Monday 28 May
Tuesday 29 May
Wednesday 30 May
Thursday 31 May
Friday 1 June
Saturday 2 June
Sunday 3 June
Neatishead Staithe to Ludham Bridge
Ludham Bridge
Ludham Bridge to Barton Turf
Barton Turf to Ludham Bridge
Ludham Bridge to Berney Arms (the great escape - pt I)
Berney Arms to Herringfleet Staithe
Herringfleet Staithe to Oulton Broad Yacht Station
returns to top of this page
It was still raining in the morning and now it was quite windy too. Most of the boats at the staithe had departed by mid morning and we took a position nearer the exit ready for a get away after lunch. We left Neatishead in the rain about 2pm and gently tootled down to Ludham Bridge passing an enormous wherry being poled up the Ant and taking up more than its fare share of room.
We were sitting at our mooring minding our own business when a large hire boat out of control rammed the front of Starry Night putting a good dent in the stem, knocking a big chunk of filler out, scratching paintwork and bending a stanchion. The jolt knocked the Van Gogh picture Starry Night off the bulkhead wall, and bottles fell over in the cupboard (luckily not leaking their contents!). There were loads of witnesses to the whole sequence of events who gladly gave their contact details. The skipper of the culprit boat "Top Gem1" came over to exchange details and provided profuse apologies. It was his first day out in the boat. The matter is now in the hands of our insurers.
We were unable to get under the bridge here because all the rain has raised the water levels by about 6 inches and that's all our headroom clearance and more gone. So we will have to wait a day at least and see what the levels look like tomorrow evening (not wishing to go for a 5.00am transit!).
It is still raining as we go to bed. We are now very jittery every time a hire boat gets within a few meters of us.
Damage to Starry Night's bow
The culprit "Top Gem 1" intergallactic battle cruiser class - note pointed prow!
Lots of phone calls to make regarding the collision. Have arranged with a boat yard on the Thames to do the repair work for which they will need 3 or 4 weeks and to lift Starry Night out of the water. Found someone to receive on our behalf the claim form from the insurers (the Harbour Master at Oulton Broad) who also informed us that the lock there at Mutford, through which we need to pass to get back out to sea, is kaput. Water in its computer!! Why does a lock need a computer? "Could be days before it is fixed". This may or may not affect us as we haven't yet decided whether to stay an extra week on the Broads if the weather at sea is likely to be too windy. We don't want to be stranded in Lowestoft.
The Top Gem 1 hire boat company seem quite friendly and helpful but we have been warned by someone who knows that hire boat companies can be very difficult to deal with after an incident! During the day we have to fend off Top Gem 2 which becomes blown against our side as it tries to moor up. The man I am speaking to from the insurers suggests I watch out for Top Gem 3 tomorrow!
The weather forecast of the met office web site says we should be looking at clear skies and sunshine now - all I can see is grey cloud! The heating is on for the third day running! River levels are refusing to drop.
Chaos at Ludham Bridge on hire-boat
change-over day
The sun is shining when we wake up but despite the lack of rain, the water levels are still up. So we decide to return North and do another lap of Barton Broad and its outposts, starting with Stalham and a visit to Tesco's for fresh provender. After Stalham we went to Barton Turf and decide to stay there as it was very quiet - no hire boats, just a few sailing boats and some privately owned boats.
By afternoon there was drizzle in the air but this cleared away leaving a lovely evening.
Mike hailed a passing Broads Inspection Launch and received a very pessimistic view on the water levels.
Classic Broads cruiser
A glorious day with blue sky, sunshine, warmth, white fluffy clouds and not much wind; why can't we have more like this? We continued our tour, visiting Wayford Bridge and revisiting the dyke leading to Sutton, which is particularly lovely.
We stopped off at the How Hill nature reserve and went for a walk round the trail. There were two bird hides, neither of which offered anything more than a mallard and a coot! But the marshy landscape was very serene and pretty, but still quite boggy under foot.
As we made our way back to Ludham Bridge we passed two pump stations that were still pumping hard to drain the lower levels - this didn't bode well. And sure enough the bridge gauge showed hardly any improvement with the 2.5m mark not quite showing (we need 2.55m for an interference fit).
