Strangely, (never repeated) – on this cruise, Mr B & myself left ‘Corsair’ in the hands of a 3rd party for the day, and galloped over to Cambridge to attend an engagement party of a dear friend. Later this turned into a commitment for a stag do… afloat on the Norfolk Broads…. But that’s another story.
The cruise itself finished with somewhat of a fizzle… both ‘F’ & ‘Polly’ left the day we were in Cambridge… The next day ‘Corsair’ was motored, non-stop from Ludham to Brundall, depositing Nina & Billy at Acle bridge, to retrieve their car, which took some doing, it was covered with ‘authorities aware’ stickers (rude!)
To knock some of that distance off, on our return ‘Corsair’ made a night-time run down the Ant, having spent all of the day partying in Cambridge, which proved VERY chilly. I thought this was summer!
night navigation.
The highlight of the week was the miraculous rescue of the ship’s radio – it had been knocked into Ranworth dyke & presumed M.I.A. A full hour later, Simon retrieved it having used a fisherman’s keep net as a grapple… and more amazingly he restored it to life!!
The low-light of course was our brush with ‘the law’… although I’m willing to confess that it wasn’t the first (or the last) that would come to ‘Corsair’ & me.
After a 7 hour full-chat blast to Brundall, we retired home for a well-earnt sleep.
So. Waking up & discussing our criminality, we decided the best option was to reef down & take a ‘brisk’ SW tack out of the Thurne.
In retrospect, catching ‘Polly’ in Kendal dyke wasn’t out best plan, so with much spilling of wind we waited until Simon kindly sailed into the reeds allowing us a ‘gap’ to get past. Much to their annoyance, we also then stormed past a hire boat, tailgated the local bin lorry (it’s a barge running up/down Potter) & scattered several canoeists like startled ducks before we moored at the bridge.
Respite at PH.
The usual drama then unfolded, as we were navigating the old bridge, a day boat & a motor launch caused us to execute a rapid slalom!
Leaving Potter with a double reefed mainsail proved a sensible decision, as before the arrival of yet another rain shower – some strong gusts forced us into rigging the backstays & praying… once at Cold Harbour however we eased onto a broad reach that lasted until Acle.
Thankfully, conditions changed, and we set full sail from Acle bridge for the gentle run upriver to South Walsham dyke. Once there, we located the elusive ‘Polly’ & moored. A curry & cider set the spell for the rest of the evening… Except I’d only bloody bought poppadum’s which required DEEP-FRYING.
Gilling around, pre S.W. dyke.
If you want to learn fear, true fear. Fill a large frying pan with an inch of oil. Bring it to red-hot temperature on a roaring Primus & then try not to get burnt to hell & back whilst you cook poppadum’s on it… (oh & be inside a wooden boat for good measure)… Eff me.
Later, a world-record was set – with 7 people all getting into ‘Polly’ for a drink… we estimated the freeboard was 2inches.
Night.
Day 8
It rained…. A lot. Again. ‘E’ was forced to vacate her bunk in the middle of the night as a waterfall had appeared. Relations were ‘restrained’ later than morning over breakfast…
We identified full cloud cover, and with no obvious respite from the weather we swiftly decided to motor upriver to Ludham Bridge, seeking solace in the Dog Inn PH.
Having ‘forgotten’ my waterproofs, I retired into the cabin to sit things out. Once through Ludham Bridge, conditions had deteriorated into a bleak, gusty, viscious SE gale. Obviously we reefed, hoisted sail & ‘took off’… (!)
This should have been a warning for us…
Take off seemed appropriate, never before has a faster passage been recorded for the Ant. Surging upstream like a water-borne helter-skelter, we surfed along, ‘Corsair’ giving her best death roll into the bargain. The main was eased until the knot was in my hand (on all points of sail!!), the crew sat on the weather deck & the boom lunged skywards threatening a chinese gybe at any moment.
Eff me. We overtook, we undertook, and sometimes we plain bullied out way past boats and tried not to think what’d happen if the mast broke. At How Hill we observed a ‘twister’ running down the marsh – which mercifully avoided us.
The single photo of our down-wind melee – this is a backstay tackle.
However, we practiced aplomb (or blind fear) – within the hour, we had moored at Stalham staithe.
Strangely, our arrival coincided with opening time at ‘The Swan’, allowing us to calm our nerves with a leisurely lunch. Sometime later, we slunk back to ‘Corsair’ where unfortunately ‘L’ had had to return to work. The remainder of us motored to Sutton Staithe in a brief spell of sunshine. (it wasn’t to last).
