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- Category: Amsterdam and home to Norfolk
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Saturday 23rd July Ref: 2016/34
Enjoying both Lowestoft, Beccles in the company of my two lady crew as we locked through Mutford from Lake Lothing and into Oulton Broad and then we cruised up the Waveney to moor by Beccles road bridge. An enjoyable evening being invited aboard Precious Time for drinks and then back aboard our own Lady Martina, with Kathleen and Innes to stay overnight, eating and dancing, before our return home tomorrow
I went on decks with the mop as the sunny day had also been accompanied by a heavy dew and it was a lovely quiet, warm and sunny start to the day back here in Norfolk. We did not have to be in any hurry today, as the boat outside us, ‘Popping Corks’ was not leaving until after 2pm and so we lazily enjoyed our breakfast of muesli on deck and then we walked into Lowestoft to have a look around.
We stayed in the pedestrianised shopping centre for the most part, the more civilised part of the Town, and looked in a few shops and bought some bread and Eccles cakes from the bakers and then I walked Kathleen and Ines back towards the sea to stop at the Theatre Café, where we enjoyed some cakes and teas together before returning to the yacht club and re-boarding Lady Martina. I had checked with the boat next door and the Oulton Broad Yacht Station and arranged that we would cruise upstream with Popping Corks and another boat that was due to lock through Mutford but stay on the waiting pontoon once I had navigated past the lifting rail bridge.
And so, around 2.00pm, I started the engines and then cast off and made my way into the bridge channel to await the others. Unfortunately, we were then ‘descended upon’ by numerous 12ft International clinker-built gaff-rigged sailing dinghies who were having a rally and I was left alone in the channel for some time waiting for them to clear the harbour. Eventually the other craft joined me and, once an old MTB and two sailing vessels had cruised downstream under the bridge and past us, I led the fleet into Lake Lothing and up towards the railway bridge and Mutford Lock.
We had some wait until the Railway bridge opened at 3.15pm and then, to everyone’s surprise, the lock-keepers called Lady Martina first into the lock ahead of all of the other craft; when we were due to be following everybody else! The other craft queried the lock-keeper’s messages but had to accept them and then I asked for instructions and, I was duly called to go forward and moor inside the lock. Now, the way that this old lock operates is that two boats are allowed in at a time but the lock itself is only able to manage one of them and so the pedestrian bridge is lowered, separating the two craft, the first is locked through and then the small bridge is raised again and the second one is locked through before another pair of boats are allowed in and the process repeated. We locked through, across Oulton Broad and then started up the River Waveney towards Beccles and we could still hear the lock operation instructions being broadcast on the VHF for some time afterwards, when all those boats were still being sorted out! We had been truly fortunate and the lock-keepers very wrong in calling us first but everybody has to follow instructions with nobody able to query things.
I cruised very slowly at around 4 knots up the River Waveney and eventually arrived at Beccles Bridge to find that its fixed height would require us lowering our last after taking down the sun canopy and so we stopped short and looked for a mooring. Luckily, another boat was due to leave and left early for us and we found a good and safe (if rather noisy!) mooring just below the road bridge. Once we were settled, I led my ladies on a walk along the river and past the yacht station up into Beccles itself. By this time, the shops had closed but we just enjoyed looking at the buildings of this old market town as neither Kathleen or Ines had been here before.
As we took a look around the Beccles yacht station, we met the couple from the BOC and their family, who were aboard Precious Time and were invited aboard for drinks and an interesting conversation. Back to Lady Martina, where Kathleen started preparing a fine meal of grilled salmon and boiled vegetables and Ines and I took turns in taking a shower aboard before we enjoyed the meal and Kathleen could have hers. By candle light, we played music and then I danced a little with both ladies until we just sat and chatted. Eventually to bed and to sleep to the sound of the traffic passing over the bridge at the end of a very enjoyable day.
31-33 degC, 43-30%RH, 1020-1018mb falling rising, good viz, sunny and hotwith a F1 3-6kn variable SWly slight breeze
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- Category: Amsterdam and home to Norfolk
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Sunday 24th July Ref: 2016/35
Cruising from Beccles to Brundall via Somerleyton on another fine and sunny day but arriving late at Brooms in Brundall after delays at Reedham and stopping off for a very welcome meal at the Beauchamp Arms
I was woken up by the traffic at around 7am Norfolk time, which would have been 8am in The Netherlands to find the domestic batteries quite depleted and so I dressed and used the gas to boil a kettle and then wrote up yesterday’s journal on my battery-driven laptop. I had completed this by about 8.30am and toyed with the idea of starting the generator but deferred this and carried on working on my ship’s logs for a while longer until I heard from my lady guests. By 8.45am, I was really needing some power and so I started the generator and kept it on about an hour or so and this was sufficient to charge the batteries and secure the boat facilities until we wanted to leave. I had also been running the immersion heater during this time and generated sufficient for us to have our showers.
