I bought supplies for tea giving ‘piggy-backs’ to Della.
I bought supplies for tea giving ‘piggy-backs’ to Della.

On a cold and frosty morning, I was researching tides and tidal streams today before and after our trip go shopping in Beccles where we had coffee and buns at Tooks and I bought supplies for tea giving ‘piggy-backs’ to Della. The harbourmaster and I see this year’s exceptionally high-water levels as due to global warming.

We then moved to Oulton Broad, took the bus to Lowestoft for more shopping and a taxi back after tea at MacDonald’s before an earlier cold night but now with shore power available.

A late start for most of the family but I awoke early and read my books on tides and tidal streams until the others were about. It was cold again with lots of condensation on the windows to mop up. Once we got going, we went shopping in Beccles and had coffee and buns at Tooks. Then, Di went back to the boat and I stayed behind and bought the tea in the form of rolls, sliced ham and cheese etc whilst taking Della in and out of the shops by "piggyback". I then gathered the family together for lunch at the pub before we left the moorings. I could have sworn that one of the other people in there was an old flat-mate of mine from my Brighton student days - Willy Baird, an heir of the Irish building family - but I did not get a chance to approach him.

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I chatted to the harbourmaster for a while before we went, paid the dues and took a look at his tidal gauge. He talks of the exceptionally high-water levels that they have been experiencing this past winter and of the greenhouse effect to which we both give serious thought. We cruised downstream and returned to Oulton Broad as I originally wanted to do. As the decision was made at short notice, we had no chance to warn the harbourmaster and so we had to stand off in the Paxton Princess using our mud-weight whilst he moved a couple of boats to get us into our favourite moorings.

We went off shopping in Lowestoft after having to wait a while for a bus and I managed to buy the shore-mains plug that I need for Oulton Broad and fitted it when I got back. We took tea at MacDonald’s and then came back to the boat by taxi where I read all about tides again this evening. Daniel was bellyaching about wanting us out of his cabin so that he could go to bed and so we went at 10.00pm tonight to accommodate him. Although it was frosty and cold today, at least that wind had dropped, and we started to warm up again. Another cold night but at least we had our shore-mains to keep us warm.