Within minutes of mooring, we dodged YET ANOTHER deluge of rain & fled into the Sutton Staithe hotel, which accomodated us for the most random game of darts… Alas it was only spoiled by the overly creative scoring that ‘Nina’ displayed (for her score only!)
Returning to the boats, we found a welcome late-visitor in the form of ‘Polly’ – Hooray! much, much alcohol was then consumed to celebrate this, and we fell into a stupor, under the steady monotone of rain on canvas…
Falling gently asleep to multiple sirens from the emergency services was abit bizarre – seems a motorcyclist decided to leave the Stalham bypass at over 100mph last night…
Truth was, we soon found ourselves in a frenzy of activity ‘HB’ was being returned to her owners – both Jalil & Jacob were returning (reluctantly) to ‘Corsair’ & we needed more provisions…
So a high-speed motor to Stalham saw us victualled at Tesco, before we motored straight back to the Punt Club on Barton Broad, to sign in for 2 races.
That done, there was a little matter of a reunion to attend to, & I honestly can’t say absolutely the last time that 3 Chumley & Hawke clippers were rafted up – but it wasn’t an opportunity to be missed! Chronologically, we managed to get Clipper’s 4, 5 & 6 posed – sadly though no time for a photo!
We flurried back to Barton Turf, picked up Clover (another Jalil) – deposited Jacob & headed for the start line…
It’s clear we’re not going to trouble the ‘big boys’ anytime soon! Highlights included not loosing the rig (topping lift on a Nav post) & cutting inside a competitor at the buoy. We came a definitive last, but we also had fun – I mean you can’t get too competitive can you?
Post – race – we deposited crew at Barton Turf (again) – and headed to Gay’s staithe for some lunch. We carried 1st reef & out big jib – so enjoyed another cracking sail across the Broad. We even managed some screams from the feminine contingent (both Jalils).
On-route, we managed to bowl a fresh onion to ‘HB’ to save their dinner plans (this is no mean feat at 6 knots & a good angle of heel!) Also – pictured above are some typical scenes from Barton regatta – it forms a water-borne city for the weekend, through which we threaded (at speed) searching for a motor boat to deliver an onion. Madness.
I’m proud (pissed?) to say that in time-honoured fashion, we then found ourselves in a pub, and is often the way with Broads sailing we subsequently missed out start at 4pm & ended up staggering back to the boat quite ‘merry’…
After a whistlestop lesson in how to operate the Tilley lamp, I left to maintain a dinner engagement leaving them all ‘to it’. Christ knows what I’ll come back to…
Dear readers… this morning we managed to wake slowly, with no hysterics from Jalil… our temporary waterproofing HAS WORKED!
Despite the sheltered nature of the staithe – it was apparent that it was bloomin’ windy, something we discovered when we ventured onto Barton Broad. We set the ever familiar 2 reefs & middle jib, before storming across the Broad enjoying ourselves, and ignoring the chaos in the cabin (!)
Whilst thundering around the Broad, we allowed ourselves a giggle at a hire-yacht branded with ‘TRY SAILING’ -which at times seemed a good suggestion for the helmsman to follow. (!)
This was said through gritted teeth!
Fun over, we decided that a tack down the Ant would be impossible – so we became tourist-esque. We motored to Stalham to wander around. It was at this point I bought a Tilley lamp, which turned out to be a complete lemon! (I think we were desperately trying to find ways of drying out the boat)
Sadly even the charms of Stalham weren’t enough to keep us there, despite a ‘en masse’ decision for hot showers at Richardson’s boatyard (behave! Not like that) So freshly laundered, we gave into the inevitable and motored downriver to Ludham Bridge, where we moored in half a bloody gale… holiday’s afloat eh?
The crew at this point abandoned me – choosing to sit in the cabin rather than endure another cold & wet slog into the rain. Can’t blame them! (but I will)
‘Enjoying’ ourselves in the summer weather.
The weather did moderate a little, which enabled us to stop at ‘How Hill’ (more tourism) – walking around & inspecting both Toad Hole cottage & Boardman’s pump. Boardman’s pump is a trestle open frame mill, complete with its turbine pump (dating from 1897) – it’s amazing what you’ll read on an information board when you’re soaked through & fed up!
Sensibly at this point, we sought refuge in the ‘Dog Inn’ for the evening. Highlights (or not) was how we ended up in conversation with a film crew who were filming a short film called ‘Jam Today’ – for the UK independent film council. The weather meant these lads were stuck on a boat with beautiful young women. Bastards.
A Broadsman 