2025 – England- Norfolk Broads Sailing – a “grand old lady “

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Built in 1936, our hired Norfolk Broads “Gaff Rigged” Sailing Yacht, Hustler 1, is aiming for the centre point ie the highest clearing point of the Potter Heigham old stone Bridge. As we get closer one can clearly see the scars from boat impacts that have not quite made a successful clearing under the bridge, but we made it with about 3 inches to spare! We have three days of sailing booked on the Norfolk Broads.

The Norfolk Broads are a series of interconnected rivers and lakes- known as “Broads”, that are largely in the east of the County of Norfolk but the area does go down into the County of Suffolk border. This is a fairly flat, rural part of England, where the “cockney accent of the east end of London” is left well behind and the “bootiful” soft rounded dialects of Norfolk & Suffolk take over. The countryside is as beautiful as the dialect, with pretty villages, pubs and churches abounding and the North Sea in a semi circle to the north and east of it all.

In July 2025, my focus, with a sailing mate, is to sail for a few days on the Norfolk Broads in a “traditional yacht, on waterways and rivers. Once these Broads had been peat beds until the peat was dug out on an industrial scale, dried and used for heating and cooking, just as is still done today in parts of Ireland and Scotland.

Hunters Boats are a registered Charity based at Ludham by Womack Broad, and are dedicated to the preserving of the traditional wooden, gaff rigged yachts that originally were working boats moving cargo, and then developed into pleasure craft. This beautifully maintained Hustler 1, is designed as were her Wherry forbears – the big working versions, to be sailed by two people a Captain and a Ships Boy. So for our trip, Tony was Captain and I did as I was told!!

At the boatyard the boat is in its “moored up mode” and we proceed to unwrap it, hoping to remember how we have done it as we will need to “re-wrap” at the end of each day. We remove the “tent” that drapes over the boat from mast all the way back, over the cockpit and up to a pair of crossed pieces of wood called “crutches” which support the mast, mainsail, boom and gaff in their “at rest position”. It’s quite easy unwrapping the dry canvas tent and then stowing it away. It will not be so easy when it is soaking wet, as we shall find out.

Tent off, brilliant sunshine, next we lower the cabin roof, have a lesson from the boatyard man on how to lower and raise the “cantilevered mast” – looks easy!!! We get a quick lesson on the little electric engine which will be so useful. And we are off sailing down the narrow dyke from Womack Broad, avoiding oncoming motor cruisers – they “drive on the right” and “steam gives way to sail” – most of the time. We sail out onto the River Thurne, turn left and head a couple of miles up river to the twin bridges at Potter Heigham.

There is the original Potter Heigham stone bridge, first constructed apparently in 1385, and then a bigger modern road bypass bridge. The stone bridge is our first challenge, so we moor in advance of it and drop the mast, which actually is quite a straightforward process and then motor up to and through both bridges. For all boats on the Broads, the small stone bridge at Potter Heigham is a big problem. Not only is there a bit of tide movement exacerbated by the water having to squeeze through the small aperture of the bridge, but water levels on the Broads are higher with climate change. Thus most motor cruisers cannot get through the bridge to access beautiful Hickling and Horsey Broads to the north.

But we can, as we are low enough and once past the two bridges, we pause to moor and raise the mast. This was an easy process with the boatyard man, the mast sits and pivots on a tabernacle, with a large lead weight to aid the lowering and raising process. So “pull on this rope and take the strain” – the mast moves up about a foot and stops – “pull harder” – the captain exhorts from the cockpit. I do as instructed, but nothing is happening. Then we notice that the “shrouds – (the wires that support the mast on either side of the boat) – are caught on the cabin top – did our boat man say this might happen?? Yes he may have and annoyingly they catch repeatedly until we keep them loose and up she rises!!

A few pics of the interior of Hustler 1, and it is beautiful, probably built for fair weather and better if one is 5ft 6inches , or less and not our 6ft 2inches. Never mind, we are sailing and we have a good breeze, and hardly any other boats, north of the two Potter Heigham bridges. We sail up the River Thurne to Martham and turn left heading for Hickling Broad and our mooring for the night at the Pleasureboat Inn. Plenty of wildlife on the rivers, cormorants, herons, a bird we believe is a bittern and fleets of swans, ducks and Canada geese.

Challenges begin as we near to the Pleasureboat Inn, it’s on a dyke at the head of Hickling Broad, excellent free moorings, but dark clouds that have been behind us, have caught up with us. We don rain jackets and as I step off the boat with the mooring rope, the clouds open and in ten seconds we are soaked, as is the boat. So we moor the boat as best able, drop the sails, close up the cabin and head to the Inn, very very wet. Inside its warm and wet-weather gear is left to drip and dry, hot coffee and real ale, perfect. After about an hour, the rain stops, having booked a table for supper, we head back to the boat to sort it out.

The cabin roof needs raising, so its on hands and knees inside the cabin, brace the back against the roof and lift, whilst inserting the stays that support the roof. Next the tent needs to go on, all fine, but I will just check inside the cabin to get my dry bag of clothes to change into. Sadly, whilst they are fine, the heavy rain has permeated the cabin roof leaving wet duvets and mattresses, to be dealt with later. But an excellent supper at the Pleasureboat Inn follows, after that a wander into the village, my Mum was in a Rest Home in Hickling for many years and the walk brings back good memories.

After a challenging nights sleep we are awoken about 6am with rain on the tent roof, but after breakfast, the rain has ceased and we can start to get the boat organised for sailing. The tent has done a good job but is now very heavy, so that unwrapping and stowing is quite a job. Soon we are sailing and have a great sail back to the Potter Heigham bridge and successful mast dropping / then raising again, heading back to Hunters Boatyard.

We have decided that despite the wet clothes & wet bedding we have had two great days of sailing, and enough is enough!!