Those Magical Memories of my early days of Boating
It all started back in 1967, in those days holidays were usually taken in the country you lived in, travel abroad was but a dream. We had over recent years made several visits to the usual destinations such as Scarborough, Wales and last year (1966) a place called Westward Ho!
However as my father was a keen fisherman and served his time in the Royal Navy during the war my parents had agreed on visiting the Norfolk Broads where the fishing was reported to be good and the MTB boats he served on were often refitted after damage.
So in the July of 1967 we got on board a train at Manchester station and set of to Oulton Broad. The journey involved a change in Norwich in order for us to get of the Train at Oulton Broad North station. (Neither of my parents ever drove so it was the train every time). The piccy shows me at the end on the left at the station in 1970. The girl next to me was my then girlfriend,next to her a friend we met and my mother at the other end.
The journey by train took over four and a half hours and once we got off with all our luggage there was a half hour walk from the station to the caravan site. I could not believe we had come all this way to stay in a caravan, when less than 300 ft away there was over 200 miles of rivers and Broads begging to be explored by water.
The caravan site was called Knights Creek Caravan Park, named after the owner Dennis Knight who also had several motor cruisers available for hire, these were named after his sons, for anyone who remembers, the two I recall are “Boy Kevin” and “Boy Andrew”. They were large wooden cruisers built well before the days of glassfibre.
My father had booked the use of a rowing boat for the two weeks so he could fish out in the Broad rather than off the Large stone Jetty often used by visiting motor cruisers.
Most of my holiday was spent waiting for my father to return from fishing so I could get out in the rowing boat. When I was in that little boat I was the King of the Broads, I used to explore little openings in the reeds imagine all sorts of weird and wonderful scenarios, sneek up on large cruisers that were moored for the night and pretend I was attaching limpet mines to hulls of German battleships.
Below is a picky of me on the right in the dinghy around 1969 note the Seagull outboard motor on the transom.
Each day I became a little more adventurous and sailed further and further away from our base at Knights creek
I will always remember there was an MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat) moored on Oulton Broad that had been turned into a live aboard although I don’t think anyone actually did live on board as such, my mission for this holiday was to row to her, moor alongside and get on board and have a real good look around her.
I could easily spend entire days in that little boat and took a pride in keeping her pristine. Before I knew it our holiday was over and we were off to the train station for the return journey home. We always went on holiday in the last week of July and the first week in August. Part of the excitement on the journey home was to look for brand new cars on the roads (In those days new cars were registered on the first day of August each year and there were far less cars to spot than nowadays).
I loved that holiday and was so exited to learn that the following year we would be going back!
Again we caught the train and did the walk from the station and again we stayed at the same caravan park. Again we had the use of the rowing boat and the second year was every bit as exiting as the first. I began to explore the area more and more and each day held a new adventure for me.
The third year was the same again, never bored or wandering how to pass time, somehow being by the water and all the associated activity seemed to make time pass by far more quickly than it should have done, not to mention the Formula one powerboat racing every Tuesday and Thursday evenings throughout the summer on Oulton Broad.
The fourth year was special! This time as well as the rowing boat for my father my parents had hired a motor launch, I was 16 and getting into all things mechanical, like most kids I loved cars (although neither of my parents ever drove) and had a good understanding of the internal combustion engine,.
Here’s me with the hood up!
The idea of hiring the little launch for 2 weeks was that we all could use it but given neither my mother or father were mechanically minded they would not go out in the launch unless I went with them, ah well not too worry, I’m sure I could find time during the two weeks to take them out once or twice!!!
Below is a picture of my mother waiting to go out in the launch to collect bullrushes! I think it is now illegal to take them from the river banks on the Broads.
However now having a boat with a big engine I had far more important things to hand, like exploring as much of this area as possible within the next two weeks. The launch was good but I felt it could be better, to this end as soon as I was out of site up came the engine hatch and a few minor adjustments to the carburettor mixture and a little advance to the ignition timing, I soon had the bow pointing toward the sky! Nowadays, I hasten to add, I have fully respect the limits on the Broads, I feel quite ashamed to admit to my antics all those years ago.
Within 15 mins of tinkering under the engine hatch I had been reported for speeding, and came back to a ticking off by the river police who were adamant they had tried to catch me and had been chasing me over 6 miles. The irony was that the chap who had afforded us the use of the launch was adamant it was not capable of over 5 knots!…(it probably wasn’t before I had had a play with it!)
Next day undeterred by previous events off I go again to search new nooks and crannies in these amazing waters, after a full 11 hours away I return to find the river police have once again sighted me speeding, time to quickly undo my modifications to the launch and let the owner try it for himself!…case proven there is no way this launch is capable of anything over 6 knots.
Next day same again up the river out of sight , tweak the engine and off we go, why, when young do we never learn? There was something really special going as fast as you can on water, it really was exhilarating!
The next two visits over the following two years were just as much fun, we actually got on the water in the form of a Houseboat moored in a dyke just of the main broad, so close to the real thing and yet so far!
So my next visit the following year was to be a lot different, I was 17 had a car (well an Escort Van actually) and I was with my girlfriend and no parents. We hired a 2 berth motor cruiser for a week from Bees Boats of Oulton Broad who sadly like many other small hire companies are now long since gone.
The holiday was superb, I had finally got out on the water in the way I had longed to do for the past 6 years…on a real boat!, there were mishaps along the way, the main one being almost washed out to sea at Gt Yarmouth and being towed to safety by a rescue boat, but all in all it we had a fabulous time, so much so we vowed we would return the next year.
Below is a picture of yours truly on the boat we hired in 1973,
Sadly I never did return the following year nor the year after. As the years went by the prices of hiring a cruiser on the Broads became very, very expensive,(in comparison to my budget!) I never did get to explore the old MTB boat and it was to be 23 long years before I stepped on a boat again.
This came about by way of my 40th birthday, the one where you look back at life and examine the good times, the bad times and more importantly what you have done with your life, you examine unfulfilled dreams etc, being 40 years old really did hit me hard.
So I decided that (amongst other things) a return to the Broads was a must, to see if I could re kindle the magic of those early days. I stayed at a hotel in Great Yarmouth for a long weekend and took off to the Broads each day. It was just the same! It was just as special, it was like stepping back in time for me, I had to do something to preserve this feeling.
I bought my first boat 2 weeks later, it was a Europa 4, (see Pic)
For 2 seasons I towed the little Europa to the Broads (226 miles each way) several times a year and we had some great fun. By then the lure of boats had truly got hold and the rest as they say is history, but at certain times I still feel like that young child from all those years ago whilst out on the water.
I would not like to be without “Osprey”. I can’t say how long we shall keep her, I often look at other, larger boats, but then for our purposes “Osprey” has always surpassed all our needs and has been everything we have needed her to be.
I do miss the power of a large engine since fitting the little diesel 3 years ago, especially after experiencing the 6 cyl Volvo but like myself, many of our members have re-engined thier boats at some time or another so that is the way I shall probably go again, if the urge for more power becomes too great.
I really do hope I am able to enjoy boating for a long time to come, At the marina where Osprey is moored there are several owners who are well over 80 years old and whilst they will probably never set sail as such they are more than happy pottering about above and below decks cleaning, polishing and generally pottering around onboard, and always willing to share tales of their adventures, I hope I become one of them......... but not just yet!.
Cap'n Gary
Co-founder of the FHC