Boating on the Broads COMPLETED 5/19 - Page 24 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Poor ducklings! The fighting ducks look to be all males, so I don't know what happened to mamma. If we want to be optimistic, maybe she's waiting out of sight until the bad boys and the boat are gone. Mother ducks do leave the little ones alone for short periods, but never on the water. They leave them dry and warm in the nest. Because there are fewer adult females than males (due to the stresses of laying eggs and raising chicks) there are frequently fights over the females and often the females get caught in the middle and are injured. Must have been so sad to hear them cheeping. Nothing looks quite so vulnerable as a baby bird.
Poor ducklings! The fighting ducks look to be all males, so I don't know what happened to mamma. If we want to be optimistic, maybe she's waiting out of sight until the bad boys and the boat are gone. Mother ducks do leave the little ones alone for short periods, but never on the water. They leave them dry and warm in the nest. Because there are fewer adult females than males (due to the stresses of laying eggs and raising chicks) there are frequently fights over the females and often the females get caught in the middle and are injured. Must have been so sad to hear them cheeping. Nothing looks quite so vulnerable as a baby bird.
Sunday 20 April – part six: are we going to get through this bridge?
For a while, we were then on our own again…
Once again, the sun was creating some beautiful patterns in the sky. Isn’t this pretty?
I got some more photos of birds in flight here.
However, the closer we got to Ludham Bridge (remember that one from earlier?), the busier it got.
It got worse and worse, and as the river gets quite narrow at points, and there were boats moored on either side of the river, it started to get a bit hairy, especially when you have an idiot coming towards you on your side of the river! Mark did very well, and the guy who was on the wrong side looked completely clueless as he sailed past us in a world of his own.
However, worse was to come. We headed towards Ludham Bridge, and saw two boats coming through. Ok, we can slow up and then wait. That’s fine. The only problem was that there were another two more coming through behind those, and of course none of them would give way to us. You might be wondering why they should. Well, at our side of the bridge, it’s pretty narrow, whereas there is a lot more space on the other side.
The third boat put his foot down, and came through quickly, and we were expecting the final one to do the same. Obviously, he wasn’t very confident, and slowed right up, which left us totally screwed, as we were perfectly placed to go through after him, provided he had at least come through at a reasonable speed. Because he didn’t, we were now drifting, and were in totally the wrong position to get through the bridge.
Mark did his best, and almost made it, but unfortunately not quite, and we touched the edge of the entrance to the bridge. Mark was very good at carefully negotiating back and forwards to get us into the bridge, but again we touched on the other side, as we were entering the bridge at an angle. All I can say is thank goodness we have floats on either side of the boat, and thank goodness there are bits jutting out to protect you from actually hitting the bridge. It wasn’t Mark’s fault at all. He did a brilliant job of navigating it, it’s just a shame the same can’t be said for others.
After that scary encounter, I know Mark was pretty stressed out, and I have to confess I was too. I was certainly very relieved to see that there wasn’t much in front of us once we got through the bridge. I think some easy time just on our own was exactly what we needed just at that moment.
Soon we were coming to the mouth of the River Ant (isn’t it a great name? ) and we had to turn left again, and ironically there was a guy heading for the Ant who was doing the same thing, so we had some fun getting past each other, but at least this was without incident – thank goodness!
We went back past the ruins of St. Benet’s Abbey again…
… and there was some serious bird activity in this area of the Broads as well.
A little further up the river, I suggested that we branch off to the right and explore South Walsham Broad, as it was coming up, and time was on our side.
These were the first things we saw. I understand that they construct them like this to then burn them, although I have no idea why they burn them.
We headed down towards the broad, and this was a lot more relaxing, with far fewer craft around than we’d seen on the river.
Eventually we came out on to the broad, and wow, this seemed to go on forever…
There were some more nice properties around the broad…
We headed up into the second broad, passing a boat at anchor with no sign of life around. We both had the same naughty thought about what the occupants might be doing… I’m sure you can guess what I mean…
We headed back into the first broad, and found this beautiful guy…
…. And this slightly weird guy in someone’s back garden!
What a nerve-wracking situation at the bridge! Not what you want on a relaxing boating holiday. For river boating here, the downstream vessel has right of way-- I think that's an international rule, but am not sure. Sounds like Mark did a great job.
Yikes, not an easy pass under that bridge! Glad to see it was more peaceful on the other side though. Love the bird photos!
How odd for that boat to just be anchored there....
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What a nerve-wracking situation at the bridge! Not what you want on a relaxing boating holiday. For river boating here, the downstream vessel has right of way-- I think that's an international rule, but am not sure. Sounds like Mark did a great job.
That's useful to know - and something I'll have to investigate before our next trip....
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That's useful to know - and something I'll have to investigate before our next trip....
It's worth investigating, but in the end not much use on a waterway where many, if not most of those navigating are short-term rentals. Everyone needs to know the rules in order for them to be useful!
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Mark did very well, and the guy who was on the wrong side looked completely clueless as he sailed past us in a world of his own. 
I’m sure you can guess what I mean… 
Kudos to Mark! 
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