A tongue-in-cheek guide for the sheltered Thames user to the cut and thrust of life on the Broads
2 Moor up early in the afternoon if you want a good spot. The further away from the “attractions” of Wroxham, Horning and Potter Heigham, the easier it is to find peace and quiet. The best bet is to anchor in one of the broads.
3 Do not put your total trust in the published guides and maps - we have found mistakes in the location of moorings and other details.
4 Make sure you know which way the tide is running so you can moor-up facing into the stream. Thames folk like us are used to facing up stream regardless - it doesn't work like that here. And carry a good selection of mooring warps to combat the effects of strong tidal streams, gales and anything else that mother nature and hire craft skippers can throw at you.
5 Have a lead line for accurately checking the depth of water under your boat at moorings so you don't end up sitting on the mud at low water and unable to get away as planned.
6 Bring a good pair of ear defenders for each crew member to blot out the noise of the hire boats running their engines while moored ( to charge their batteries so that they can watch television ).
7 Carry supplies of paint, resin or whatever materials your hull is protected with - to repair the scrapes from encounters with hire boats.
8 Remember that hire boat users have a limited grasp of the collision avoidance regulations – limited to “give way to sailing boats”. Once in open water it's every man for himself.
9 Don’t assume that because you are in the countryside you can get vegetables or fruit! But for some reason you can always get milk, bacon, eggs and bread, and of course Fray-Bentos steak and kidney pudding, and booze! They obviously know their market.
10 The hardest thing to find is anything produced in Norfolk. On one occasion we did find some strawberries.
Copyright © 2004-2009 Mike Hawkridge