Looking at the bridge it did not look exactly horizontal, so I became puzzled as to where the clearance dimension on the gauge was actually measured to on the bridge itself.
So I decided to survey the bridge height with my trusty tape measure. I measured both sides and found that on the low side there was more clearance than stated on the gauge, and that indeed there was a higher side that was 12cm higher than the low side. Taking into account the shape of Starry Night I thought that we should fit under. I returned to Starry Night to consider the facts.
No sooner had I got back on board than I saw that there was an incident unfolding under the bridge - a large hire-boat had become jammed under it! It took 10 of us "extras" standing on the decks and half an hour of man-handling to get it out from under.
This made us think twice about going under there and then and we decided to sleep on it.
Windmill near Wayford Bridge
Hire-boat stuck under Ludham bridge
Tranquility - Ludham Bridge
The levels did not change over night but a plan had evolved in my mind how to tackle the bridge. At low water around 07:45 before there was much traffic, we very slowly motored to the bridge with everything folded down. The gentle breeze would blow us towards the high side and the bow thruster and some rudder would keep us nudged up in that direction. We had decided that the spot light would be the tell tale and it cleared by 4 inches or more. As we slid under there was the same clearance over all the other high spots and so we ducked under the bridge and went for it. We could probably have got under three days ago!
After a brief stop to restore order and have breakfast we headed for Wroxham to use up some time (low water for the Great Yarmouth bridges is 17:15 today). A quick cuppa at Wroxham Broad and we turned round and started back on the five hour journey to Great Yarmouth, with a pause for lunch at Cockshoot Staithe.
At low water Great Yarmouth the rivers are still running hard - a 2.5kn stream in fact. We had masses of clearance under the low bridges but had to fight our way against the tide up Breydon Water to Berney Arms. The last hour was in a damp grey foggy cloud and very chilly, after what had been another glorious day.
We have found out that the lock at Mutford - the one we have to pass through to get to the sea at Lowestoft - may not now be fixed until the end of next week. So we may have to revise our plans and leave via Great Yarmouth which is a more complicated process because of the bridges and is a big detour. It remains to be seen.
As I finish this page off we are now shrouded in an eerie fog. The white sails of the nearby windmill have faded into nothingness.
What happens if you try to cut the corner in Great Yarmouth
A very foggy start to the day. But by 10:00 the sun broke through for a very pleasant day, but with a cool breeze from the North. We cruised leisurely up a very tranquil river Yare to Reedham. Along the way here we watched a cormorant wrestle with a good sized eel it had caught. Neither wanted to give up the fight and the bird couldn't juggle its catch to get it lined up for a "down in one". Eventually the eel coiled itself round the cormorant's neck which was the wrestling equivalent of a submission, and made its escape!
At Reedham we turned left down the Haddiscoe New Cut to join the Waveney at St Olaves and thence to Herringfleet Staithe. Spent the rest of the day here doing nothing much but watching the world go by. There is hardly any boat traffic and for many hours we shared the place with just one sail boat.
In the evening we saw another barn owl making its rounds, as well as a heron catching an eel (there must be plenty in these waters). The heron was more successful than the cormorant, and managed to swallow its catch. It then spent the next twenty minutes standing by the water's edge taking a drink at frequent intervals, and shaking itself vigourously each time - indigestion perhaps?
View from Herringfleet mooring
On the way to Oulton we fueled up at the Waveney River Centre. We were alarmed at the 70p per litre price displayed as we needed over 150 litres. But that price dropped to 55 for over 100 - phew!!. We then headed on to the Oulton Broad Yacht Station where we were made welcome by the very friendly Harbour Master and his staff. The insurance claim form was here waiting for me.
The latest on the lock here is that it will be out of commission until 18th June at the earliest, assuming the tests scheduled for the 16th go OK. So we will definitely have to go out via Great Yarmouth which is a complication we could do without. It will add nearly six hours to the journey time to Woodbridge. The river is a busy port with many large ships and a dredger continuously at work etc, strong currents and one very low bridge. We managed to do all of the washing and spent the rest of the day pondering on passage plans, weather etc.
Negotiating the sailing boats on Oulton Broad
Copyright © 2006-2009 Mike Hawkridge