Picture Postcards of the Broads

Port is happy to be living next door to an indoor pool! Our FABULOUS crew, the evening we arrived. (The dog belongs to Chris and is called Digby....)

Burgh St Peter Church, just outside the marina

The final few moments and Starboard needs a chocolate finger to keep her going until we arrive

Golden Mean is in the centre of this picture, honest...

The barrier again

A typical Broads scene with the mast appearing through reedsOn approach to the marina

The mooring wasn't easy but we made it!

Lowestoft Harbour Lifting Bridge and Oulton Broad

Harwich harbour and the crew

Leaving Harwich pier 'the morning after' (still a bit misty!)

"Can we really smell bacon or are we hallucinating...?"

Starboard

Port

A container ship (which looked a lot bigger in reality!) I could do this single handed!

We are sailing!

Lift the boom chaps

The Great Voyage: Part 3

Some shots of Golden Mean going through the Thames Barrier and under the QEII Bridge

Gold 'n Mean

It was one of those days when you wouldn’t be anywhere else. The sun was shining and the engines were off. Golden Mean's sails were all out and we were making moderate progress in the gentle breeze. She’s a completely different boat under sail, shouldering over at a sedate angle, the rhythmic slosh of water around her bows. It was a golden few hours, but everything would change oh so rapidly and we would call upon a very different side to her character. We’d been enjoying the sailing but the breeze was light and our average speed of five knots was dropping off; edging us towards an arrival in Shotley after dark, which we were keen to avoid. We motored on and about an hour out of port our helm noticed it for the first time. A huge wall of fog was rolling in from the open sea. Two sailing boats were away on the horizon and the further one simply vanished. The second was consumed just a few minutes later demonstrating the speed fog can move. Without radar and approaching Harwich and Felixstow the busiest container ports in the UK we did not want to be caught out in the fog any longer than we could possibly manage. Speed was increased and I went below decks to look after Starboard. Her huge blue eyes sparkled as she gave one of her beautiful smiles. At that exact moment I heard the command to go to maximum power. Golden Mean's engines bellowed and the response was dramatic. Like a lioness protecting her cubs she gave it all she’d got. Get them home, get them in, get them safe she roared . The North Sea streamed by at 1200 ft/min. 140 thousand watts of raw power churned below, erupting in a boiling tumult several metres astern. Our navigator had made some swift calculations and changed our final destination to the life boat pier at Harwich. We rocketed up the harbour like a whipped mustang. Every second counted now. The white curtain rapidly approached but so did our destination. Then suddenly we were engulfed. Visibility was down to fifty feet and we eased back to tick over on both engines. Some very careful navigation was called for now and as if by magic each marker buoy came out of the gloom like clockwork. Our helm knew the layout of the harbour as he worked in the town and this proved invaluable. With tremendous skill and taking continual GPS readings keeping us safely out of the shipping lanes we thankfully arrived and moored behind the pier where he often eats his sandwiches. Hooray for Joe and Chris and hooray for Golden Mean! Most days she’s golden but that night she was definitely mean. Oh crikey here comes the ferry! Now where’s the pub! No.1

Norfolk is Boootiful!

At approximately 5.30pm last night, Monday 6th April, we arrived at our destination on the River Waveney which is on the Norfolk / Suffolk border (Norfolk side of the river!). We will be posting more detail later today, when we have had a chance to get ourselves organised and of course visit the famous 'blue slide'. We all very much enjoyed the journey but are absolutely DELIGHTED to be here. Grandmajo is with us today and Gramps will be coming up later. We hope to be reunited with Magic tomorrow - on his 3rd birthday. To be continued....

The Great Voyage: Part 2

We left Queenborough at 0940 hours and shortly after 1900 hours we docked in Harwich on the pier. We had planned to go Shotley Marina nearby but in the last hour thick fog descended and the decision was taken to find mooring sooner. It was all eyes on deck searching for buoys and any other hazards such as ferries or the land! It was all rather tense (but cheerful) for a while as we searched for the pier with less than 50 feet of visibility. We passed another yacht which, like the buoys appeared from nowhere. We later heard on the VHF that she had suffered engine failure and the lifeboat had been sent to rescue her. Joe skillfully manoeuvred us into the only remaining mooring on the inside of the pier and with inches to spare we all breathed a huge sigh of relief to be safely tied up. About 3 minutes later an ENORMOUS ferry passed by where we had just come from. We had all heard the foghorn but were hoping and praying that it was something smaller! We had a super day and managed to get the mainsail up and sail with the engines off for about two hours, once through the narrow 'West Swin' channel. When the engines go off and the sails are up Golden Mean takes on a totally different feel, all is calmness and quiet, the boat heels gently but it's actually a lot smoother as the waves pass under her hull. The wind was very light - probably around a Force 2 but it was a good test for us all and everything seemed to function well, although I suspect there'll be some tweaking tomorrow before we set off. We even managed a skype call to Granny Partridge in Cape Town where she was introduced to the skipper. Tomorrow we aim to sail as much as possible and to reach Lowestoft Harbour where we will spend the night before making the short journey up the Waveney River to our berth on Tuesday. Weather permitting. We're all so much enjoying this huge adventure and owe a huge debt of gratitude to our two wonderful skippers, Joe and Chris, who keep us fully informed of all that is going on and - so long as they have a plentiful supply of hot chocolate and biscuits - get the very best from this able vessel and put up with our merry tribe. We could not do it without them and we hope this will be the beginning of many more great adventures together in and around the Norfolk Coast.

