SOUTHERN RIVERS CRUISE 2023

 Saturday 1st to Saturday 8th July

 

 

Photo: Paul Stevens

 

The SRC plan for 2023 followed the new format that was introduced in 2022 of offering crews a choice of two moorings each night and the flexibility to personalise their own route depending on their personal preferences. This reduced the pressure on finding sufficient mooring space for all boats and gave crews the chance to spend time with different boats over the week as people chose different options each night, whilst still remaining part of the overall Southern Rivers Cruise.

 

Friday

Crossing times were quite late in the afternoon on Saturday so a number of crews chose to benefit from an earlier crossing and an extra day on the Southern Waters and crossed on Friday. Dove, Pippinjack, Evergreen, Sandpiper, Windrift, Happy Dayz, Moondream and Ranger3 met on the club moorings at lunchtime ready for a 1pm departure, and were met by Lily who popped down to see them on their way, with Glider and Snowbird joining the fleet enroute to Breydon.

 

Club Moorings
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

A strong head wind and and following tide made for rough waters on Breydon and a challenging, choppy crossing, however all crews made it across safely and Ranger3, Glider, Snowbird and Windrift turned up the River Yare heading for Reedham and Hardley Mill, whilst the remainder of the cruise continued on the River Waveney heading for Herringfleet for the night.

 

Snowbird and Windrift at Hardley Mill
Photo by Chris Reilly

 

Saturday

Crews woke up to a rather cloudy and windy morning, and so plans were set for the Herringfleet crews to head to Geldeston whilst the Yare crews were heading to Somerleyton, to be joined by the additional members of the fleet who were crossing Breydon in the afternoon.

 

Some intrepid Herringfleet crews raised their sails in the strong winds and headed for Geldeston, stopping enroute for a lunch stop at North Cove after some rather innovative mooring alongside the Albion, before going on through Beccles to Geldeston.

 

Moorings were limited at Geldeston due to a wedding at the pub, however everyone was able to moor up at the locks with Happy Dayz mooring down in the village near the Wherry Inn, and dinner was enjoyed in the Locks pub.

 

Happy Dayz moored in Geldeston
Photo by Clive Stanbrook

 

Running repairs on Moondream!
Photo by Soozie Hopwood

 

Crews having a drink moored at Geldeston Locks
Photo by Frankie Little

 

Cruise leader having a quiet 5 minutes!
Photo by Claire Calder

 

Crews having dinner at Geldeston Locks
Photo by Paul Stevens

 

Meanwhile Snowbird, Windrift and Ranger3 motored through Reedham and down the New Cut with Glider sailing down, and then all moored at Somerleyton with some classic EACC mooring to ensure there was room for the other members of the fleet of join later in the day.

 

Crews enjoying a drink at Dukes Head, Somerleyton
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Over on the River Bure, Bewitched, Mischief and Rosie met up to cross together as this was Rosie’s crews first crossing on Breydon. Conditions were much kinder than the previous day, and the crews had a very safe crossing and headed up the River Waveney and moored up at Somerleyton.

 

Once the Breydon crews were moored at Somerleyton, everyone headed up to the Dukes Head for a lovely dinner and drinks in the pub.

 

Sunday

The fleet woke to a gloriously sunny but still windy morning, so after breakfast the Somerleyton crews headed down the Waveney for Beccles, some stopping enroute for lunch, whilst the Geldeston crews went for a lovely morning walk in the sunshine before joining the fleet at Beccles Yacht Station later in the day.

 

A sunny morning at Somerleyton
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

A relaxed afternoon of chilling, shopping or drinking in the pubs followed before meeting at Bear & Bells for a pre-arranged group dinner. The pub made the fleet feel incredibly welcome upon arrival, and once everyone was seated served fantastic quality food and drink thoroughly enjoyed by all crews.

 

The cruise moored at Beccles Yacht Station
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Bear & Bells venue decoration
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Crews enjoying dinner in Bear & Bells
Photo by the Bear & Bells

 

Sunset in Beccles
Photo by Julia Bellamy

Monday

The forecast for the following couple of days showed incoming showers and storms (although it depended on who’s forecast you looked at!) so after a number of debates on the quay heading about plans for the night half the cruise decided to drop Dutch Tea Gardens and head up to the River Yare early in order to complete the longer journey before the weather set in on Tuesday. Therefore, Dove, Evergreen, Pippinjack and Sandpiper headed off for Hardley Mill and Glider headed for Loddon.

