That'll Do

[Broadsword]

Away at last...

[Broadsword]

Womack Dyke...

[Maxwellian]

Lovely place to moor. I prefer it there than the staith. The extra walk past Hunters. We often go the other way and walk to Potters. A few years ago we moored there on a very windy and busy day. Got side swiped three times, nothing serious just other craft taken by surprise. Nice photos. Thanks.

[SwanR]

One of our favourite spots. We managed to get moored right at the end of the moorings this year so we weren't left waiting for other people to come along and ask us to move up to squeeze them in!

[Broadsword]

Gentle sail to Acle this morning, moored up near the NRSC so Oby felt at home... Breeze picked up after lunch, so had a lovely beat back to the Thurne, with a reef in... Two lads in a Hustler trying to sail with no jib and mainsail only half up... Spending most tacks on the reeds. Declined advice from the crew of Lucent, so we decided to leave them to it as well. Storm blew up at Thurne Mouth but I mastered my Nemesis and headed up the Bure to South Walsham. Mrs B. having had enough of the wet stuff abandoned the skipper to his fate, until called on deck to douse the jib and bring down the main... Motored (oh yes!) to Fleet Dyke, where footpath work has made a bit of a muddy mooring... After tidying everything up, retired below for dry clothes and a brew... all! A lousy day on the boat is better than a cracking day at work!

[Broadsword]

Very nice to see Hakuna Matata and her lovely crew out on the river... They passed us as we were becalmed next to the mill at OBY, not our finest moment!

[ExMemberBobdog]

I passed you still moored at Womack Dyke, round about 10.30 I guess.

[Broadsword]

So, woke early and would have done anyway as the chaps doing the footpath started the Tonka toys at 8.00! Shook out the reef on the river as we were wind and tide against heading for Horning. So so slow! Eventually ducked into Malthouse for a while... Chokka! Moored in the dinghy dyke for a bit until watching inept mooring became a bore! 

Back on the river and battled slowly up to the Ferry for lunch... Too many trees on that stretch... Bringing my chainsaw next time 

 

[Broadsword]

And on to the flesh pots of Horning... Where we more just beyond the trip boat bit and watched as another yacht squeezed in too... They were very nice about it and helped us get away later. The lure of the deli was to much for Mrs B. Who came away laden with scotch eggs and other goodies for tea. Ice cream in the sun and then the gentlest of sails to a Salhouse. Worth the fee to more on the inside edge of the island, in beautiful solitude, or so we thought... 

What do you have to do to get peace and quiet? First a big Richos monster left the far mooring to motor over and moor almost on top of us, to fish the river... But why oh why did he have to run his engine for 40 minutes... Had almost decide to send SWMBO to remonstrate, when he turned it off... 

Just an hour later the Broads Tours monstrosity arrived, well it's racket arrived well ahead of the boat, and did it's circuit of the Broad before frosting to ruin the evenings of everyone from here to Horning... Can't wait for them to come back again... 

Night all. 

Grumpy Old Man

[Broadsword]

Sorry for the typos... Blame spell check!

 

[Viking23]

We have found a few places on the broads where there has been only us, 360 degrees around us, total reed, you can hear the odd cruiser on the river beyond and see an occasional sail or a mast go by over the reeds.

Absolute bliss, but with failing health and unknown side effects, mooring in such an obscure location wouldn't be a sensible thing to do.

Another part of the Broads no longer available to us. We have already crossed off a few areas where there are large tidal rise and falls. St Olaves, Berney Arms etc We pass them at low tide, or attempt to leave these moorings in the early hours to catch the tide to go back north, it's not just the tide times we now need to look at, but if they are springs boy oh boy, we need a ladder to board the boat.

[JennyMorgan]

2 hours ago, Viking23 said:

We have found a few places on the broads where there has been only us, 360 degrees around us, total reed, you can hear the odd cruiser on the river beyond and see an occasional sail or a mast go by over the reeds.

Absolute bliss, but with failing health and unknown side effects, mooring in such an obscure location wouldn't be a sensible thing to do.

Another part of the Broads no longer available to us. We have already crossed off a few areas where there are large tidal rise and falls. St Olaves, Berney Arms etc We pass them at low tide, or attempt to leave these moorings in the early hours to catch the tide to go back north, it's not just the tide times we now need to look at, but if they are springs boy oh boy, we need a ladder to board the boat.

Viking, three things are always worth carrying, a VHF handset, a mobile phone and a whistle. With the first two, if one doesn't work then the other will. I have a none too special VHF and if I can't raise Bridge control at Lowestoft, Reedham or Somerleyton when down South then there is a fair bet that someone out there will be listening. The mobile phone is pretty good although full cover is not guaranteed. The whistle, well a one legged friend of mine put me onto that one, he's dead now but he sailed a Merlin Rocket racing dinghy and of his own admission he was a hobbling health risk, more than once his whistle came in handy when he got into a bit of a pickle. Sensible is good, but it's not always so much fun. Foolhardy is not to be recommend but where there is a will there is often a way. Enjoy it while you can!

 

[Broadsword]

We awesome to a truly beautiful Broads morning, with just birdsong to listen. No-one moving, so a peaceful breakfast in the sun followed by some sailing around Salhouse... Out onto the river, the breeze we know is there only reaches our sails intermittently, which is frustrating, but we slowly make our way back towards Horning, breaking the trip with some livelier sailing on Black Horse Broad, just us and two other raggies moving, with a couple of moored cruisers for us to aim at... 

Another so stop at The Swan to allow Mrs Broadsword some retail therapy, whilst yours truly enjoyed the mooring antics. A young couple in Buff Tip, from Hunter's, made a lovely job of sailing into the pub  mooring, which was nice to see. 

Very hot now and we are back opposite the Ferry for our late lunch!

[Broadsword]

Well, poor signal has kept  us quiet! Now home after two final day of excellent sailing... left Horning on Friday and sailed back to South Walsham where we moored up for the evening after a  around the Broad. Another Pegasus 700 tied up behind us which was nice, and we spent a pleasant evening together. Saturday was a fabulous day, with excellent breezes... sailed down to Acle for ice creams and some lazy sunbathing! Back to Womack for evening as my brother is meeting us there in the morning. Surprisingly quiet, with a lot of space, so we stayed in the dyke and enjoyed a beautiful sunset...

 

[Broadsword]

A great day's sailing again, with my brother for company - a non-sailor, but keen to have a go! We sailed in near perfect weather between Ludham, Acle and St. Benets, before heading back to Womack drop Mark off after a fish and chip supper.

We had moored  at the end of the moorings, with beautiful views all around, until a huge Bridgecraft boat tied up behind us against the reeds, blocking our view! We decided to do the decent thing and surrendered our place, opting for a less cramped position in Hunter's Yard! 

Sat playing Scrabble in the cockpit until the heavens opened and we dived below to finish the game! 

This morning was so lovely, we took our time getting back to Potter, via Upton! A great week all round...