With most of the work on the boat finally completed we made a late decision to join TimChris, Kymata and Balai on a BOC "Sea Experience" trip for the Easter weekend. We departed Brundall on Good Friday morning for a leisurely cruise down to the Berney Arms. Jeff and Gerry, arriving for a quiet weekend on their boat, had been persuaded to join us for the river cruise and planned to return by train later in the day. The proprietor of the Berney Arms, Chris, did a splendid job of serving lunch, despite the lack of his chef who had opted to take the day off!

A 3pm Haven bridge lift had been booked at Great Yarmouth and it was a bit of a scramble to get everyone back on the boats and off in time, especially as Jeff and Gerry realised they had already missed the last of the Bank Holiday trains! Fortunately the morning's moderate winds had eased off and we were able to make our way out of Yarmouth harbour into smooth seas and light winds. It was a trouble free passage the short distance to Lowestoft harbour, where berths had been booked for the evening at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club. Here we were met by crew and guests of Maggie Anne 2, who joined us for the evenings activities. Andy Nurse also joined the party, giving a reprise of his "Going Tidal" talk for the benefit of the novice crews in attendance. The evening was rounded off by another excellent meal in the club house dining room, who never fail to set a good standard.

The following days itineray involved a cruise down to Shotley marina and overnight stay before returning to Suffolk on Sunday. However, we had arranged a research trip to the Netherlands by car beginning early on Tuesday morning and we were anxious to get the boat back to Horning and complete our preparations. With this in mind we opted out of the rest of the weekend and returned by sea to Great Yarmouth in the afternoon, passing easily under the Haven and Bure bridges on a low spring tide. The longer daylight hours allowed us to complete the upriver cruise all the way to Horning, arriving just as it got dark about 8.30pm. The weekend had proved to be a useful shakedown cruise, revealing a failure of our gas system which would need to be rectified prior to leaving for the Netherlands by boat in two weeks time.

Cruising Statistics

Distance (inland): 38nm

Distance (tidal): 16nm

Total to date: 180nm

Avg Speed : 5.2kn

Duration: 10:15 hrs

Diesel: 65 litres

Mooring: £/night

Electricity: Included

Water: Included