I woke before 6am, sought relief with Diana and got the family up and out of Heronshaw by 7.30am for the trip to Brundall where we had breakfast and then a trial run on a wet day on our new boat (currently named Rolyat Princess). I completed the purchase and parted with a cheque for £52,500 as the family were bowled over with it!
A brief visit to Mum in Stanton on the way back and then the afternoon clearing gutters and securing dinghies with a flood expected. Heavy snow has affected roads over the Pennines and in Scotland and heavy rains brought flooding to Cornwall and Plymouth. Winds up to 90 miles an hour are expected.
In London, Vietnamese refugees held a rally to demand an end to repatriation with stories of force and violence being used against them.
A long and tiring day. I woke first before 6am and rolled over to see Di for 10 minutes before getting up and making the drinks. After showering and shaving, I also laid the breakfast and cleared up afterwards. All this was to help get the family ready so that we all got out and into the Range Rover to leave the house locked and alarmed by 7:30am. The journey to Brundall only took two hours as we made very good progress in lighter-than-usual traffic. We then had refreshments at the Kelly’s Kitchen family restaurant in Brundall to give the yacht agency 20 to 30 minutes to prepare for us. We arrived in the rain. The forecast had been for a very wet and windy weather, but the wind did not materialise until later.
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We found the inevitable leaks but in all other respects Di, Daniel and the girls were bowled over by the design and equipment of The Rolyat Princess. It seems unbelievable how so much can be designed into a boat with 10’6” beam and less than 8-foot bridge clearance. We were shown all over it, asked many questions and then went for a trip up the river. All was well and I left the Norfolk Yacht Agency with a cheque for £52,500. There is a couple of things to be done early next week and then we hope to collect it on Wednesday and cruise it round to Horning and Heronshaw before Christmas. Lunch at the pub at Brundall waterfront and then the journey home.
We stopped at Stanton for a brief visit, letting me and Mum exchange the latest administrative details and having a cup of tea and chat. Debbie stayed in the car so that Mum would not get her ‘flu and Daniel kept her company. Once home, I set about the guttering outside the bedroom which was clogged full of dove droppings and overflowing in the recent rains. Then I had to go out to secure the dinghies as the river level was coming up fast to give us our first flood of the winter. Tonight, Derek Giles came around to discuss some local campaigning ideas, but we did not have the time that he needed to issue a Focus he wanted to do tonight!
The news today is of the Thatcher government ignoring the warning from Vietnam about force not being used in repatriation. In London, Vietnamese refugees held a rally to demand an end to repatriation. Heavy snow has affected roads over the Pennines and in Scotland and heavy rains brought flooding to Cornwall and Plymouth. Winds up to 90 miles an hour are expected as the winds start to get up this evening.