A pleasant start to the day after a quiet and night but fine this morning for our swim at the Helska Leisure Centre and our walk into Horning village where we met The Bloom family from home who we had been trying to rendezvous with! Onward up the Bure afterwards and under Wroxham Bridge with our sliding roof back and some shopping at Roys and Norfolk Marine as we moored at the public moorings. Then back to the moorings on the Bure by Wroxham Broad and some unsuccessful fishing before sailing with Debbie in The Blue Peter until the breeze dropped and then settling down for the night
A good night at quiet moorings and then I was the first awake. It had been raining last night, but it was bright and sunny this morning, though the wind was still cool. I slipped into Diana’s bunk for the first time in a while and then got out to put on the kettle. Di got up and made the drinks and soon the girls were awake and joined us before breakfast. I stuck to wheat flakes and apple juice this morning and decided to forgo the toast and marmalade, as my weight had crept up. As Diana got the girls ready, I went for a little walk to see the boatyards and facilities close by. They were alive with boats and people, as the hire craft turned round today.
At Percival’s Yard there were a variety of motor and sailing craft for sale and I looked at them all. Back to join the family and we went into the adjacent Helska Leisure Centre for a swim. At least everyone else swam, but I filmed proceedings with the video, as the pool is a little too cool for my liking. We had morning coffee there, then walked into Horning centre to do some shopping. When eating lunch at a cafe, Mr Bloom popped his head round the door and we had a mass reunion, as his family all came in for lunch as well. Funny thing was that we had been looking out for them all week and had given them up today, as we know they had to take the boat back. Returned to The Lady, we filled up with water and Daniel with petrol from the boatyard and then we cruised slowly from Horning to Wroxham. Mayhem on the river there, with all of the hire cruisers turning round and novices at the helm for their first experience of navigating craft. The bridge at Wroxham was tricky and we only just got the sliding roof back in time. We found a convenient side-on mooring at the public staithe and went into Wroxham for a couple of hours shopping and afternoon tea. Daniel and I went to Jeckells and bought a few odds and ends, but forgot the rope-handled buckets that I still need. Met the girls back at The Lady and after a deal of thought we opted to move back to Wroxham Broad to a quieter mooring, away from the nearby pub and adjacent cruiser full of youths. We moored up on the Bure, with a strip of land between us and Wroxham Broad. I had left the sliding roof open after Wroxham Bridge and sat in the open to eat our salad tea on a milder evening than of late. After this, Daniel and I fitted a pair of new rowlocks and sockets to the Blue Peter, then fitted the sails. I got Debbie started on a bit of angling, but the fish did not bite. The Bure was very busy tonight, boats every minute or so and many going fast past us, so that the boats were bouncing all over the place and Daniel was quite seasick and had to lie down. At last Debbie and I rowed the dinghy into Wroxham Broad and sailed it around a little in very light wind, which dipped away to almost nothing. We sailed over and moored at the bank by our cruiser, tied up and scrambled ashore so that we are all ready for a sail in the morning without having to go round. Did not bother with the news tonight, as Diana wanted an early night, but wrote up this journal before turning in to my bunk.