Day Five, Monday 13th June

Great Yarmouth 13/6

7am: 8c WD 274deg WS 9kt VIS 14km RAIN 0%

1pm: 13c WD 243deg WS 12kt VIS 15km RAIN 48%

Today’s plan is to work our way back down the Waveney to New Cut and up New Cut to the river Yare. We can then make our way towards either Norwich or Loddon as appropriate. An early trip ashore to the little general store by the Yacht Station is thwarted as the bread delivery has not yet arrived, so we have breakfast and make a further trip ashore for bread. The up side of this is that the butcher is also open and we are able to buy some excellent chops and some bacon.

When we do depart, with the wind now in the west, we will be unable to sail off the pontoon safely. A conversation with our neighbours in the Southgates yachts and we agree that we will manhandle our boat around theirs and on to the other side of the pontoon. This accomplished we are under way by 09:30 in an excellent force three breeze. Up the dyke and on to the Waveney again, we head downstream. Initially we make good progress, and pass through Somerleyton swing bridge with no difficulty, but further downstream the wind is dropping and the tide is turning against us.. Getting through the pillars that remain from the old St Olaves swing bridge proves tricky, and below there, as we approach St Olaves, the wind is distorted by the trees and we have to make a few tricky tacks to get into New Cut across the flood tide. Once in the cut and clear of the trees it is clear that the wind is still south of west and we will not have to tack up the cut. This is just as well as major dredging and bank rebuilding works are under way. It would be difficult to tack past them.

A short way up the New Cut the main road from Great Yarmouth to Beccles and Bungay crosses. Haddiscoe bridge, with 24 feet of clearance, was built to allow larger trading vessels to get from Lowestoft up the river Yare to Norwich. Unfortunately 24 feet is not quite enough for us, and the mast must come down. The previous year I had experienced difficulty with getting through because of dredging platforms close to the bridge and very shallow water on the north east bank. Today, with the wind in the south west we can manoeuvre on the other side. There is plenty of depth and good piling, but the bank is overgrown. Bramble scratches and nettle stings are the inevitable result. Once through the bridge the only problem is that we must let the stern out into the cut so that we lie head to wind to hoist sail. With the dredging works this will effectively block the channel, so we have to wait for a suitable gap in the traffic.

The gap appears, the sails are hoisted and we are away. Clear of the bridge, the wind picks up again and we make steady progress on a beam reach. New cit is a straight line for its entire, nearly three mile, length. With the good breeze we keep pace most of the way with a little motor day boat and periodically we are overtaken by a train on the track that runs parallel for most of the distance.

At the north end of the cut we pass the Motor Torpedo Boat that has been moored there for many years. Immediately in front of us now is Reedham Swing Bridge. The tide is strong at Reedham and care must be taken. It would be easy to be carried down by the tide, and the bridge is closed. Today though, we have a good enough wind to make our way back and forth until the train passes and the bridge opens. Unfortunately the railway swing bridges are not on the telephone, so ringing up for an opening time is not an option. We sail back and forth for around quarter of an hour, two trains pass and then the bridge opens. We can carry on.

Above the bridge in Reedham, are the very busy town centre moorings, and under sail, stopping can be difficult if the wind and tide are n opposite directions or the town shore is the lee. Today however, it is fine. We come alongside head to wind and tide. We replenish our water carriers and adjoin to the Nelson for refreshment. Suitably replete we are under way again and continue past the boatyards where we see the beautiful and fast modern River Cruiser class yacht “Farthing” moored up. Another couple of bends, with some tacking where the bends take us in a more southerly direction and we are at Reedham Ferry. A chain ferry provides a crossing for cars. It plies to and fro with scant regard for other boats. The technique is to pass behind it. In front the chains are under stress and may be only just below the surface.

Just past the ferry is the mouth of the river Chet, with its stone signpost, but we decide to continue toward Norwich and save the Chet for our return. We have no trouble passing the sugar refinery at Cantley, where often the wind is blanketed. Just above is the Red House, which has been refurbished and reopened. On a previous family trip, this was the scene of a great disappointment. We had come through Yarmouth and up the Yare. We stopped at the Berney Arms at lunch time, only to find (this was late September) that they were now on winter hours and didn’t open at lunch times. No matter, we were planning a bar meal that evening and would stop at the Red House. When we moored up I took a walk over to the pub only to find that it had closed down. There was even a poster for the last night party some three weeks earlier. With little food on board and a serious thirst, we had quanted the mile further up river to Langley Dyke, and had moored at the Staithe. Just about to head off to the pub, The Wherry, we entered into conversation with a couple moored next to us. Imagine our horror on learning that The Wherry, too, had closed down. We dined frugally and drank just tea that night. Things were no better the following night. I knew that the Woods End was a busy, thriving pub; I’d been there a couple of weeks earlier. Unbelievably, when we arrived we found it closed for a private party.

Anyway today we intend to keep going as far as possible. We pass not only the Red House and the Wherry, but also the Beauchamp Arms, with its adjoining sailing club. On past Short Dike and The Fleet, the two entrances to Rockland Broad and we are nearing Brundall.

Brundall is not a pretty place. Boatyards and bungalows line the river and access to the village centre is across the railway line. Fortunately there is an alternative. A cut through Surlingham Broad is tranquil, picturesque and shorter. So that’s the way we go.

Sheltered by the trees, we need to use the quant to help us along the dykes but soon we are back in the river and passing Brundall Gardens. By now the wind is dying away and the tide has turned. Progress is laborious and we frequently need the assistance of the quant. We therefore make the sensible decision to call it a day at Bramerton Woods End.

This time the Woods End Tavern is open and we enjoy a couple of well earned pints. Norwich is still however, a long way off and a plan is required. Our trip back through Yarmouth has to be matched exactly with the tide and that tide is early in the morning. It is now Monday and we are due back on Friday. If we are to explore the rivers Bure and Ant, we must go through Yarmouth no later than Wednesday morning. We reluctantly conclude that we cannot get all the way up to Norwich Yacht station, but then we hit on an idea. We may not get right to the limit, but we can make a token visit to Norwich. Jon will take the dinghy at first light and row up to Postwick Bridge on the Norwich bypass. With this plan agreed it’s time for bed.