Sunday

Lifting the boom getting ready for putting the mainsail up Early morning rubbish drop off by dinghy at Queenborough this morning

Saurday night: we've got you here.... now where's the pub?

No.1 and Port in the Thames Estuary

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

Thames Barrier

Some pictures from Day One

Port is trying to pretend he's not at sea and listening to his Nursery Rhymes... until he fell asleep on the sofa! Docklands

Starboard, approaching Tower Bridge

View from the kitchen porthole!!

Parliament

The Great Voyage: Part 1

The journey has begun! This morning we waved goodbye to Paul, Sophie and Annabel on Chelsea Pier at 10.15am and were safely tied up to a visitor buoy at Queenborough by 6.40pm. We were followed by No.1's family alongside the river and photos were taken at the Dome, Thames Barrier and QEII bridge. The mast went up soon after the barrier but today's journey was done by motor. Our new skippers Joe and Chris went off in the dinghy for a swift half, handing over their lifejackets and the oars to No.1's parents who had been following by road and joined us for dinner. We saw a seal in the Thames before the barrier! We've all caught the sun and are now bushwhacked so I'll sign off and write more detail later.

Eureka, we're off!!!!

After two weeks of waiting, finally our departure is imminent. Once again we are preparing the boat for a great sea voyage, but this time we're actually going to get past the Thames barrier! With a perfect weather and tide time window opening up we're taking advantage and departing from Chelsea Pier tomorrow morning at high tide, around 9.00am. We will travel with the tide, putting up the mast and rigging again after Tower Bridge and sailing onwards to the mouth of estuary, mo0ring somewhere on the North for the first night. We hope to make Harwich the second night and Lowestoft on the third. Today we will dismantle the boom and gaff, leaving them attached to the mainsail (and each other) and lower the mast. At high tide this evening we will go out of the harbour basin back on the pier for our last night at Chelsea.Keep an eye on our blog..... one crew member or another will be updating regularly! (We even had an email from Magic this morning) Port :-) Email from Magic: Hello everyone aboard the Golden Mean, I have moved in here and taken over as if I own the place really made myself at home again. The neighbours are pleased to see me again and do you know there is now a new little boy living next door who has been born since I left here, he gets the noises that dogs and birds make mixed up, so he says woof when he sees a bird. I’ve been on the bus and into shops quite a lot and do you know passengers on the bus remembered me, as did people in the shops, so I must be famous. The staff at the dentist made a big fuss of me and said how much I had grown. We went to the vets to get some anti-flea stuff for Morton and I got lots of cuddles from everyone, I like it. I had a great time when I saw Natasha and her younger sister Amy, we went for a country walk and they played with me and laughed a lot. Amy trod in a muddy cart rut and I found a lovely muddy patch to have a paddle in, bliss. We saw a cat in one of the fields and the girls asked if I would chase it but they were told ‘no’ so they were pleased. We also came across a noisy dog which was misbehaving and was still on its flexi lead but I just ignored it and walked on with the girls, they are much more interesting. Their grandparents live on the edge of the village and I remembered where their house was and sat very magnificently on the doorstep. June, their grandmother, opened the door and said hello so I walked right in just as I used to do, they laughed that I should remember where everything was. They said I was a very nice dog and very clever, they are amazed that I know my left and right etc. Gwen carried my harness so that the girls could see me all dressed up and knew what I look like when I’m working. They were pleased with this and we posed for a photo which their grandma took. When Dian and Malcolm came home Morton and I made a big noise and fuss and they found it quite difficult to get into the house. Dian stayed for the weekend and then took the cats home with her, but they are all coming to stay tonight so I will see them all again. We, Morton and I, have been helping in the garden; we’ve been eating grass and nibbling a few plants. It’s good when we help because we take our toys out with us and then we get played with by playing fetch etc. it’s nice to be with Morton again as we play together and share toys and beds, we have also been shopping together with Malcolm and Gwen but of course someone has to stay outside with Morton and we go to the park or the common to have our free runs. It was very frosty one morning and the last two days it has been very misty, today was the worst, but later on the day was nice so I expect it will be nice again today. I’m not sure if I have blotted my copy book or not. I’ve managed to pick up a few things, paper stuff mostly like unused hankies and socks when someone is trying to put them on or gloves. I got into the cloakroom and ate the rest of Malcolm’s coal tar soap, yummy, and his shaving soap stick which Gwen removed from my mouth and said it now looked like a pineapple with all my teeth marks on it. Malcolm laughed and when I can I rush in there and lick his shaving stick, well I did but it has vanished and I can’t find it anymore! Yesterday we went on the bus to Gt Baddow and when we waited for the bus to come home I saw an apple core by the bus stop but unfortunately so did G and M so I was not allowed to pick it up, but they didn’t see the one behind them and after a while I managed a long stretch and a lie down and reached it but it was removed from out of my mouth, foiled again! I must try to be more careful next time! I hope you are all well and that Starboard is over the chickenpox now. I miss looking after you all especially Thomas, I hope you are managing ok without me. Please don’t worry about me as I am well and having a fine old time. I’ve been able to meet up with the friends I had when I was just a young puppy, both dogs and people, and there are some new dogs on the block mostly younger than me but some retired G.D’s as well so it is quite exciting. Lots and lots of love from your special friend and family member Magic XXXX