Awoken by water birds after a quiet night at Coltishall moorings and then in the way of Germans and Dutch for the water point as the girls find friends to play with before moving later on. A long walk exploring Coltishall and eventually to find ‘Brian’s Coffee House’ for Di after which we take off but soon experience an engine failure before I find the problem and fix it. Back to Wroxham, after lunch at The Rising Sun and on to Salhouse to moor by mud weight and put the children to bed and take the dinghy ashore for a walk round. A US-flagged tanker is holed and is taking in water from a mine explosion in the Gulf, 1/4m of black coal and gold miners strike for freedom in South Africa and the UK Stock Exchange makes a partial recovery
Awoke rather early at our Coltishall moorings. It was not other boats or people, but the noise of the water birds that woke me up. It was another chilly morning and misty, so that the boat heating was needed to combat the temperature and condensation. I put the kettle on and then gave the girls an orange squash each, as they woke up as well. Soon we were all awake and washed ready for breakfast and Daniel joined us from his boat as well. By this time, two cruisers were hovering beside us, queuing up for water from the hose.
The first boat was full of Germans and were filling for a full half hour before giving up. The next crew were Dutch and, after they had finished, we filled up and I planned to move The Lady out of the way. The girls then came out in their waterproofs and played on the swings and were joined by the two small children from The Anchor house. I stayed with them and kept them happy until another cruiser prepared to come in for water and I actually moved the boat further along. We then went for a walk into Coltishall and on up the hill to the centre. Further still across the river to Horstead. Was intrigued to see the range of antique shops and a fish keeping centre, but Diana was disappointed not to find a coffee place at the end of our walk. She was happier on our return to find ‘Brians Coffee House’ open and we had nice drinks and scones twice over to recuperate before walking on. Then; milk, bread, postcards and some other items from the Post Office, before returning to ship. We made to set off and The Lady’s engine spluttered and then stopped and refused to start. It took me an hour and a half to fix it – one of the nuts on the jets had come loose and the whole of the fuel system had to be bled, which is a long process. Eventually started it and, being late for lunch, we decided to take Daniel’s day-boat down to the village green and have lunch at The Rising Sun, which was quickly served on the tables by the river. Cruised on a fine, still and sunny morning to Wroxham, where we caught the bank to withdraw £250 and then bought Daniel a new sleeping bag and Della some new waterproofs. Cruised on to Salhouse Broad, where we dropped anchor and moored in the western bay, having tea of salad with the cockpit open on a nice evening. When the girls were in bed, Di and I took the dinghy ashore and walked all around Salhouse, which has changed since last time. News tonight of a US tanker in the Gulf hit by a mine, holed and taking in water. Now it is feared that there are mines drifting all over the Gulf, with no area that can be considered safe. 250,000 black coal and gold miners went on strike in South Africa today and half of the gold mining (that itself makes up the majority of foreign exchange earnings) has come to a halt. There was a slight recovery on the stock exchange today, but there is still a pessimistic sentiment in a week where a number of key economic statistics are due. England were forced to follow on against Pakistan and must now bat on with their last 7 wickets tomorrow to avoid defeat. The weather will be dry and foggy tonight