The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk Part 13

YACHTING.

It will have been gathered from the foregoing pages that the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk present exceptional facilities for small-boat sailing and smooth-water yachting, better, perhaps, than any other part of England. There are two yachting clubs, the Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club and the Yare Sailing Club, the latter a very flourishing inst.i.tution, furnishing four or five regattas in the year for small 4-ton yachts and open boats.

There are numbers of suitable yachts for hire, but, owing to the frequent changes of ownership, it is not practicable to give a list of those who have boats for hire, which would be of any use. Enquiry at the inns at Oulton, and advertis.e.m.e.nts in the Yarmouth and Norwich papers will generally elicit suitable answers. Bullen, of Oulton, is a likely man to have a yacht to let. Open sailing-boats with awnings to sleep under, and small cabin yachts of four to ten tons, can be obtained of Loynes, Wroxham; and comfortable craft they are. The awnings of the small boats are waterproof, and most ingeniously constructed, and the boats can be rowed or sailed anywhere. Loynes may be trusted to provide everything that is necessary for comfort, and his yachts and boats are largely patronized. They are all rigged Una fashion, with one sail, and are very easily managed. Canoes and rowing boats are in plenty at the riverside, at Norwich, Yarmouth, and Oulton.

As before stated, the goods traffic on the river is carried on by means of sailing craft of from 20 to 70 tons burthen, called wherries. These are long, shallow, graceful vessels, with an enormous mast, supporting one enormous sail. The sail is spread by a long gaff, but there is no boom. There is only one halyard, and the sail is hoisted by means of a winch at the foot of the mast. There is no rigging to the mast except the forestay, which is mainly of use for lowering the mast, the latter being balanced on the tabernacle by a ton and a half of lead on its heel, so that it is raised as easily as it is lowered. These wherries sail very fast, very close to the wind, and are often managed by one man.

Yachts built on the wherry plan are very comfortable craft, and easily managed.

Wherries are frequently hired by private parties, the hatches are raised a plank or two higher to give greater head-room, the clean-swept hold is divided into several rooms, and a capital floating house is extemporized.

There is now quite a fleet of permanently-fitted pleasure wherries on the rivers, which have ample accommodation for a party or family, and are to be hired at from 8 to 15 guineas a week.

A good way of seeing the rivers, if you have no boat, is to give a wherryman a small sum to take you with him when he makes a pa.s.sage.

There are always numbers of wherries leaving Norwich and Yarmouth, and if you hail the one you fancy, you will be readily taken on board. Thus you might sail from Norwich to Yarmouth one day, up to Wroxham the next, back to Yarmouth and up to Beccles, at an expenditure of half-a-crown a day and refreshments. I am sure that visitors to either Yarmouth or Lowestoft will do well to avail themselves of this suggestion.

The navigation is controlled by Acts of Parliament, but pleasure yachts are exempt from tolls, except, of course, at locks and Haddiscoe lift bridge.

The rule of the road is very strictly adhered to by the wherries and local yachts, and necessarily so; but it is a point of honour not to hara.s.s business wherries if it can be avoided, as these are sailed for a livelihood, while yachtsmen sail for pleasure. Therefore, if there is a doubt, give the wherry the benefit of it.

It is also a point of prudence not to cross a wherry's bows too closely, as they would soon smash up a yacht. If you are civil to a wherryman he will be most civil to you, and don't slang him if he doesn't at once give way for you to pa.s.s him.

The following racing regulations of the Yacht Clubs simply epitomise the custom and practice on the rivers, and must be adhered to:

"That if two yachts be standing for the sh.o.r.e of any river or broad, and the yacht to leeward be likely to run aground or foul any bottom or bank, or not be able to stay without the windward yacht running foul of her, the windward yacht must be put about upon being hailed by the member of the Club who may be in charge of the leeward yacht; the yacht to leeward must also go about at the same time as the yacht she hails.

"That in sailing to windward the yacht on the port tack must give way to the yacht on the starboard tack, and in case of collision, the owner of the vessel on the port tack shall be liable to pay all damages that may occur, and forfeit all claim to the prize.

"That any yacht bearing away or altering her course to windward or leeward, provided there is no obstruction to prevent her keeping her course, thereby compelling another vessel to go out of her course, shall forfeit all claim to the prize. In running before the wind, the side the leading vessel carries her main boom is to be considered the lee side.

"A yacht overhauling another may pa.s.s to windward or leeward; and when near the sh.o.r.e or shallow water, or when rounding any mark, flag, or buoy, _if the bowsprit of the yacht astern overlap any portion of the hull of the yacht ahead_, the latter must immediately give way and allow the former to pa.s.s between her and such sh.o.r.e, shallow water, mark, flag, or buoy; and should any yacht not give way or compel another to touch the ground, or to foul any mark, flag, or buoy, the yacht so compelling her shall forfeit all claim to the prize, her owner shall pay all damage that may occur, and the yacht so compelled to touch such mark, flag, or buoy shall not in this case suffer any penalty for such contact.

