- Details
After being un-moored by vandals in Norwich we cruised down The Yare, stopping off again at the Brundall Boatique on the way and intended to stop to go to Pettit's at Reedham but found them closed and so cruised on to Oulton Broad directly. Di took the girls for a swim in the outdoor swimming pool in the Nicholas Everett Park which, whilst being old-fashioned and unheated was thoroughly enjoyed. We met again for tea at the cafe by the pool and then I went back to the boat to write up my logs.
Another disturbed night and tired on. We had a problem last night when some youths untied our boat and, if we had not heard them and seen them at it, we would have been floating off upstream with the tide. I called the police who came and checked the other moorings but there ws anot much else that they could do. It was all set to be another warm day today and so we made the decision to move off and cruise down to the coast to cool off. We left quite early, before the evergreen deliveryman arrived, and, at the suggestion of the harbourmaster, did not have to pay for the further day's stay. "Have this one on the house as a regular customer", he said, and then refused a tip which was very nice. We stopped at the Brundell Boatique on the way for our supples and then at Reedham Ferry Inn for a nice lunch and had intended to stop to go to Pettit's at Reedham but we found that they were closed on Saturdays.
We considered continuing to Great Yarmouth but the tides and bridge headrooms were not suitable and so we therefore cruised on to Oulton Broad directly. I telephoned ahead to book a mooring there and we tied up alongside another yacht in late afternoon. After exchanging pleasantries with the crew of the neighbouring yacht, we walked across to see the much-publicised Jeckells sale but it was disappointing and we found so little of their stock in the sale that there was nothing there that we could not live without. Di took the girls for a swim in the outdoor swimming pool in the Nicholas Everett Park and, though the pool was old-fashioned and unheated, the girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We met again for tea at the cafe by the pool and then I went back to the boat to write up my logs.
- Details
A very warm, noisy and disturbed night spent in Norwich with overnight rain and gnat bites to contend with as well. As the day turned warm and sticky, we then walked into Norwich town centre having coffee and a "morning bun" at Jarrold’s after which the girls went shopping and I ordered the trophies for the Historical Ambulance Preservation Society Rally.
Then we all met up for lunch of salad sandwiches at Oliver’s' and I took Daniel to the cinema to see "Days of Thunder", an American stock car racing film. 12 of the 21 Arab League vote to join US in defence of Saudi Arabia but Saddam Hussein urges all Arabs to sweep "emirs of oil" from power in the Gulf.
We woke up rather dishevelled after a very warm, noisy and disturbed night. We were a bit nearer the road that we normally were and, with the heat and the windows open, it was difficult to get away from the traffic noise. The matter was compounded by us getting plenty of gnat bites as we lay outside our covers and then having a night-time shower of rain that meant that Di needed to close the ventilation hatch and salvage the bridge carpet from the rain as we had left the cover down. She found more maggots under it which did not help her demeanour. This morning, I mopped the deck and was a bit grumpy with Daniel for not helping. We then walked into Norwich town centre and soon the coolness of the morning was transformed into another very warm and sticky day. We started with coffee at Jarrold’s where I was very enthusiastic about their "morning bun" which I found quite irresistible.
This coffee place is a bit like Eaden Lilley's in Cambridge, frequented by diehard and ageing locals rather than by the tourists that plague both cities in the summer months. Then we went our various ways. The girls went up to the Jarrold’s toy department and entered all of their summer competitions and Di did some shopping elsewhere in the store as I left and walked across the city centre to Harlequins, the sports and trophy people. I sorted out the trophies for the Historical Ambulance Preservation Society Rally in memory of Dad which was a worry off of my mind. Then we all met up for lunch of salad sandwiches at Oliver’s' and I took Daniel to the cinema to see "Days of Thunder", an American stock car racing film which was very exciting.
We rendezvoused with the others for more refreshments at Oliver’s and then, whilst Daniel went to see another film and Debbie went back to the boat to read, the rest of us went to get Di's new contact lenses and then visited the Brideswell trade exhibition which we found quite fascinating. The weather was very hot by now, but we have learnt to cope with it this summer. It was another warm evening and I spent it by making telephone calls, writing up my logs and journals and running up the boat's engines for an hour to charge up the batteries and heat the water. 12 of the 21 Arab League vote to join US in defence of Saudi Arabia but Saddam Hussein urges all Arabs to sweep "emirs of oil" from power in the Gulf.
- Details
Cruising from Berney Arms on a breezy and warm day to the Norwich Yacht Station via stops for lunch at The Beauchamp Arms at the defunct Buckenham Ferry and at The Yare Boatique in Brundall. We found an old friend in the Norwich harbourmasterwho had fallen recently and badly bruised his knee. No luck with fishing here and great fun with escaped maggots. US troops take up position in Saudi Arabia, Iraq closes its borders to foreigners trapping thousands of Westerners in Iraq and Kuwait.
