With no family commitments until Boxing Day, we cast off early for our Christmas cruise and were just about underway on schedule after a busy morning of loading and preparation. With a period of neap tides we were keen to be under the Bure bridges before the low water levels started to rise, potentially trapping us in the northern rivers. We arrived at Yarmouth at dusk, and although the evening low water would have been suitable we did not fancy the night passage and tied up at the Town Quay overnight. In the morning we had a stiff following tide which made navigation tricky but we could see we had plenty of headroom despite the poorly maintained tide gauges. We made our way up the Yare and after a short delay at Reedham swing bridge were moored up at Reedham Ferry by lunchtime, celebrating with a pot of their fresh Brancaster mussels.

Some delicate negotiation provided 6 amps of shore power during evening opening hours, although in the event this only materialised for one of the evenings as the pub closed early over much of the holiday. Our Christmas lunch was a great success courtesy of our recently installed new oven, and we were pleased to share festive drinks with Balai and Sea Lord who both made the Ferry Inn their Christmas destination. Boxing Day saw us make a family visit to Great Yarmouth's Hippodrome Circus, where the water spectacle with its synchronised swimmers provided an unusual finale.

After heavy overnight snow, we decided to head back to civilisation and made our way down to Oulton Broad in preparation for our coastal departure. Here we rendezvoused again with Sea Lord, although Kymata and Balai were unfortunately on their way back by this time.

The weather was not ideal for our trip to London, with snow covering the decks and the temperature barely getting above zero throughout the day. Fortunately, this meant light winds and left us only poor visibility to contend with. The day started with the challenge of getting through Mutford lock and the rail bridge which, on their first day back after the Christmas holiday, was a bit like pulling teeth. With a reported power failure on the rail bridge we needed our folding radar arch to prevent us being delayed indefinitely.

We had arranged to rendezvous with Rainbows End and Moon Shadow at Queenborough for an overnight stop, but with gales forecast for the following day we all agreed to push on up the Thames in the dark and arrived outside St Katherine Docks by 7pm. An overnight stop on the fuel barge meant we were conveniently positioned for a morning fill up, before locking into Limehouse Basin.

Cruising Statistics

Distance (inland): 40nm

Distance (tidal): 118nm

Total to date: 2460 nm

Avg Speed (tidal): 13.4 knots

Duration (tidal): 9 hours

Diesel: 777litres, 40p/l

Mooring (Limehouse): £11/night

Electricity: £4.20/100kWh

Water: Included