The cruise from Somerleyton to Great Yarmouth firstly via St Olaves for fuel and water and then across the expanse of Breydon Water, stopping at the Great Yarmouth Marinaso that we could walk to the beach. Time with the children in Joyland and for a ride on a Pony and Landau along to Pleasurebeach for more rides and back to The Lady by taxi. The US are calling for a UK ban on arms to Iran after a stalemate in the Gulf and oil has risen to $20 per barrel. British holidaymakers are injured in a Tunisian bomb attack, Israel seal off part of the Gaza Strip after a bomb attack and at home Rupert Murdoch is embroiled in more controversy.
The day started a bit damp after some overnight rain, but we had slept well and were awake early. I tossed a slipper over to Di’s bed to get her going and soon we had our morning drinks. Read more of The Broadlands Plan and found it interesting, before the girls were up and about and it was time to keep them amused. Our simple breakfast and then we readied the boats and set off early with the tide in our favour. Made good progress and then stopped at St Olaves for petrol and water and were somewhat startled when advised by the boatyard that we were later than ideal for our trip to Great Yarmouth.
There seems so much variation on the predictions for high and low water, that I am sure I must be missing something. Cast off and cruised apace and was soon down the Yare and onto Breydon Water. A wide open and tidal expanse of water, with processions of boats in both directions commonplace at low water. Daniel cruised steadily across, as he would not believe that there was no speed limit there. We edged our way up the Bure, past large commercial vessels, having already seen the spectacle of the tip-up bridge raising for a large passenger cruise ship. The moorings at the Yacht Station were very dodgy – narrow navigation channels, fierce tidal flows and packed moorings of hire craft – and so we passed on up to Gt Yarmouth Marina and had a mooring to ourselves, with the Little Lady alongside to protect us from any double mooring. Some time deliberating over the length of the mooring ropes for the 3 ft rise and fall, then decided against fetching the car from Brundall and caught a taxi into the town centre instead. A nice lunch at Nicky’s family restaurant on the sea front, where the pretty waitresses were very attentive and made up to the children. Over to Joyland to let the children have some of their favourite rides, then onto the beach doing our impression of intrepid holiday makers, with two windbreaks to keep off the cold breeze and a few spells of sunshine, we just about kept warm and the girls paddled and made sand castles. Pony and Landeau to Pleasurebeach for more rides and tea, then back to the marina by taxi to end an exhausting day. News today is of the escalation of Iran/US threats, as the Iranians believe America was involved in the Mecca pilgrim slaughter on Friday. Ayatollah Komeni voiced his country’s threat that no foreign vessel should enter its territorial waters (or else!) and the northern inbound passage through the Gulf is within them. The US are balking, however, at any naval showdown in the Gulf and are still deficient in minesweepers. Instead they are lobbying the United Nations for an embargo of arms to Iran (somewhat ironic in view of their own recent arms deals-for-hostages revelations). Rising tension in the Gulf has put up the value of crude oil, which is above $20/barrel in London today, the highest level for 18 months. Five British holiday makers have been injured in bomb attacks on hotels in Tunisia and one has had to have a foot amputated. Israeli forces sealed off part of the Gaza Strip after an Arab attack and thus the whole of the Middle East is in a state of tension. The US Irangate hearings have finished in public, after a stream of revelations that have shown the President’s administration as being both deceitful and disorganised. After The Today’s newspapers takeover by Rupert Murdoch and News International, the sponsorship of the Football League has been abruptly terminated and they are considering legal action. After today’s cool airstream and sunny periods, tomorrow is forecast to be even cloudier and breezy, to be chilly with showers and thunder storms a possibility. Later this evening, Daniel and I took out the Little Lady onto Breydon Water and planed up and down until the fuel got alarmingly low. Di was a bit despondent tonight and wished we were in a ‘nice’ hotel. Shame.