Posted by Ed Kiser on April 12, 2014 at 06:58:46 user Kisered.
I have not had the privilege of actually being in that
part of England known as "The Broads" so I cannot speak
from personal experience. The closest I can get to
"being there" is by viewing a website:
http://www.norfolklive.org/camera/broads-tours.html
That shows a large passenger cruiser leaving Wroxham,
head east and south on the river, with a short visit to
two larger areas of water, the Wroxham Broad and the
Salhouse Broad.
I would believe that for sailing, these two open areas
are just fine with room to operate, but in the river
itself, that strikes me as very tricky to navigate
using sail power. The river is not very wide. The
banks are quite often lined with trees right up to the
water's edge, which can give the wind some rather odd
swirling with difficulties to manage the sudden changes
in direction. As for tacking, with the river being
rather narrow, by the time you get her moving on its
new tack, it is time to switch and come about to avoid
ramming the bank.
In Coot Club, the twins were with their father in a
race in a sailing yacht. This compounds the problem in
that the competing boats are apt to get in each other's
way. The crafts are not tiny like the Amazon or
Swallow, but are probably several times their length,
thus making even more difficult the "coming about" in a
narrow waterway.
Perhaps that down river from Horning, the river is a
bit wider than is shown on the website of the Wroxham
area, so perhaps that would ease the room problem. But
it is this narrow part of the river that Tom navigated
on his trip to Wroxham to get the battery recharged.
Of course, his sailing was done in a much smaller
craft, but still, considering all the twists and turns
the river makes, it takes some skillful navigation to
do proper sailing on that location.
I have enjoyed the webcam showing me the scenery in
that part of the river just downstream from Wroxham
especially when I follow along with GOOGLE MAPS showing
me the ariel view of the river, so I can see the turns
on both the map and on the webcam and can keep track of
where I am.
But one thing seems to be missing from these views, and
that is of a small sailing dingy, like the Titmouse,
navigating that river. The river traffic seems to be
all power boats, not sailing craft - or maybe I just
was not looking at the right time. The two Broads
areas of open water do have quite a delightful display
of sails dancing on the waters, but I do not see them
on the river itself. Can't say as I blame them,
considering the navigational problems of a narrow
space.
My question for those of you that are more personally
knowing about these rivers, just how hard is it to
actually SAIL on those rivers?
As for Tom sailing up that river in Titmouse, perhaps
what I see today is a different time, as back in Tom's
time (Ransome's time) maybe the sail was more common
and the power boat (Margoletta) not so dominant on
those narrow waters. The narrowness of the river makes
sailing difficult enough without have to deal with the
Hullabaloos in their power yachts hogging the river,
expecting the sailor to dodge them, ignoring that time
old adage, "steam gives way to sail." But times change.
I am grateful to Ransome for bringing me the delights
of that place, giving me the only "visit" to that
location I will ever have. It is another place, and
yet, another time. But therein lies the delights of
experiencing All Things Ransome.
Ed Kiser, Kentucky, USA [kisered@aol.com]