Day One, Thursday 9th June

Great Yarmouth 9/6

7am: 11c WD 210deg WS 0kt VIS 24km RAIN 0%

1pm: 12c WD 180deg WS 5kt VIS 21km RAIN 0%

From the early planning stages, we have intended making as early a start as possible.  I have left home in Yorkshire the night before and headed to London, where I am joined by David, who has travelled up from Winchester.  We are staying overnight in London and travelling together the next morning.  Jon will travel in the morning from his home in Nantwich.  David and I enjoy an excellent dinner at the Acropolis restaurant in Acton, before retiring for an early night.

We arise early the next morning and are on the road by five o’clock.  Before leaving I send off the text to subscribe to Marinecall.  This will deliver a simple Great Yarmouth weather forecast every morning at around 08:00 (see above).  We enjoy a trouble free journey which includes a stop for a substantial breakfast.  Shortly after nine we are at the yard.  Unfortunately, despite a similar early start, Jon is not so fortunate with the traffic, so David and I are able to have a trip into Ludham village for a cup of tea, and still have the boat prepared for departure by the time Jon arrives.

After several phone calls with progress updates.  Jon finally makes it for 11:45.  We are ready with a trolley for the luggage.  Everything is rapidly stowed and we are under way by 12:15.  The light SW wind gives us an easy reach down Womack Water, and we turn up river towards Potter Heigham.   It does not take us long to reach the outskirts of Potter Heigham and for once he journey past the riverside bungalows is relatively straightforward.  It is still close season for fishing and so the banks are not lined with rods, and the wind direction is such that we are not heavily blanketed by the bungalows.  So we are able to moor up ready to drop the mast for our first bridge by 13:10.

Potter Heigham is blessed with two bridges.  The original bridge is a mediaeval stone arch and is the smallest on the Broads.  Many cruisers are unable to pass through, and I can recall on a trip some years ago when one of the yachts in the fleet had a higher cabin roof than most.  The mast was dropped onto the roof itself, and even then it took two people hanging on to the end of it to bend it enough to fit through.  Anyway, we have no such problems.  David has his first experience of “masting” without any problems, and by 13:45 we have passed under both this and the newer bypass bridge, we have hoisted sail and are under way again.  Our intention is to make as much progress as possible towards the four navigation limits up the river Thurne.

The first choice comes within half an hour, as, having passed Martham boatyard, we reach the entrance to Candle Dyke.  The wind has now moved to the south, as forecast, but it is still possible to get back down the dyke on a fine reach with relatively few tacks.  This is just as well, as this far up the Thurne, the river is narrow enough to make tacking difficult.   We opt to head up the dyke towards Hickling Broad.  This will also give us a large expanse of water for David to develop his familiarity with the boat.  We pass the eel sett and continue into the wider expanse of Heigham Sound.  Much of the sound is to shallow to navigate and the way through is marked by posts.  It is as well to stay within the posts.  As Jon and I discovered on an earlier trip, the mud is particularly glutinous, and we were only able to get free by jumping into the water and pushing.  We pass the yellow top marker post indicating the junction with Meadow Dyke.  We’ll be going that way later.  Through White Slea, and we come out into the vastness of Hickling Broad.  Parts of the broad are shallow, and the safe areas are marked with posts, but there’s plenty of room for a practice sail, and what is more, at 15:20 we reach our first objective, The Pleasure Boat Inn, at the top of the broad. Navigation limit number one has been reached.

With many miles to cover, we forgo a pint at the Pleasure Boat, and simply turn around, capturing a picture of the moored boats as we go.  Not only do we want to make progress, but also two of Jon’s friends, Ron and Jean, are on holiday in the area.  We are meeting them later for a meal.

So it’s back to Heigham Sound and the left turn for Meadow Dyke and Horsey Mere.  The plan is to go up Waxham New Cut to Bridge Farm and then return to Horsey Staithe to meet Ron and Jean.  The journey back down is easier than expected as the wind veers to the north west, so it’s a run down and then a reach up Meadow Dyke.  By the time we get on to the Mere the wind is almost due north.  This means that to go up Waxham New Cut will be straight in to it.  I have been up to Bridge Farm once before, and know that it is far too narrow to tack.  In fact, in many places it is too narrow to turn round.  It’s like being on the canals; you have to carry on until there’s a turning space (a winding hole to canal lovers).  However, if we are to make progress, then up the Cut is where we are going, so in the entrance to the cut (found by aligning two triangular leading marks), we drop the sails and resort to quanting.

For the uninitiated, a quant is a long wooden pole (about 16 feet) with a fork on one end and a button on the other.  The technique for making progress is to stand on the side deck by the shrouds, raise the quant vertically in the air (forked end down) and then drive it down in to the water.  It is then possible to propel the boat forward by heaving on the quant until it is angled sufficiently to lean against the button.   With a shoulder pressed to the button, walking to the back of the boat provides even better forward propulsion.  The most critical bit comes on reaching the stern.  The quant must be freed from the mud with a sharp twist and jerk, without either letting go, or even worse, falling in.  The whole process is then repeated.  In this manner we arrive at Bridge Farm at 18:30. We have already reached two of our limits.

The normal procedure at Bridge Farm is to drop the mast and go through the bridge to turn round in the small basin beyond.  However there are no boats on the private mooring just below, so we conclude that there is just room to turn below the bridge.  This saves us the delays associated with masting.  Time saved is a good thing, as we are keen not to keep Ron and Jean waiting.  We would like to set off sailing back down as quickly as possible.  With the wind behind us, and no room to turn, going down under full sail would not be a good idea.  There is nowhere to go if anyone comes the other way.  However I intend to run down under jib alone.  Unfortunately this is not to be as the north wind has died completely.  We therefore resort to the quant again.  Once clear of the moorings we adopt another Broads technique and opt for a tow.  This is not some cheat involving a motor boat, but relies on muscle power.  One end of a long rope is tied to the base of the mast.  It is then passed round the shrouds and the other end given to a crew member ashore.  The boat can then be manually pulled from the bank.  Jon and I both take our turn at towing, and collect the usual assortment of nettle stings, bramble scratches and wet, muddy feet.  Occasionally we have to resort to the quant to get past an obstruction.

Even out on the Mere there is not breath of wind, and so we quant as quickly as possible across to Horsey Staithe.  Three limits now attained!  At the head of the Staithe stands Horsey Mill. This fully restored old drainage mill is now owned by the National Trust and is open to the public. We will not visit, as it has long since closed for the day and we will leave before opening time in the morning. It is still fascinating to stand on the little bridge by the mill and see clearly how the fields lie several feet below river level.

Horsey stands out for only being just over a mile from the sea, despite being some 21 miles upstream from Great Yarmouth.  Ron and Jean are waiting on the bank as we arrive.  We moor up at about 19:40 and they whisk us away in their motor caravan to the Nelson Head for real ale and an excellent meal.  Replete, we return aboard and settle down for the night.  We have reached three of the navigation limits on day one, but we know that the others are much further apart and we will not repeat this feat.