We then got a Channel 14 VHF radio message from the Broads Authority 'Spirit of Breydon' patrol vessel to say that Reedham Swing Bridge was closed again because of the heat. I inquired further and established that it would be open again later, after the day cooled off, and so we stopped off at Somerleyton moorings and walked around the village as an enjoyable way of using the time.
Later, when returning, we enjoyed drinks at the local pub whilst listening to live music and Kathleen and I danced together on the grass. We set off once back and, as we had no food on board, it was suggested that we stop on the way and I eventually pulled in to The Beauchamp Arms around 8pm and we found it to be still open and serving food. It was a strange place, full of anglers and others with just a couple of tables of boating families, but the food was good and cheap and we enjoyed it. The anglers, from the North of England, stay annually there and enjoy the fishing which has been very good lately.
We did not stay long as the daylight was fading as we set off and, it now being well into July, darkness falls all too early. I just about managed to get us to Brooms at Brundall and safely moored up
25-30 degC, 60-48%RH, 1017-1014mb falling, good viz, sunny and hot with a F2 6-9kn variable SEly going SWly slight breeze
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- Category: Amsterdam and home to Norfolk
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Sunday 13th November Ref: 2016/36
A well-planned and successful trip down the River Yare, passing the Reedham Swing Bridge and across Breydon Water and then, lowering everything, under The Bure Bridges and up the River Bure and under Acle Bridge after which we could re-assemble Lady Martina for the cruise home to Ropes Hill Dyke, Horning
This was a cruise organised at short notice. I saw how the weather had improved today and realised that we were experiencing Spring Tides and that low water would be very low today. The meant that we could pass under the Bure Bridges well before Low Water in Great Yarmouth, which was in the afternoon, and so could stem the tide for safely navigating under the bridges early on the tide. The remainder of daylight hours would also allow our passage up to Horning and so the decision was made.
I dressed quickly and set off with Max, walking him along the Crabbett’s Marsh wood chippings road and then feeding him and loading him, and his accessories, into the old Range Rover. Then to gather my things together, opting against washing, shaving or anything else, so that I was very soon ready to go. Kathleen had been putting together foodstuffs and other essentials for our day out with the additional security of our meal for this evening should we have got delayed and stuck.
Once loaded, I rushed us to Brundall and there put Kathleen aboard as I unloaded the car and transferred Max, his kennel and all of our things onto Lady Martina. After disconnecting the shore-power, I successfully started the engines, unmoored and we set off, Visibility through the misted-up bridge windscreens was a challenge but I was soon on the main river and heading downstream at a good pace; the ebb flow behind us. This strengthened the further down the Yare we got and we were lucky that Reedham Swing Bridge was open such that our progress was uninterrupted and aided by a tide of up to 2kn at times.
As we cruised across Breydon Water I used the space and time to engage the auto-pilot as Kathleen and I removed all of the canopy sections, the winch and the ensign flag staff and then lowered the mast and, after this, the side and forward windscreens such that we were right ready to approach the Bure Bridges. We had about 9ins to spare, even an hour-and-a-half before the 14.45 low water as the tide was due to sink to only .5m above LAT today. This left us cruising against the strong tide up the lower Bure as we punched the flood tide.
I sat up on the bridge with no windscreens or covers for around two hours until we had negotiated Acle Bridge after which we could tie up briefly and then put up the windscreens and the mast to provide some shelter. We cruised on like that as the sun was setting but we just manage to arrive at Horning before dark and could then unload and put Lady Martina to bed. Instead of putting our new covers back on, Kathleen fetched the older ones from the loft and we fitted those instead for the winter, carefully laying out our best ones in the garage to dry prior to cleaning, treatement and safe storage until the Spring.
14.6-15.2-11.2degC, 73-59-74%RH, 1024-1026mb rising, good viz, calm, sunny spells but cold with a F2 4-12kn NNWly slight breeze
