Three days before the mast

Off we went for our sailing weekend on the Norfolk Broads taking our waterproofs and plenty of warm clothes not for one moment thinking that what we really would need was sun block cream. All weekend we had light breezes, just right for sailing, and warm sun. At no point did I need a coat.

We seemed to get a lot more sailing done than previous years, covering Hickling, South Walsham, Ranworth and Martham Broads as well as sailing up the Bure as far as Horning and the Ant as far as Ludham Bridge.

All very nice but the real treat for me was going up past Martham to the very remote Martham Broad (the red star on the map) on Monday. It took ages to get up there through the narrow channel against a headwind, but we virtually flew back. Here is Kath speeding us along on the return tripNot many boats go up there and it is very quiet. One reason is that it is beyond the ancient Potter Higham Bridge, which has only 6 foot something of clearance, so the megacruisers can't get through. Sailboats like us have to stop and lower the sails and the mast, row through and then erect it all again the other side. Here we are having done just that.

Having two boats engenders a bit of gentle competition and gives an opportunity to photograph the other lot as you go along. Here is Rick and Tim in their rightful place behind our boat.

Along the Bure, the boat traffic gets chaotic and we had to zig zag through other sail boats

as well as the dozens of often huge plastic hire cruisers. Amazingly, despite this, the Bowsprit Trophy for the most damaging mishap was not awarded this year, for both boats survived completely unscathed. I think this may be a record.

A fine weekend in both senses of the word. Let's hope the good weather holds because were off on Herbie again over the coming weekend.