A later start on another warm day after a cooler morning after which we cruised upstream with the flood tide across Breydon Water and under the Bure bridges to arrive at Stokesby for lunch at The Ferry Inn. Then back to Horning with Helen Cranston taking the helm where we met her family for some refreshment in the shade of the balcony before they left.
Relaxing with the ship’s log this evening and de-commissioning the Paxton Princess, taking off her burgees, ensign, fenders, ropes as Di packed for home after a splendid time cruising. Iraq declares Kuwait as its 19th province and Saddam suddenly announces in another TV interview that foreign women and children will be free to leave Kuwait and Iraq.
I was still asleep as Di got the morning drinks on. It was another warm day and we missed most of the cooler morning by being slow to get going. This did not matter as I was timing our cruise upstream to coincide with the flood tide to save fuel. We shopped for bread and things at the adjacent shop and then took off across Breydon Water at 10.00am. By listening to Channel 12 and calling, I was able to establish from the bridge-master that we had clearance without taking down our mast which was good use of the radio. There was no sign of the sea-lion this time and it must have left or been caught and taken away. We went under the Bure bridges in Yarmouth where we did have to take the mast down and we were reminded just how busy these waterways were by the sheer volume of boat traffic crossing under the bridges in a continuous stream.
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We then made good time upstream with Helen willingly taking the helm until we moored up at Stokesby which, although full of moored boats, had space by the nearby marshes. We had a nice lunch at The Ferry Inn but were feeling quite warm because the day was sunny and the temperature up to over 80degF again. By the time we left Stokesby, the flood stream was running very well in our favour and so we made even better time, arriving back at Heronshaw at 3.15pm. The Cranston family were already there waiting for us and so we took the chains down and let them into the drive and then put the chairs out on to the verandah so that we could all have a cup of tea in the shade to cool down.
They stayed on quite a while until we eventually waved goodbye to them at 5.00pm. I relaxed this evening watching TV and making up the ship's log whilst Diana packed our things ready for us to leave in the morning. I then also de-commissioned the Paxton Princess, taking off her burgees, ensign, fenders, ropes and other equipment for the first time since early last month. It had been a tremendous summer in ideal conditions, but we were now ready to come home. Telephone calls tonight from Helen Cranston (who had accidentally brought away Debbie's glasses) and from Freda who was updating me on the family news ready for my visits tomorrow.
Iraq declares Kuwait as its 19th province and Saddam suddenly announces in another TV interview that foreign women and children will be free to leave Kuwait and Iraq.