Worst Night On The Broads Ever

[Seriously]

Slept like a log last night at salhouse . The trip back up the ant and the run into the boat yard was a scary one . Manged to get her in and stern on with out hitting another boat  don't know how tho  more luck than skill lol. 

[Boaters]

Very wild in North Norfolk today.Saw a picture of a very large tree that had come down in Fleet Dyke across the bank and the river .there were boats moored not many feet away ,but luckily not at the spot ,would have been very nasty if there had have been.

[Speleologist]

I wasn't on the Broads, but I was teaching a Day Skipper course on the south coast. High winds were consistent all weekend, but Sunday night was the biggest winds I have ever known in a marina. The boat was well secured, but all night long there was the banging of the hull on the waves and the surge on the mooring ropes. And this was all in the shelter of the river Hamble. Next morning the scene had elements of devastation. A whole fleet of J70's blown over and lots of self furling foresails unfirled and shredded. Based on recorded wind speeds nearby it probably oeaked ant force 10 to 11. There were certainly force 11 gusts at Chichester Harbour.

Anyway, we had a good weekend despite that and despite winds that hardly dropped below gale force all weekend.

[MauriceMynah]

So guess which total prat moored at Thurn Dyke Sunday night!!!

[Regulo]

We all know you're not a prat -  you're an idiot! 

[Wonderwall]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

So guess which total prat moored at Thurn Dyke Sunday night!!!

Does it rhyme with  mauricemynah?

[Broadsword]

Although, as a sailor, I appreciate some of the clearance that has gone on on the Northern Rivers, it has reduced the amount of sheltered safe havens!  We moored at Hunters but were heavily buffeted as the cover that used to be there on the way in to Womack has all but disappeared. Same is true of parts of Fleet Dyke.

We do need sheltered harbours as well as nice open reaches!

Thank the Lord for places like Cockshoot, Paddy's Lane, Gays Staithe, Upton, Malthouse etc.

In days gone by we would have mudweighted close to shelter, but need to be able to get the pups off the boat, so don't do that much now...

[LondonRascal]

I think it is important to keep an eye on the forecast even when we are only talking about the usually placid inland waterways the Broads are.

If it is just going to be heavy winds say 20 -25 MPH then I would not be too concerned about where I moor , but when something like Storm Katie is forecast and the type of wind speeds and gusts which were forecast (and did appear) the last place I would wish to be is around trees.  Not only is the very real risk of a tree falling - but a heavy branch falling could do some nasty damage to a boat alone.

However, I have known in high winds bad things happening to boats especially those with a retractable canopy over the saloon like a Hampton. These can be blown off the boat altogether equally a sliding canopy over a centre cockpit boat  the wind can 'blow out' the front screen or rear windows.

 

[Broadsword]

That's a good point... However, shelter for me doesn't mean substantial trees so much as scrub and riverside growth typical of much of the area.  I understand why much of it has been removed, but it is useful to have that little shelter from the elements at times!

 

 

[Wussername]

In such conditions I would strongly advise a Premier Inn.......................for a good night's sleep.

Andrew

[ranworthbreeze]

A couple of years ago during one of last major storms we were going up through Reedham almost sideways, I did not want to chance it all the way back to Brundall so with the windscreen section of the canopy zipped down I went up the Chet into the Loddon basin knowing this would be sheltered. It took nearly 2 hours to get up the Chet due gale force wind blowing us back down the river. Even in the wet weather gear I had on including over trousers I was wet through to the skin.

Another time of bad weather was in the late 70's we had had a long weekend on Narrow Boat from a company called Barrington Boats (sadly they ceased trading in the early 80's) at that time you could have a four full days on this 10 berth boat out of  season including fuel for £60 (high season was £300 per week plus fuel and security deposit (I remembered these well, you wrote a cheque and they gave it you back if no damage or losses). That weekend the Hurricane hit and destroyed a number of piers around the country.

We were due back on the Monday evening, the wind was so strong that we were continually blown into the bank, I broke the barge pole in half getting free from the bank. Eventually because we were getting  nowhere I reversed back down the canal (the wind was actually helping) until we came to a bridge and a bit of shelter. We started with high revs and managed to keep going straight until we got to the locks and onto their home base at the top of Stenson lock a 12 foot high lock if memory serves me correctly. 

Tan and I were totally wet through, it was after 8.00pm the boatyard staff had gone home by then, we wrote them a note apologizing for the broken barge pole and our late arrival. After getting dry and changing in the van (I drove a Transit in those days) we headed home.

Regards

Alan

[Matt]

From the Royall's Facebook page Royal Commander hit a post on Breydon during the winds and substsined quite a bit of damage.

 

Royall Oak missed a fallen tree by about 4 yards...

 

https://www.facebook.com/royallsboatyard/

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

We had some excitement a year and a half ago on Lightning while moored at WRC. The guy said to moor alongside as it was empty, and high winds were forecast. The next morning saw it windy, but once we got underway, it was blowing us backwards almost. It took us nearly 3 hours to reach Beccles, as we were pushing the wind and tide, and because i was`nt sure about the operationg temp of the engine, and thought it was running too hot when it was actually slightly UNDER normal running temp, i kept the revs down to 5 mph. Quite an exciting cruise at times, and mooring in Beccles  was fun. We got blown around throughout the night, and the stern line the harbourmaster tied on came adrift, but the line Karen tied on was the only one holding us on, she did a good job there. I had to keep re-setting the mudweight, as we had an abnormally high tide, which put to much strain on the weight, which gave way. Eventually, at 04 30, i got up to re-tie our ropes, and get us set. However, that was only half the fun. Later that morning, i looked out to see water everywhere, the quay and surrounding land was ALL under about 6 inches of water. We finally cast off at about 11.30, at which time, the tide was still on the rise, and there was nearly 2ft of water over the quay. I posted up some pictures on a holiday tale, showing the hose on the quay nearly under water, it was that deep. It took us a couple of hours to get to Somerleyton with the tide, by which time it had been on the ebb for an hour and a half, but Somerleyton swing bridge was left open. Good job too, as the height gauge was reading LESS than 6ft 3 ins. We got to Loddon in the afternoon, and set the ropes with plenty of slack in case it did the same that night. It did`nt, and i got some much needed sleep after the previous sleepless night.

Even though that was the worst weather we`ve had on the Broads, last November was much the same, though it was nowhere near as bad as it has been recently.