A 250 mile journey from the west country to the far east, split over the Friday evening and Saturday morning got Niamh, Joshua (W1038) and I to Upton Dyke near Acle on Saturday by 10:00 to meet up with the four other Wanderers trailing to Norfolk for the Broads cruise. We were joined by a local boat during the morning, to bring the fleet up to six.

Due to the long journey both Niamh and I were rather groggy as we rigged on the Saturday morning, but the weather looked promising and through the rigging and relaxed briefing by Andy Peters we gradually woke up.

The boatyard at Upton provided ample room to rig and park cars / trailers for the duration, only making a nominal charge to the fleet, most of which went to the RNLI as a donation (The RNLI now have an inland station on the Broads, one of only two in total, the other being in Enniskillen).

A leisurely set up during the morning, coupled with the purchasing of Broads Authority short term licenses (£17.50 for Wanderer plus engine) and some car rearranging to ensure transport that evening to assorted B&B’s meant that we got away from Upton some time after midday.

The narrow dykes and rivers of the broads were rather strange at first for someone used to the expanses of the Blackwater estuary, Channel Islands and Poole harbour, but the winds were kind, allowing us to reach gently down the dyke past hire boats and privately owned yachts, to the main river and then run swiftly away upstream towards the junction of the Bure and the Thurne.

The fleet had split up at launch and we were only in company with Andy Peter single handing in W198 until we reached the mouth of Womack Water, where another blue W was visible above the reads. We three then struck off towards Ludham where we met up again with the local Wanderer and tied up to the staithe for a quiet rest and some lunch nibbles. Sailing up Womack water brought my first experience of the fickle winds caused by the overhanging trees and houses on the banks, which meant we had to motor back to the Thurne to avoid a long and tricky beat in light airs.

Once back on the main river the fleet broke up again and we turned left, heading for the excitement of Potter Heigham bridges. The run up to the bridges is lined on either side by private landings and holiday homes, however immediately before the first bridge a staithe is available on the east bank where we tied up to lower the masts and rig outboards. We met up here with the other two Wanderers who had bypassed Womack water and had already transited the bridges. One of the boats didn’t have an outboard so they had been towed through by Alistair, an operation complicated by the very narrow clearances and fierce currents.

Once we had secured the lowered masts and sails, rigged outboards and worked out how we were going to steer with all this mess in the boat, I watched a few hardy types quant their large hire boats through before casting off and following Wendy through in her bright red Wanderer. The local Wanderer crew departed home at this stage before making the transit of the bridges.

Handling the boat with such a long over hang out the back in a narrow and busy river makes for a deal of excitement, but we made it through without significant drama and the whole fleet joined up again to the north of both bridges to re-rig and carry on towards our destination for the night of Hickling Broad.

With a very light breeze we continued up the Thurne to Candle Dyke where we turned left and drifted across Heigham sound, past Meadow Dyke (the entrance to Horsey Mere) and up Deep Go Dyke before entering Hickling Broad proper. The weather was bright and warm as we drifted into the broad alongside a Norfolk Gypsy with who’s crew we were gassing, watching Marsh Harriers swoop over the reeds.

As the Broad opened out the wind came back and we foamed up the channel to arrive at the Hickling Broad Sailing club pontoons. Once the whole fleet were tied up, a party took off round the dykes to survey suitable spots to leave the boats overnight. As Niamh and I were sleeping aboard we nabbed the best spot tucked inside the shelter of a hole in the bank of the dyke close to the Ferryman (or was it Ferryboat?) pub. Three other wanderers rafted up outside us and Andy found a spot of the other side of the dyke, conveniently adjacent to the pub but somewhat exposed to the morning breeze.

The others tidied ship and retired to the pub whilst Niamh and I rigged the boom tent and cooked up some sausages and beans for supper. Pudding of mandarin segments with evaporated milk was not followed by coffee and warm milk as we had forgotten our mugs, so we then made for the pub and pint, accompanied by an Elvis looky-likey singing-along-a-backing-track type chap. Nice.

Niamh fell asleep almost immediately so we retired to the boat, only for me to be kept awake ‘til some time in the morning by continued Elvis warblings at maximum volume. At least we were warm and comfortable this time with more padding under us to keep us off the bottom boards…leaving just enough room for my hips at a push, so I can turn over.