Moored at Hardley Mill
Photo by Frankie Little

 

Moondream and Happy Dayz were heading back across Breydon before the end of the cruise, so they departed Beccles with a plan to stop at Somerleyton before their crossing.

 

The remainder of the fleet agreed to continue as planned to WOBYC pontoon moorings, as the forecast was a S/SW wind and the crews felt they would be protected by the surroundings. With a stormy forecast ahead most crews motored up the River Waveney except Mischief and Glider who galanty battled the gusts between the trees and managed to sail most of the way getting past Waveney River Centre before dropping their sails.

 

The wind hadn’t swung around upon arrival at Oulton Broad and remained as a westerly wind which posed challenging mooring conditions, and after Ranger3 and Snowbird had moored with the wind on their beam expecting the wind to swing to the south, the remainder of fleet chose to moor into the westerly wind making it more comfortable on the pontoon, with Snowbird then moving around behind Mischief.

 

The wind didn’t change however, and after the forepeak of Ranger3 flew off in a gust and floated across the harbour the crews re-positioned Ranger3 to also point into wind next to Windrift.

 

Most of the other fleet managed to make it to Loddon or Hardley Mill before the storm took hold, so with covers hastily put on crews took cover to avoid the heavy downpour.

 

The remainder of fleet (Moon Daisy, Starshell and Lily) were heading down across Breydon today to join the cruise on Tuesday, and after a fabulous sail down the River Bure before a rather wet stop on the pontoon between the bridges, they made their way safely to Polkeys Mill for the night.

 

Once the storm had passed the evening turned out rather pleasant with a beautiful orange glow sunset to finish the day.

 

Sunset from Oulton Broad
Photo by Amanda Wiggins

 

Sunset and rain at Hardley Mill
Photo by Frankie Little

 

Sunset from Polkeys Mill
Photo by Jimmy James

Tuesday

The crews woke up to a sunny if rather fresh morning, so for the fleet on Oulton Broad reefs were added to the sails and crews sailed off the broad heading up the River Waveney for Langley Dyke, whilst the fleets on Hardley Mill and Loddon had a more leisurely sail to Langley Dyke.

 

Crews moored on the pontoons at WOBYC
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Snowbird sailing on Oulton Broad
Photo by Julia Neate

 

Despite the BA removing the 24 hour moorings only weeks previous to our visit, Moon Daisy had sought permission from the landowner for the cruise to moor there overnight, much to the delight of the crews as this is a popular overnight location.

 

First to arrive at Langley Dyke were the tail-end Charlie crews after departing Polkeys Mill early to catch the last of the incoming tide, followed by the remainder of the fleet as they arrived throughout the day.

 

Once all the boats had moored up and stories had been shared of sailing in the fresh conditions, some crews went for a walk to stretch their legs whilst the remaining crews participated in a few games to keep the energy levels up before the imminent rain arrived.

 

The fleet at Langley Dyke
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

BBQ'ing at Langley Dyke
Photo by Roger Everett

 

Despite holding out for as long as they could sitting and chatting on the grass, the rain arrived and crews retired to their boats to cook dinner and chat through the awning windows, followed by some rather competitive card games on board Lily, Moon Daisy and Starshell!!

 

Wednesday

An early start was required for the crew on Rosie, so they quietly slipped ropes and made their way into Norwich city centre before anyone was up.

 

The forecast (again depending on who you asked!) was for rain anytime between 11am and 3pm, and so some crews decided to make a bolt for Surlingham Ferry to try and moor up before the incoming showers, so Dove, Evergreen, Sandpiper and Pippinjack departed after breakfast heading up the River Yare closely followed by Lily, Starshell and Moon Daisy, whilst the remaining crews had a more leisurely morning before moving on to Coldham Hall.

 

Unfortunately one of the (many) weather forecasts were right, and a heavy downpour late morning resulted in some crews having a rather wet journey up the River Yare. However, it was only a short downpour and once it had passed Mischief and Snowbird raised their sails and headed for Coldham Hall.

 

Heavy rain heading to Coldham Hall!
Photo by Amanda Wiggins

 

Bewitched needed to see an engineer in Peachments about a rather noisy engine, so the crew took advantage of being moored on the Northern side of the river and popped in to see their family for Grandparent cuddles with their recently newborn grandchild.

