A Taxi to The Marina Centre after a quieter night and an hour’s swim after a wait for the next session. Back by taxi again and we then set off on a warm but windy day trying to avoid the antics of hire boats up the Bure and the Thurne to arrive at Potter Heigham Bridge where three bridge pilots will try to get The Lady under tomorrow. The news is of 50 British companies selling arms to Iran, despite balancing rules, and now they are strengthening their patrols in response to the US. Mecca is alive with unrest, Rover have increased production by 30% and Tamils are in the 4th day of a hunger strike aboard the prison ship Earl William
A better and quieter night’s sleep at the more remote end of Yarmouth Marina’s moorings, then was the first to awake at 6.00am on a chilly morning. Put the boat heating on, as the temperature was below 50degF and I wrote up yesterday’s journal as the cabins soon warmed up. Di was given her coffee in bed and was soon up and washed before the children emerged from the for’d cabin. Breakfast of toast and fruit juice and then the struggle to get the children dressed and ashore ready for our trip to the Marina Centre for a swim. Eventually away by taxi and arrived at 10.20am, but could not swim until 11.45am due to a ‘sessions’ programme.
The idea is to have one hour separate sessions for swimmers to increase capacity, but it has the opposite effect. Changing rooms, showers and corridors are packed with waves of people coming in and out and, with children, the results are most unpleasant. Still, there was a nice play area for the children and us to wait and Della and Debbie enjoyed the diversion. We only ever swim for less than an hour anyway and so we got out early and missed much of the rush at the session’s end. Once we had emerged and gathered together all of our possessions (including Debbie’s lost cardigan) we had the brisk walk to the family restaurant for lunch. A little late (we normally try to eat at midday to avoid the rush) the place was full and the service slow for once. Taxi back to the marina and then we cast off for the day’s cruise. A strong wind and river busy with droves of hire craft that kept pulling out and causing trouble. Daniel nearly collided when his engine stalled because he had not opened his tank breather screw. We cruised right up to Potter Heigham and moored within sight of the notorious bridge, as the headroom was too little for The Lady. A discussion with the bridge pilots concluded that The Lady was dodgy for the 6ft 8in headroom expected for low tide tomorrow afternoon, but all three pilots (Hoseasons, Blakes and another) would together take The Lady up at slack water to see if it would go through, but we remain dubious. This evening Daniel and I repaired some scraping damage to the Blue Peter caused by taking off from Yarmouth today, then Diana and I took a long walk until dusk around Potter Heigham. The news tonight is of 50 British companies under investigation for selling arms to Iran, despite rules on arms sales designed to maintain the balance. In the Gulf, Iran are strengthening their forces and patrol boats in response to US manoeuvrings. The Islamic reactions to the Mecca unrest and pilgrim deaths are still in the form of mass demonstrations and fanaticism. US President Reagan has gained congressional support for a Nicaragua/Contra ceasefire move, but had to defend himself against charges of insincerity. Tomorrow the result of the SDP ballot on merger with the Liberals will be announced and there is expected to be a vote in favour of it. The Rover car group has increased turnover by 30% and has made a much smaller loss than before. Steve Cram runs a fast 1500 metres race to regain his form and confidence for the championship in a month’s time. Aboard the Earl William Prison Ships (a converted ferry moored and used to house immigrants) Tamils are into the fourth day of a hunger strike and threaten to fast until death if their cases are not reconsidered and considered as refugee arrivals. The weather is forecast dry for tomorrow morning, but showery in the afternoon, which is ominous for my passage through the bridge. Before going to bed tonight, I reflected on the fate of Potter Heigham. It has been cut into two by the new bypass and road bridge and a third separate section has grown up by the river for tourists. Much new building of houses takes place, yet old and derelict cottages stand on both sides of the road near the round-towered church. The school and village hall is at the far end of the village from the church and it is difficult to say where the centre is. Still, a party of men were enjoying a game of bowls this evening and children played happily in the fine children’s playground. We found a couple of nice places to eat another time and a huge shopping supermarket by the riverside. The river hereabouts supports numerous day boats and the whole of the Bure and Thurne today have been much more congested than the Yare and Waveney of the last couple of weeks. Today remained windy, but the sun was warm until it went down and we shall have a cold night.