"It is an established rule, and should be most strictly attended to by all yachtsmen, that where two vessels have to cross each other on opposite tacks, the one on the starboard tack must invariably keep her wind, and the one on the port tack must keep away and pa.s.s to leeward, or tack short when the smallest doubt exists of her not being able to weather the other. All expenses of damage incurred by vessels on opposite tacks running on board each other, fall upon the one on the port tack; but where the one on the starboard tack has kept away with the intention of pa.s.sing to leeward, and they have come in contact, the expenses of damage fall upon her on the starboard tack, because by her keeping away she may have prevented the other pa.s.sing to leeward. When a vessel on the starboard tack sees another attempting to weather her, when it does not seem possible, rather than keep away, she should put her helm down, for the less way vessels have when they come in contact, the less damage they will sustain. Should both vessels put their helms up and run on board each other, the most fatal consequences may arise, and therefore nothing should induce the vessel on the starboard tack to keep away. All vessels going free must give way to those on a wind."

SHOOTING AND SKATING.

This district is well worth a visit in the winter time, for the wild-fowl shooting on the tidal portions of the rivers is free (of course you must not trespa.s.s on the marshes for shooting purposes, as the shooting along them is strictly preserved). The usual plan is to row along the river while your dogs work through the reeds on the bank inside the river wall, or embankment, which generally runs parallel with the rivers on each side. Flight shooting is also successfully pursued, but of course you must obtain information as to the best spots in the line of flight.

Oulton Broad is free, but is much shot over. Breydon Water is a capital fowling-ground in hard winters. It is the "happy hunting ground" of Yarmouth gunners. An easily managed sailing-boat of light draught is useful for this kind of work.

Winter time on the Broads is very enjoyable. Being so shallow, the Broads are soon frozen, and the skating is then simply superb. Fancy Hickling, a lake of 400 acres, safe all over, with the ice as clear and hard as gla.s.s, _and plenty of "elbow-room_" for ice-boats as well as skaters.

It would be worth while for skating parties to come down for a few days at a time while the frosts last, instead of struggling amid the crowds which beset London waters.

FAUNA OF THE BROADS.

I cannot do more than cursorily mention the abundant life which teems amid the Broads. I would refer the reader, for a full account of the life of the Broads thirty years ago and now, to that charming book, worthy to be ranked with "The Complete Angler," and "The Natural History of Selborne," "Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk, and more particularly on the District of the Broads," by the Rev. Richard Lubbock, M.A., a new edition of which, with suitable notes by Mr. Thomas Southwell, has lately been issued by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons, London and Norwich. This book, together with Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk," are necessary companions to the ornithologist on the Broads. For a fuller general descriptive account of the district, I may also refer the reader to my own larger book, "Norfolk Broads and Rivers," published by Blackwood.

Of course, water-fowl predominate. The heron, the great-crested grebe, the coot and water-hen are constantly to be seen. Dabchicks abound in places. I have seen a score together in some open water, at Surlingham, during a frost. Kingfishers are seen occasionally; water-ouzels never in the navigable waters. Wild ducks, widgeon, teal, and other ducks, gulls, terns, and waders of many species, hawks, kestrels, marsh harriers, and hen harriers are occasionally met with, particularly about Hickling.

Owls, reed wrens, reed buntings, and bearded t.i.ts (I know a colony of the latter), and other birds occur to me as I write, but detailed lists of the Norfolk species will be found in the "Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society" of past years. It is sufficient to say that not only in the department of ornithology, but of entomology and botany, the specialist will find abundant work. During the days and nights I have spent in the more secluded parts of the waters, and particularly in the very early hours after daybreak, I have watched the habits of certain rare species, and discovered their haunts, which I would not reveal for anything, for to do so would be to expose them to the ravages of collectors. I am not a collector myself, nor have I the remotest pretension to science, but I am an enthusiastic student of what I may call the "home-life" of birds and animals. Therefore I cannot give accurate scientific information, in the shape of lists of Broad species without borrowing from the labours of others, and the clothing the dry bones with flesh would require more s.p.a.ce than a guide-book will allow.

But let a man lie in a boat, amid the reeds, for an hour of the silvery dawn, and watch a pair of great-crested grebes, feeding their young ones with small fish, and teaching them to dive and catch fish also, all so close that you might at times touch the birds with a fishing-rod, and he will partly understand what to me is the charm of Natural History. And for the romance of it there is no place like the reed-surrounded Broad and its marshy borders.

Footnotes.

{29} This bridge was the scene of a most disastrous railway collision, in September, 1874, when two trains met, and an appalling loss of life resulted, 25 persons being killed, and 60 or 70 injured.

{70} [Note. This is left as first written, but it is necessary now to say that since the death of Mr. Chamberlin, the owners of the Broad have obtained a decision in the Superior Courts that the public have no right to fish on Wroxham Broad, and although the navigation question has not been raised, the owners claim the Broad to be private property. At the same time they courteously disclaim any intention of closing the Broad to the reasonable enjoyment of the public. Sailing on the Broad is freely permitted, but yachts are not allowed to moor there at night, on account, it is said, of the unavoidable refuse floating against the private pleasure grounds of the owners. Persons also are not allowed to land.

It is to be hoped that the good behaviour of the public will remove all idea of closing the Broad to the public, which would be nothing short of a calamity. The regattas on this Broad which used to be such sources of amus.e.m.e.nt, have been quite discontinued, partly on account of the difficulty in getting the present racing craft up the North River, and partly through the reluctance of yacht owners to ask the favour of sailing where they formerly supposed they had a right.]

{91} Sometimes called Wannick, or Wand.y.k.e, said to be a corruption of Swand.y.k.e.

{160} Stone = 14 lbs.