Passing Through Gt Yarmouth

[Meantime]

2 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

Thought was given to speed limits, that being that on Breydon they would not apply. Had they been applied then various bodies had threatened to oppose and petition against the Broads Bill and quite possibly the Bill would have failed thus the Authority bowed to demands from such as water-skiers and jet-skiers. 

That I can see for Breydon, but there are now stretches of the Lower Bure, Waveney and Yare technically without speed limits! All of those actually pass moorings or marinas.!

[neilp1962]

7 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Hi neilp,

AHWS stands for "Average High Water Standings", and my comment meant that if you hired a boat that was designed and built to go under ALL of Broadlands bridges at HIGH tide (AHWS), you WON`T have any problems, with the exception of Potter Heigham old road bridge. That`s not just low, it`s also narrow too, making going under rather difficult, especially for the inexperienced helmsman.   

And i repeat, that`s AVERAGE high water, which does`nt include high water springs.

As for a boat with enough power, ALL broads hire boats have enough power to punch the tides, even springs, it just means you will go a lot slower, therefore taking much longer, and using a heck of a lot more fuel. It`s doable, but NOT adviseable, as it will be very easy to misjudge the amount of time (and fuel?) to get to somewhere like Loddon say, punching a hard Yare tide. It`s also, as others have said, necessary to keep power on coming down with the tide to maintain steerage way.  Many years ago, we were on an Alpha 42 flat top turning up the Bure, against the tide, faced with a sideways on sedan cruiser coming down the Bure, and struggling to get her turned. We missed her by an inch. but to applause from a watching boat at the Yacht station.

Cheers, I like learning about all things boating as I'm just a newbie and that's the beauty of this forum

I still don't get the relevance of boat height here though, I know the limits of navigation for me this time are Wroxham Bridge, Beccles Yacht Station, Potter Heigham etc and my choice of boat this time was to actually get the height so I could see over the top of the reeds etc. but the downside is the bridges are a barrier. Swings and roundabouts. I don't even want to go through Yarmouth at anything approaching High water, the timing of tides this time around mean their only relevance is the speed of water through Yarmouth and as a newbie, I wanted the wiser more experienced viewpoints to decide when I could transit this bottleneck due to the water speed not the bridge height, because that determines how much of the river system is available to me. Truth is I really only get the chance to hire a boat every other year, my wife chooses the next holiday and she likes cottages in Devon so I want to make the absolute most of it.

For example, an additional 60-90 minutes gained by not waiting for LSW as I travel south is the difference between getting to Beccles in time to wander round the shops or not that same day, something we've never done. I can take my time sure, visit Beccles the next day but then the thing I would have wanted to do that day is compromised etc.

When I return north, punching the tide up the Bure might mean bagging a wonderful mooring at Thurne or Womack instead of a less attractive one at Stracey Arms, so I wanted people's opinions on how that would be, for me and the boat. This time just for once my budget is a bit higher than normal and I want to see as much of the rivers as possible in the nicest boat I could afford, so I don't mind using more fuel. Next time my ambition of visiting Geldeston Locks will be realised by hiring a suitable boat to get through Beccles Bridge.

It's no problem, it's the broads and I'm on holiday so I'll do whatever is feasible but before I didn't know something, now I do and I'm grateful as ever for the benefit of other's experience.

[TostockTimonier]

I always aim for slack water at Yarmouth going South and 15 minutes after going North when tide tines permit. It's not just the diesel savings, it's a whole lot quieter and is an easier helm as the flood gently helps you on to your destination. For the sake of 60 - 90 minutes, I would take the quiet option every time when possible.

[Vaughan]

2 hours ago, neilp1962 said:

For example, an additional 60-90 minutes gained by not waiting for LSW as I travel south is the difference between getting to Beccles in time to wander round the shops or not that same day, something we've never done.

Now I understand a bit more about your intention, let's leave aside the bridge heights and the priority issues and look at the timing.

The tide turns on Breydon an hour before it turns in the Yacht Station. So you time your arrival in the YS to about 15mins after slack water. This gives you good control against the current under the bridges but even better, when you turn onto Breydon you have a good flood tide under you. If you go earlier than this, even though the tide has turned, you will overtake it again before you have crossed Breydon and will then punch it all the way up the Waveney. So you really won't gain any time by going through earlier.

Assuming you spend Friday night at Acle, if you leave there around 0845 this should put you about right. This should also put you into Beccles, with the tide under you, in the early afternoon.

On the way back on Tuseday, you want to be at the bottom end of Breydon at 1230, which is slack water on Breydon and low water in GYYS. You can then either wait for an hour on the BA floating pontoon or punch the last of the ebb up to Stracey Arms and wait there for an hour while it turns.

I fear that Womack may already be full by that time but you might be lucky at Thurne.

Hope you have a good holiday!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Some very well made points there Vaughn. One thing i`m happy to do is to cross Breydon, heading North, on a freshly ebbing tide, which gets you across in about 35 - 40 minutes, then throttle up going up the Bure against the tide. After about 3 miles, you start to overcome the strongest tidal influence, and start  reaching slower waters, which are a lot slower than the southern rivers so you can then throttle back a bit.  The only down side to this is you MUST be in a low airdraft boat, which by the way, leads me to another valid point.  With a low airdraft boat, you can arrive at Yarmouth from the north on a flooding tide, and go under the bridges and turning up the Yare, taking advantage of the last of the flood, which you will have with you all the way up the Wavaney or Yare.