 

Crews moored at Surlingham Ferry
Photo by Paul Stevens

 

Crews moored at Coldham Hall
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Once the showers had passed through, the remainder of the day was beautifully sunny and all crews in both Surlingham Ferry and Coldham Hall had a lovely afternoon and evening enjoying the warm summer weather and excellent food that the pubs supplied everyone.

 

Thursday

The fleet woke to a gloriously sunny morning, and after a rather early start for Mischief who also had to head into Norwich city centre, the crews in Surlingham Ferry enjoyed a full English breakfast in the pub whilst the crews in Coldham Hall went for a walk to the local farm shop for a few supplies.

 

After breakfast, crews readied their boats for departure and headed back down the River Yare, with most crews sailing through Brundall enroute to Rockland Short Dyke before mooring up in readiness for the G&T afternoon.

 

Moon Daisy, Starshell and Lily departed the cruise, as they were heading down to Somerleyton overnight before beginning on an adventure that would take them through the locks in Lowestoft and heading down to have dinner and stay overnight at the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club, before returning back across Oulton Broad to cross Breydon on Sunday.

 

Once crews were moored on Rockland Short Dyke, the crew on Ranger3 laid on a range of flavoured gins for all to enjoy along with snacks and nibbles, and all the crews enjoyed a leisurely afternoon of sampling different gins and chatting about their week so far. Once the sun was well over the yardarm, crews returned to their boats for dinner, with some choosing to BBQ on the bank or cook on board, and then the fleet were joined by Mischief and Rosie who had made their way down from Norwich.

 

G&T at Rockland
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Cruise Leaders enjoying a G&T
Photo by Frankie Little

 

The fleet at Rockland
Photo by Jamie Martin-Bennett

 

Friday

The fleet woke to another gloriously sunny morning, and this time it was an early start for Betwitched who had to head home a day early in order to be back in time for the RCC Open on Barton Broad.

 

After breakfast most of the fleet planned to head down the River Yare towards Reedham, with the exception of Evergreen and Pippinjack who were heading to Loddon to meet up with Lily, Starshell and Moon Daisy on Saturday to cross Breydon with them on Sunday.

 

An incoming tide and head wind made for challenging beating conditions down the River Yare, but crews battled on from Rockland past Cantley and Hardley Mill before dropping sails and mooring up on Reedham quay or at the Ferry Inn.

 

Ranger sailing past Cantley
Photo by Ruth Thompson

 

Once moored, Ranger3, Snowbird and Mischief walked along the towpath from the Ferry Inn to the Quay to meet the crews on Glider, Windrift, Dove, Rosie and Sandpiper before heading into the pub for a drink before dinner.

 

After much debate and discussion over a couple of pints on what time to arrive in the morning at GY Yacht Station, crews made their way back to their respective boats before enjoying their last cruise supper in either The Lord Nelson or Ferry Inn.

 

Crews having dinner in The Lord Nelson
Photo by Soozie Hopwood

 

Saturday

It was a relatively early start for everyone so crews could prepare for an early morning crossing on Breydon, and with the sun shining the fleet departed Reedham heading down the River Yare for Breydon. Mischief raised their sails soon after Reedham bridge to sail down the river, and Ranger3 and Glider raised on approach to Breydon and sailed across Breydon with a fantastic close reach all the way to Great Yarmouth, where sails and masts were dropped before passing under the bridges to head up the River Bure.

 

Glider crossing Breydon
Photo by Chris Reilly

 

Mischeif crossing Breydon
Photo by Julia Neate

 

Ranger crossing Breydon
Photo by Chris Reilly

 

Once through Great Yarmouth some crews chose to motor back, while Mischief and Glider raised their sails again and made their way up the River Bure, along with Dove who sailed from Acle to South Walsham and Rosie who sailed from Acle to Potter Heigham, and everyone was back on their moorings by mid afternoon.

 

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed cruise, with challenging weather at times, however no drama’s or breakages, fabulous company and lovely sailing on the very quiet Southern Waters. Plans are already under way for the SRC 2024, and with the change in dates appearing to be well received by all crews this is likely to stay at the same time of year next year.

 

Participating boats over the duration of the week were:

Bewitched, Dove, Evergreen, Glider, Happy Dayz, Lily, Mischief, Moondream, Moon Daisy, Pippinjack, Ranger3, Rosie, Sandpiper, Snowbird, Starshell. Windrift.

 

Report by Jamie Martin-Bennett