Southern Broads meet 19-21 May 2017

I shall be sending out requests for payment this weekend for those who have booked moorings at the Beccles meet.
Payment method instructions will be included, payment required 2 May latest !!
See you there,
 cheers Derek

I am pleased to report that all people who have booked a mooring at Beccles have now paid me in advance of me paying Beccles Yacht Station next week.

Thanks everyone !! See you there, the HM has guaranteed us good weather !!

PS. If you intend coming , even if only for an hour or two, and haven't booked yet, l have asked the HM to reserve us a slightly larger length of quay, which he is happy to do, just pay the HM direct on the day 

Contacted the Harbour master today with a view to paying the mooring fees l have collected . He emailed me back to say thanks but he will collect on the day !!!

That's completely different to what l understood previously!

Never mind, just be assured if you have prepaid me and 9 out of 10 have, (Tony had permission to pay on the day anyway) l haven't skipped the country and will be paying the HM on the day now

There will be a designated area marked Freeman Club, with room for unannounced arrivals

Edit: just to say, the HM has a list of boats names and crew who have booked with me and paid me !!

Derek

With just a few days to go before the Beccles do, l can feel the excitement building. This weekend spent a couple of hours just checking everything in order and working, which thankfully it was, so just the clothes and food to load on Friday before setting off.

It's not too late to decide to come, there should be spaces for 3-4 extra boats agreed with the H/Master, just pay on the day.

Derek

First leg of the operation completed this morning, Anne was loaded onto Tony Tugboats trailer this morning and should be making her way to Norfolk 

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Anne arrived safely yesterday. The usual great service. From Tony Tugboats and from Jon at Wayford, we arrived safely early evening (having driven all through the night, or at least that's how it seemed, what a miserable day) kit stowed, fed and watered in the inn over the road...great pub  ready for the first leg tomorrow

We're on our way  

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Hope you all have a great time.

Met up with Kittiwake and Lady Elizabeth at stokesby.
Food, alcohol and freeman chat were involved. Breydon water in the morning 

With winds gusting to 30mph, we're having to sit out the weather, so won't make the meet until tomorrow evening now.

Went for it in the end  

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Judging from Facebook posts it looks to be a good turn out and the weather should be improving. We hope everyone is having a great time. Have fun!

Firstly I must thank Derek for putting a lot of hard ork into organising a great event. The venue was good, the town had everything we needed and we all had a great time  

There's a small floatilla of Freemans moored at the Ferry inn in Reedham tonight, food, drink and boaty chat flowed well over the evening, lunch stop tomorrow ( there might be another pub involved  ) then the return crossing of Breydon water. 

We have a slightly poorly Vadette to deal with first though

Beccles meet (copied and pasted from my post in Freeman Facebook Photos)

Boats turning up to reach Beccles for Friday were faced with cold and wet weather. A nervous hour or two whilst the decision was taken whether it was safe to cross Breydon, however the early wind abated allowing a relatively good crossing, Pat Warner and Dick Turpin leading the Breydon virgins Ray an Maureen in their ' tiny but shiny' 22 mk1 Lady Elizabeth 11. Tony Anderson was held up at Wayford with engine problems after trailering it half way round the country ! Already there after piloting dad's boat Piero Gianni were Kelly and Simon. Eventually the three boats above reached Beccles where seven boats coming from various  locations had arrived earlier. The evening was dry enough to have fish and chips sitting out on the green, the bill coming to nearly £65 ! Tiffer managed to make it the few hundred yards from his mooring and get under Beccles old road bridge in time to join in the F&C supper, lovely to see you !
Saturday dawned with lovely sun albeit a bit gusty with occasional sharp showers during the early evening, but nothing was going to interfere with the planned evening  BBQ, so after a few drops passed , about eight BBQ were fired up and battle commenced, it was a roaring success, nearly more than bargained for when a couple of BBQ's set fire to the old tree stump they were on, the water hose had to be brought into play. By this time Tony had arrived, so with two other boats that had seen the event advertised elsewhere we totalled 13 boats visiting.(good for first time)
Today, Sunday dawned with warm sun and light winds, typical for the day most were leaving to go home ! The boats going to cross back over Breydon left first added to by Frolic  2 who was leaving southern waters to take up a new mooring in Horning, a few steps from their home. Lucky them !! They were going to fill up with petrol at Waveney River Centre, stay the night at Reedham before a flotilla crossing of Breydon with six boats now.
Two new people, both with  F27's had combined the meet with a short break so we're staying on, while l only had the short trip back to Geldeston ! We also had car visits from potential Freeman owners, or owners that for whatever reason could not bring their boats as well as some old friends from Salhouse days.
So boats that came were
Pat and family with F23 Anne
Derek with F23 Flittermouse.
Ray and Maureen with F22 mk1 Lady Liz
Jane and Mike on F23 Frolic 2
Simon and Rachel on F23 Dragonfly
Dick and Anita on F28 Kittiwake
Simon and Kelly  crew 1, Dave and mike, crew 2 on F26 PieroGianni 11
Colin and Sharon on F26 Dragonfly
Tony on F22 Mable Rose
New recruits, Malcolm and Sue on F27 Mini Max, Jeff and Anna on ,F27 Wild Rose and Tiffer on F22 St Hilda

Not on there boats were Gloria and Peter, Thistle Do.
Steve , Chickadee
Searching for their Freeman, Wayne and Tanya, Mike and ? (Sorry didn't get a name)
Thanks to all those that attended, making it a great weekend

Roll on Salhouse  

I'm sure more photos will follow, l was busy and didn't get any nice group photos
My only photos, were the other boats leaving !

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We had a somwhat blustery start 
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We had reserved moorings when we arrived

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Derek arranged a raffle with items donated but Sheridan and himself. 
Simritdave seemed to win the vast majority of the prizes 


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The return trip has been very pleasant so far 

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Just posted £22 raffle proceeds made after expenses deducted ( items l had bought) to RNLI.
Thankyou to Sheridan Marine who donated some nice items to help make the raffle Freeman orientated.
And many thanks to those that came along on their boats, by car, foot whatever and made the first Beccles meet a resounding success, which made the effort all worthwhile.

Cheers   Derek ( Flittermouse)

Screenshot from bank statement (cut to remove personal data)
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Well done Derek  


Then there were three 

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Frolic 3 peeled off
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Leaving Anne and Lady Elizabeth as ladies who lunch. 
After lunch and a stroll through Horning Lady Liz made her mooring and we headed off to Neatished

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Tony Tugboats collects us from Weyford tomorrow, although we'd happily stay another week

So, apparently there's an idea that we'll do the same again next year, but some boats would like to take the sea route from Great Yarmouth the Lowestoft 

Would insurance be an issue if we were to take to the sea?

Yup, you'd need an upgrade. 
Not looked into it, on the Thames it's anything passed the barrier iirc