Come 4:00 am the heavens opened and a spectacular thunderstorm arrived, which carried on until about 7:30, getting to within half a mile at times. This focuses the mind a little with a metal mast inches from your feet.

By 8:00 things had calmed down and the sun was out. The tent kept everything dry and was standing up well to the freshening wind. Breakfast on the beach while the tent dried out was followed by a trip to the Hickling Broad Sailing Club dinghy park to watch preparations for the morning’s racing.

Andy emerged a little damp from a few leaks in his smart frame tent to seek a hand drier in the loo so as to dry off his bedding, and the other crews arrived from their B&B in Acle. Coffee in the pub garden was followed by discussion regarding how best to get out of the dyke into the broad against the fresh breeze coming straight from where we wanted to go. Having watched a Wayfarer get stuck against, and then in between, some houseboats on the lee shore we were all anxious to make a clean getaway.

My chosen method, as I don’t have a neutral on my 2.5 mariner, was to warp the boat around within the hole, hoist the main with a reef, keep the jib furled until we were clear and get the engine started and warmed up (bow hard against the staithe) before casting off. Andy kindly walked our bow out and once clear we could motor straight into the wind, through the busy racing fleet and then cut the engine and hare off up the broad in fine style.

My first experience of upwind river travel was fun, beating through between Hickling Broad and Heigham Sound, barely getting moving on one tack before swinging round again on the next. I tied the jib sheets together to make trimming the foresail easier and once the wind had dropped off again began playing with the traveller on each tack and try and point the best we could.

Turning left into Meadow Dyke (don’t cut the corner, there’s no water there…) the wind dropped off to almost nothing and in glorious sunshine we drifted between the reeds in company with Alistair. Having stalled avoiding a passing yacht and drifted sideway into the reeds we started up the motor and buzzed gently to the entrance of Horsey Mere where we caught up with two other Wanderers tied up and lunching on the bank in the sunshine.

During lunch the skies clouded over and we donned our waterproofs once more before drifting out into Horsey to become completely becalmed in the soft rain. Despite the weather, the place was gorgeous, deserted and peaceful – that is until we started up engines and motored across the mere to the staithe and wind pump on the far shore, passing very smart thatched lodges dotted on the banks. Motors still running, but the rain gone, the fleet turned round and motored back out of Meadow Dyke before drifting in very light conditions through Duck Broad and back onto the Thurne.

As the forecast for Monday was for rain, the fleet decided to head back to Upton Dyke for the night, rather than Ranworth Broad as originally planned, to leave our options open the next day. We drifted and motored gently back to Potter Heigham in the afternoon sun and went through the mast lowering and raising routine again to transit the bridges. Sadly Andy’s centreboard broke at this point when his highfield lever snapped the top corner off when the mast came down, which meant he had to retire from the cruise and head home early.

During the late afternoon and early evening the wind filled in gently and we were able to sail all the way back, often beating, down river to Upton Dyke, with Niamh handling the jib sheet herself for the first time in the light conditions while I continued experimenting on how to get the boat to point as well as I could.

Niamh and I were happy to be first back into Upton Dyke, having ‘raced’ another Wanderer all the way from Potter Heigham (well, we were racing anyway!). We arrived at dusk on a very peaceful evening. Not knowing what the morning would bring we cooked up a quick pasta supper, left the boat on the dyke and retired to the car for the night.

The morning brought gentle rain and a stiff back from the night in the car, so Niamh and I packed up slowly during the morning, hauled Joshua out up a slippery slipway with Alistair’s help and use of the mainsheet as a heaving tackle a la Margaret Dye.

The remaining boats used the day to explore the Bure I believe, but as for Niamh and I we headed back down the M11 and M3 to a hot bath and late night before school and work in the morning.

Apart from the distance travelled to get there, the broads were all I hoped. Not too crowded, friendly natives, loads of birds to spot and interesting boating in beautiful surroundings. The winds were fickle and thunder and lightning rather alarming but otherwise a fun weekend during which the rain didn’t seem to matter and we saw plenty of sun…roll on the Windermere cruise where Niamh and I will carry on re-enacting the Swallows and Amazons books we’ve read over the winter – plus put a few more miles on the car!

Report & all Photos - Tim Robertson W1038 May 2005