A barbecue at the home of club treasurer, Richard & Margaret on a fine and sunny afternoon made a wonderfully relaxing conclusion to the Ramsgate Rendezvous. With a good forecast and a favourable tide we calculated we could make the 70 mile passage to Lowestoft and still arrive in time to catch the end of the Oulton Broad rendezvous, where the annual Bank Holiday Fireworks were to complete the weekend. It was a straightforward passage east of Kentish Knock and due north across the Thames Estuary, continuing north to a waypoint just east of the East Barnard ECM. From here the familiar Holm Channel took us straight into Lowestoft Harbour for access to the Broads. There was a host of local yachts making their way back into the harbour after a lively mornings sailing and there was quite a procession of boats joining us for the 1430 bridge lift.

We ambled up Lake Lothing in time for the 1515 lock into Oulton Broad, where the only excitement was an ambulance which arrived just after the barriers had closed and the bridge had gone up. We guiltily made our way through as quickly as we could, but did not think this was the only explanation for the slightly grumpy nature of the lock operators. After a busy bank holiday weekend of overtime hours they seemed to be running low on patience on a hot afternoon.

We had been warned that the Yacht Station would be crowded, which it was, but we managed to squeeze onto a raft of two other boats, one of which happened to be a BOC member. We kept a low profile whilst the harbour masters busied themselves with patrolling the Broad during the powerboat racing competition, only making ourselves known the next day when many of the boats had already departed. We managed to meet up with the remainder of the Oulton Broad rendezvous boats, Sea Lord and Marjon, the others having been unsuccessful in finding space amongst the hubbub.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 75 nm

Total to date: 2286 nm

Avg Speed: 10 knots

Duration: 7: 30 hours

Diesel: 280 litres

Wind: SW 4

Mutford Lock: £8.00

Mooring: £7.80/night

Electricity: £2.90/night

Water: Included

Charts

AC 1828

AC 1610

AC 1543

AC 1536