Brinks Belmore | The Big Tour - Day 4 (Part 1)

I did not need to get up early today but I had done anyway and pondered my sanity about heading off to Oulton Broad from Wroxham.  It was not the fact this was likely to take 9 odd hours, but the fact during the trip I would make no stops and of course be alone doing it all - nobody to make a cup of coffee, take the wheel while I answered the call of nature etc so anything like this would need to be done with a 'nose into' the Reeds type thing and back on the wheel as soon as possible.

None the less, the adventure gripped me - I do enjoy these long days and knowing I have an actual destination to arrive at and such being some distance not just an hour and half down the river type affair.  So around 9:20am I was underway leaving Wroxham.  It was a little warmer than other days, but that cloud remained along with a chilly wind and I was pleased to be on a boat with such a good, and controllable heating system as Belmore. To aid my comfort further I had a pillow for my back to make the helm seat that bit more soft and all the items I would need for the day were close at hand.

The rivers were quiet - I think many of the previous boaters I had seen had been up for the weekend or returning their boats back on Monday morning, but it made things almost feel more calm and while some may not like it so much, the trees along the Bure heading towards Horning being baron of leaves gave you glimpses through their branches of what lay beyond. Indeed at Salhouse Broad I had never known there to be a substantial house behind the trees just as you pass the large red posts on the right hand side of the river.

Prior to departure I had studied two distanced and time calculators and worked out roughly what time to leave, to arrive at Acle and then at Yarmouth and so on - as I progressed I found these to be very much 'out' and I noticed that despite sticking religiously to the speed limit (or even under) I was very early in my estimated arrival at Acle.  Things did not improve and by the time I was on the 'Acle straight' (as I call it) past the mouth of the Thurne and heading towards Upton Dyke something needed doing or I would be arriving at Yarmouth in a tall boat over an hour an half before low water.

My solution was to use the mouth of Upton Dyke as a lay-by and simple use the wind to my advantage and keep me more or less onto the bank while I kept the boat in position on the throttle and kill some time.  The minutes past which felt like an eternity but I figure it was now a good opportunity to go and continue my passage down towards Great Yarmouth.  The river twists and turns the Reeds and the muddy banks this really does have a very 'wild' feel about it and the pretty up reaches of the Bure seem a world away.

I still had an issue with the current and the timings - I passed Runham Drainage Mill, Yarmouth was now sighted - what was going on I thought?  Clearly the distance and time charts I was using were not at all accurate so I was once again on course to arrive at Yarmouth too early, with masses of ebb current taking me towards bridges I was not too certain would have enough clearance under for nearly 9ft of boat so I turned back in the direction of Acle and killed more time. 

I actually used this as an experiment - different angles and revs to see just how the current was to deal with, slow turns, fast turns, less power, more power and so on so if I needed to deal with currents on the southern rivers I would be more confident and know what t expect.  Here the worst that might happen is I would go into a muddy bank, at moorings it might be a quay heading or another boat.  I looked at my watch and thought '**** it we'll do it anyway' turned the boat around and headed for Yarmouth.

I was monitoring VHF Ch12 and was interested to know a boat was due to pass under Breydon Bridge and it was likely I would arrive as this was happening, this would be a first.  For some weeks now I have studied a great deal about VHF with a view to take an exam and get 'certified' yet here I was listening to the Bridge and boat in question breaking all the rules as far as radio transmitting goes and being very informal which just goes to show what the real world is like and the classroom.  Passing Marina Keys more of the buildings here have literally fallen off - what a waste I thought - do it all up, dredge the river, floating pontoons and have the Yacht Station here well away from the Bridges there is even a large park 'Bure Park' very close by to the moorings but alas it is all to do with money.

In part two we head out on to Breydon and continue the journey to Oulton Broad.