A day trip in Little Lady from Potter Heigham, past Martham Ferry where we bought more fuel and then cruised through the overgrown Martham Broad to moor and then walk to Winterton, passing the back way through East Somerton to see the wildfowl, gardens and abandoned ruined church. In Winterton, we found a café for lunch first and tea and cakes later each side of enjoying the beach swimming and paddling. The bus back to West Somerton and back via The Little Lady in showers before drizzle and thunder greeted us when I was fishing after re-boarding The Lady. Iran’s ‘Revolutionary Guards’ have attacked a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf, The Sri-Lankan President has been injured and others killed on an attack on their parliament and 6,000 have been killed in the civil war between Tamils and the Sinhalese and the Clyde shipbuilder Scott Lithgow face closure after 300 years.
A warm night, but slept well enough. Di had a lay in and it was not until nearly 8.00am that she brought me morning tea. A slow start to the day as Daniel then joined us and we had breakfast. Another warm start to a day, but not as close as yesterday, with no sun. Daniel went off with Debbie in Little Lady to get milk from the Potter Heigham shops and then we loaded it up and set off for our day trip. We cruised under Potter Heigham bridge with ease and saw the Hoseasons bridge pilot, who was quite surprised to see our change of craft and ease of passage. Then I took the helm a while and we cruised along the stretch to Martham. First stopping at Martham Boatbuilding & Development, but they could not resale petrol due to a leaking tank. We had some ice creams though. On to Martham Ferry, where we could get the fuel and we were relieved to get it. The trip to West Somerton staithe was quite nice across Martham ‘Broad’.
The water quality was improved on that we had seen and supported a range of underwater weeds. Martham Broad is overgrown these days, with only a channel clear. We moored up and made the walk to Winterton, passing the back way through East Somerton and seeing a nicely kept Hall and gardens (with many pet and game fowl) and also a derelict church ruin that the children were fascinated by. We took photos to remember it by. In Winterton, the first port of call was a cafe that served a nice ‘pork chop & 3 veg’ lunch. Onto the beach, which was qute remote, though a beach lifeguard did appear to supervise activities later. A few dozen holidaymakers were there and a dozen swam in the sea, though the sand was a bit stony. Debbie and Daniel swam and the rest of us paddled up to our middle. The day was warm, but the sun was diffused through cloud. Showers then threatened and we came off the beach for afternoon tea of cakes at the cafe. At Daniel’s suggestion, we caught the bus back to West Somerton, which saved our legs and sandy feet. In Daniel's boat as the showers started and then aboard The Lady later, when the rain turned to drizzle and thunder. Even so, I had time to catch one decent roach from the river that needed the landing net. The girls had a bath and we had a shower on ‘the mother ship’ after I had run the engines a while to heat up the water. Continuing rain in the late evening air ended an enjoyable day and we watched the TV news before bed. The news today is of the attack on a Norwegian tanker off the port of Fujairah by a small patrol boat. Iran’s revolutionary guards are suspected, which is a new development outside the war zone in the Gulf. Another mine has been found off of Kuwait in the area of US tanker movements and the US ship Guadal Canal is now on station with its helicopters. US journalist, Charles Glass, formerly held by Moslem extremists for months has escaped from his captors and is now safe with Syrian authorities, before flying back to his wife and family in England. President Jayewardene of Sri Lanka was injured in a bomb attack on their parliament and others were killed in the committee room. Two shots were fired at the President and then two hand grenades thrown in. 6,000 lives have been lost in a civil war between the Tamils and Sinhalese and now a settlement is in the air, the Sinhalese extremists think that their interests have been sold out. It now seems that Rudolf Hess died in a British military hospital after a possible suicide attempt, having been found in the grounds of Spandau with an electrical cord round his neck. A Judge has ruled that another 3 children should be returned to their parents after unsound child abuse allegations. The Scott Lithgow shipyard of the Clyde has now lost some compensatory ship orders, after not being able to accept terms for an MOD order. Its future is now at risk after nearly 300 continuous years of shipbuilding history. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is putting proposals to parliament tomorrow to end the white allocation of seats and seems sure of the necessary majority. Tomorrow’s weather is forecast to be warm and sunny after overnight showers.