We were back to our normal routine on for the long cruise upstream to Norwich. We stopped for lunch at The Beauchamp Arms at the defunct Buckenham Ferry. We noticed, as we moored, that quite a breeze had got up, but it was still very warm and dry today even so. All the grass everywhere is parched and dry and turf being lost to erosion as we have not had rain for some time now. This was particularly noticeable at this stop as Buckenham Ferry is a particularly sandy place and might have been a ford with a sand bar in times gone by. We have already had the driest spring for nigh a hundred years and now all this heat and dryness is a cause of such worry. At least the Broads are all right for navigation and the water levels are reasonable.
** "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **
- Details
A busy boating day setting off from Irstead Staithe and cruised on across Barton Broad and up to Stalham for a look around the town and then meeting the owner of Stalham Yacht Services who had brought it as ‘The Rolyat Princess’ round from Norfolk to the Great Ouse on its delivery and proving trips.
Then downstream the River Ant and Bure getting as far as Yarmouth eventually but there were no good moorings there and so we eventually crossed Breydon Water and moored at The Berney Arms. Saddam Hussein declares Kuwait as part of Iraq and Britain agrees to join multilateral force in the Gulf.
Today was yet another fine day but, although still sunny, was cool enough to be quite nice. I was outside early, mopping the boat and then, after a deal of persuasion from me, Daniel helped me with the boat cover. This persistence was rewarded when we found that the "irons" had been fitted back to front all this time and the cover was actually a better design that we thought when fitted the right way round! We set off from Irstead Staithe and cruised on across Barton Broad and up to Stalham. We tied up at the Staithe and walked into the centre of the village to do some shopping, travelling the length of the High Street before we bought our items on the way back. I stopped off for a haircut at a small upstairs barbers’ shop near to the health-food shop and was amazed to get a very good and quick haircut for only £1.50, a third of the going rate back home. I tipped him the 50p change on the strength of his service.
We had lunch at our normal cottage restaurant in Stalham and were accosted by the village eccentric who chatted with us in friendly fashion at the table and told us of his missed schooling "having had poultry to look after". This was triggered by him seeing Della doing her paperwork at the table as she waited for her food. Back to the boat, when I moved across the dyke and arranged for toilet holding tank pump-outs from Stalham Yacht Services. An efficient young technician left his sanding job to come and make a very good job of this task whilst his boss (the owner of SYS) came over and chatted to us about the boat. He knew it well as "Rolyat Princess" and had helped Barnes Brinkcraft bring it round from Norfolk to the Great Ouse on its delivery and proving trips. He asked whether we still had that very poor compass in the bridge and I confirmed that we did! We took off downstream the River Ant and then down the Bure getting as far as Yarmouth eventually but there were no good moorings there as the Yacht Stations were all full and our twin dinghies made the task of double mooring at the Town Hall Quay rather daunting.
We turned across Breydon Water and I went below to have a ham salad for tea whilst Daniel tended the helm, Daniel was bullied by the tall trip ship, "The Golden Galleon" that came up behind him as Breydon Bridge opened for her and found the Paxton Princess between her and the bridge. I had to break off and sort the situation out before I could resume my tea but the ship's crew were not happy with him. By now wondering where to moor, we first tried Burgh Castle but the moorings were full there as well and so we went across to The Berney Arms, where the landlord moved his speedboat along a bit so that we could get our boat in at the moorings at about the third attempt (the mooring rope coming off of the cleat!). After adjusting our ropes, we went in to have a drink and chat to the landlord. He did not immediately recognise us as the purchasers last year of his old speedboat last year but then warmed to the situation and we exchanged anecdotes.
I then played Daniel at one of the video games and managed to fluke a win, much to his chagrin, before it was time for us to leave. We left Daniel in the boat and Diana and I took a walk along the embankment to see the work that the RSPB are doing to the nearby buildings, now that they have taken over the adjacent marshes as a nature reserve. The moorings were very busy with holidaymakers as we watched the other half of the late-night surrogacy film on TV before we settled down for the night. Our overnight stay at The Berney Arms was all right, even though the Spring High and Low Waters occurred during the night. The banks are quite low and the freeboard such that the moorings are not recommended by many of the guide books, but that particular tidal range was the smaller of the two that day and we got away with it in accordance with my prior reading of the Almanac tide tables. The only problem was that I was unsettled thinking about the moorings and coping with a warm and humid atmosphere. Saddam Hussein declares Kuwait as part of Iraq and Britain agrees to join multilateral force in the Gulf.