Brinks Belmore TC - Day Two

Usually when people take over a boat they go for a short cruise somewhere, moor up and unwind taking their time to unpack things - however we had had to go on to the moorings at Stracey Arms from Wroxham if we stood chance to get through Yarmouth the following morning.

I was up at 5:00am, got the kettle on for a coffee to get my head awake and then the unenviable task of taking off the outside vinyl screen cover - fortunately there was no dew so I managed to fold the cover and stay dry. 

I could tell there was no mist - all that mattered now was when it would be light enough to leave the mooring and head to Yarmouth.  Low water was at 5:23am still very much dark - slack water at 6:23am would be ideal alas we were about an hour and half away from Yarmouth so I knew whatever happened we would be arriving as the flood tide came in but how much of the precious space under the bridges would have been lost by the time we arrived was anybody's guess.

I waited, and waited and then slowly the orange glow on the horizon grew brighter  and the sun slowly peaked above it - time to depart.  Shiela still sound asleep I cast us off and slowly past the moored boats, once past them and on to the 6 M.P.H limit it was time to put the throttle down and see what time we made.  It was good to begin, we (being further up the Bure) still had a weak ebbing tide under us but the closer to Yarmouth we got the less this was until we reached a point where it seemed we were neither being assisted or hindered - more revs were needed to keep our speed up, but the closer to Yarmouth we got the tide had turned - now slightly against us more revs were put on to maintain our 6 M.P.H - we were on track as far as time and predictions for arrival went.

Shiela was up and having a shower, soon after I told her about my worries to do with getting under the bridges, she of course took it all in her stride, but for me I kept looking at the plaque on the helm  8ft 10" is declared was our air draft - I was sure it was less but even so how accurate were the bridge gauges at Yarmouth?  Time past and we approached the Yacht Station the first bridge gauge proclaimed 9ft dead - it would be close but that was enough - the next showed the same and at the first bridge which I knew was a little higher than Vauxhall Bridge I was truly in a panic - it seemed every so tight just passing under that - yet Vauxhall's gauge claimed an additional 3" existed under it, I approached dead slow and Shiela was outside looking up ready to shout (or so I hoped she would) if we were not going to make it - silence from her and I edged under - no scraps, straighten up and we were through only for Shiela to come in excitedly saying we had about 'this much' showing me her fingers - about 3 inches to spare!

I could relax all was good and we turned at the yellow post and I took the boat under Breydon Bridge and then let Shiela take over on Breydon.  After a few minutes I knew she was comfortable and enjoying the experience keeping to a very steady course and loving the fact we could now open the throttle fully - by GPS we were hovering between 9 M.P.H and 10 M.P.H (when it flickers to the higher number chances are we are north of 9.5 M.P.H).  With the tide now behind us helping us along we left the other cruisers in our wake and I enjoyed a rare treat to actually take in Breydon from the rear of the boat - the noise the engine and prop made was a great almost perfectly tuned note coupled with the turbulent water - this boat sure was good.

Shiela was happy and doing a great job at the helm despite the boat's steering not being hydraulically actuated, and thus becoming very light at speed she was slow and steady on the wheel and as the video shows kept things straight like a pro.  I took over at the end of Breydon and ournext point of call would be Reedham.  A bit of a wobbly moment when the Ranger wanted us between two large private boats but I wanted to go between two hire boats instead.  I also needed to call Barnes about our charging and battery issue - things were not feeling quite right and as it turned out they indeed were not, a battery had a cell go and it was dragging the others down - they replace their batteries now with Rolls branded batteries and they sure ain't cheap - in fact the engineer told me over the winter two of their boats had £25,000 spent on refurbishments and over a tonne of batteries put in!

Breakfast had, walk around Reedham and chats with fellow boaters at the quay it was time to move on - destination Surlingham were we would be having our evening meal at the Ferry House (frankly to my mind Broadlands best pub for atmosphere and food). 

Shiela took us past the Chain Ferry and I took over to take us the rest of the way, it was not a very bright day but it was mild and having company made the long trip pass without feeling a drag - Shiela spending most of her time if not at the helm on her Mac watching Big Bang Theory, still whatever makes you happy when afloat.

And so we arrived at the pub, and a note of caution the quay heading is not the best here so be careful and it is also a  good idea to actually tie your ropes to the posts unlike our later arriving neighbour from Alpha Craft who simply wrapped the rope round and round the post and hoped friction would do the rest! 

A great night was had in the pub, really yummy food and to cap it off some live music from an eclectic group of musicians and equally interesting instruments - it was well after 10:00pm when we left and I at least had a bit of a wobble back to the boat - Shiela playing it safe and not drinking alcohol  could hold the torch steady for me.  However do I cope when I am on my own!  And so to bed it was after a long day but one that had taken us to somewhere really very lovely.