The last day of our Norfolk boating holiday
The last day of our Norfolk boating holiday

Home to Little Paxton and the end of our boating holiday after taking The Lady from Oulton Broad up the Waveney and Yare via the New Cut to lunch at The Beauchamp Arms and moor finally at Brooms of Brundall after which we prepared her for transport, slipped and hitched up The Little Lady for towing and drove back to Paxton where we could disable the alarm and start tackling a huge backlog of work. Douglas Hurd promises to curtail gun ownership after the Hungerford killings, 3,00o holidaymakers are stranded in Majorca in a air traffic controllers’ dispute and Didier Pironi dies in a Channel power boat accident

Di awoke in somewhat better spirits and made the morning drinks. I then thought it best to tell her of the calls that I had made late last night and of the continued disturbance to our neighbours made by the internal alarm siren still sounding. After discussing the full range of options, including me spending a day of travel, there and back, to disarm it, we decided on the only logical course – to make our way home today and miss the last 2/3 days of our cruise. We were both disappointed, but realised it had to be done.

An early wash and breakfast and then cast off from Oulton Broad yachting station and made our way back across the Broad and Oulton Dyke on a warm and windy day. We then headed down the New Cut and back up the River Yare. I took The Little Lady alongside, as Daniel was short of fuel and found it quite tricky to navigate thus in the wind and heavy river traffic. A large number of yachts were making for Oulton Broad, on what was the start of Oulton Gala week. We made good time and then stopped at the Beauchamp Arms for lunch. They were supposed to have a new ‘playground’ there for the interest and preoccupation of patron’s children, but a couple of swings were the limit of it. This was, however, enough to keep the girls quiet whilst we ordered some food in the pub restaurant. We were glad to be the first to do this at 12.15pm for, by 12.30pm there were 5/6 parties of customers all trying to be served and we thus missed most of the rush. Even so, we had to forgo sweets and coffee, which was the second disappointment for Di on a trying day. Soon we were mooring at Brooms of Brundall, where I walked along to the office to settle our bill. Met the owner/manager of the Marina and chatted for a while as I paid him and retrieved my Range Rover key. He also bemoaned the tactics of the hire cruisers, saying that it was not the easiest of business to be in, but was pleased to provide the service of lifting and launching visiting boats, with a lot of the trade coming from the Thames. Afterwards, the long and complex process of unloading and mothballing The Lady for transport (putting the dinghy on top of the rear cabin roof for transport) then slipping Daniel’s Little Lady with all of the luggage aboard. I estimated 2 to 3 hours for the process and we were ready to leave in 2 ½, which was not bad. A steady drive home, until showers developed and we had to put the covers on the boat. We had been lucky today, as the weather was warm and dry to aid our cruise and disembarkation and did not begrudge the rain its fling. Stopped for a Little Chef for our tea and had reasonable service, in spite of the crowds, as the road was very congested with travelling holiday makers today. Eventually home just before dark and I quickly put an end to our burglar alarm’s internal siren wail. Then ‘all hands to the pumps’ as we unloaded a score of dustbin bags full of clothes and effects. I put the water on and tried to light the boilers, but there was a gas leak in the meter cupboard and I had to turn the gas off again. All tired and still in something of a muddle, we opted for bed. I had gone through a mountain of mail and found a depressing amount of items needing action. The news this evening was of Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, pledged to ‘do something’ about gun laws after the Hungerford mass killing. A predictable move by a politician who only acts after such a tragedy, when he had been under pressure to do something for years beforehand. Other story is the air traffic controllers strike in Spain, which, though a single day’s stoppage, is stranding 3000 people in Majorca, many of them British. The full story on Rudolf Hess’s death is now out, with admission that he was found strung up with an electrical cord from a window frame. Still, there are those who say that he was ‘helped’ to end his life. Ex-racing driver, Frenchman Didier Pironi, was killed with two crewmates as his powerboat crashed in the Channel. It was racing at 100mph when it capsized after hitting an oil tanker’s wash. Tomorrow’s weather is forecast cloudy with showers and the outlook is cooler.