselves.
The Norfolk Mead, the hotel where we met up with Izy and Kevin.
Each time we pass the sign that says the Horstead Mill branch is shallow I have wondered if we count as a shallow draft boat.
The branch to Horstead Mill may be shallow, but if we hadn't been anxious to get to our new mooring before it got too dark I might have been tempted to try the channel, given that the water levels are as high as they are ever likely to be without full flood conditions when boating would be impossible.
There's clear signs that autumn is here as the leaves begin to thin on the trees.
Diana and I have talked about how we look forward to seeing the trees completely devoid of leaves and making the passage down to Wroxham. There's so many dykes and feeder streams to the Bure that you can see on maps that are completely invisible with the trees in leaf.
A cormorant is seen on some new decking at a property just upstream of The Rising Sun.
The replacement of the decking where we saw a cormorant seems to be a job that has stalled with no obvious progress made since September when we first saw it after moving Singing the Blues to our mooring.
Near perfect reflections of The Rising Sun as we pass it again on our way to our new mooring.
Coltishall Common
A little further along from where we moored for lunch and we find a perfectly lit scene with wonderfully autumn colours.
The modernist house that overlooks the common is one I have liked since I first saw it.
I have always been intrigued by the modern steel framed house that sits on stilts that you see from the river. I think I was first aware of it in the 1960s, but it may have been the 1970s after my parents moved to Norfolk. I have vague memories of reading that it won awards for its architecture. More recently it has sprouted a wooden box that I think spoils its appearance, but I recall seeing it on the market at one time and thinking that it rather lacked space that I assumed it had.
After the end of the Coltishall Common moorings you pass a few houses before reaching Anchor Moorings.
Our New Mooring
©2023 Google
Our new mooring is on the river bank within the red box. Previously we were in the square basin close to the cottages.
Our new mooring. Aft of us is the only Safari built by Hampton's for a private buyer, the then mayor of Norwich.
The main advantage of the new mooring is that it gives us access to shore power. That's something that could be important over the next few months, as we may need to place heaters on board to stop the boat's plumbing freezing in cold spells.
The grass may take a little time to recover and before that we'll be treading mud aboard.
While we need the shore power, in other ways we don't feel the new location is quite as good as our old one. It's a lot further from where you park the car, so loading the boat with supplies will involve a little more walking. The recent rains have left much of the ground under water, so there's certainly an increased risk of taking mud aboard. It's also partially under trees which could mean we'll have bird droppings to contend with and leaves filling the well drains in autumn.
Now read about a Cruise in Freezing Conditions aboard Singing the Blues.