High and Dry -- and Soaking Wet!

As a family one of our most favourite vacations was to rent a cabin cruiser and go boating on the Norfolk Broads.

The Broads is a fascinating area with a rich history, reflected in the many wonderful places to visit and the unique wildlife. There are restored windmills, medieval churches, beautiful gardens and great places for family visits. If you enjoy walking or cycling, there are also many routes to choose from. For many people, a great way to explore the Broads is by water, as much of the history of the Broads revolves around the way the rivers have been used over the years. For many, the charm of the Broads rests on the illusion of remoteness you get when you're on the water. You can be near a village without knowing that there is anybody or anything for miles around. (http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/)

It was absolutely thrilling for me, when at age six, my family decided to take a broads' holiday. We browsed through the boat companies' catalogues choosing which boat to rent. This is what a page of the catalogue looked like:

Our boat was a little larger, probably a six-berth, since there was five of us.

The day came when we loaded up the car and drove down to Brundall, on the River Yare, to pick up the boat and head out for an amazing week cruising the broads.

This is the Brundall boat-station today

And here we are on board; my sister, my mom, me and my father. My brother is taking the photo. As you can see by the life-belt, our boat was called Amethyst.

We were vacationing with another family, friends of my parents. Ray Mercer, a hair-dresser in Bridlington, and his wife and children.

We had lots of lazy, sunny days meandering through the waterways.

Crossing Breydon Water was a challenge, however. It's a vast stretch of water that can get very choppy, and crossing it can sometimes feel like going out to sea. But it is also very shallow, so boats must keep between the posts marking the channels. Deviating from the channel can.....well, it can lead to this: Yes, that's my father, none-too-happy, aboard the Amethyst, high and dry, waiting for the boat-station tug boat to come and tow us out. When the tide is high, the water depth can be very deceiving, but when the tide goes out -- well, the truth is made known. I am not sure what went wrong, but obviously he didn't stick to the channel! I do remember this being quite a stressful time, and I was scared that we were never going to be able to move, and perhaps never get home again!

But I guess the incident didn't daunt my courage.

This is Ray Mercer. My sister and I are closest to the camera, and his children -- seems to me his daughter was called Bubbles, and his son was Peter -- are on the other side. I was not too fond of Peter. He was a little older than me and teased me mercilessly. This is their boat, the Black Swan (each of the boats towed dinghies behind for little sight-seeing trips).

There came a day when both boats were moored alongside each other, probably right here, since I think my brother took this photo from our boat. Peter was standing on his boat, on that narrow ledge that goes all the way around, and I was standing in the same place on ours. He began to taunt me "Yo-ou're only si-i-x years o-old, and yo-ou ca-an't swi-im!"

Well, I'd had enough. I drew myself up as tall as I could, and responded, "Ye-e-es I ca-an!" and promptly jumped in the water -- six feet of fast-flowing tidal water, no less! And I couldn't swim!

I can distinctly remember sinking down. I can see the green, murky water and the bubbles, even now. I don't remember panicking; in fact there was quite a sense of peacefulness. I do remember surfacing (someone said I went down three times) and I have this picture of my brother indelibly etched on my memory. He was looking over the edge of the boat and very calmly calling out "Someone throw the life-belt in." He was standing inches away from it!

I'm not exactly sure where Ray Mercer came from, and I don't remember being fished out of the water, but they tell me he jumped in, clothes, wallet and all and had to swim quite a little distance to catch up to me -- but he saved my life! It was said afterwards, "Wasn't it lucky she was wearing that little pleated skirt!" Apparently it floated upward and acted like a life-belt (no thanks to my brother!).

I was quickly bundled in warm blankets and rewarded for my folly with some slices of delicious, crusty french bread with chunks of chicken -- yummy!

In spite of it all, I never lost my love for the Norfolk Broads. Below depicts my last trip, at age 14, before I left for Canada a couple of years later. My dad took this photo of my brother, me, my mom and friends Vi and Don Jackson of Goole, in 1958. The old wooden cabin cruisers have long since been replaced by streamlined, luxury boats. Here is a lovely video of what a trip on the Broads was like in my day and even is today, accompanied by some beautiful British minstrel-type music too!