Bank Holiday Weather.

The late May Bank Holiday used to be called the Whitsun Holiday, and for lots of people especially the Civil Service, Local Authorities, banks etc. it was a long weekend with both Friday and Monday  being holidays. Nowadays it tends to be Monday only but it is the start of the schools half term week in England.

All of this means loads of traffic on the roads. 

It is also becoming the traditional weekend when the stalwarts of HBBR that disorganisation of Home Boat Builders, have their annual visit to The Norfolk Broads.

So, once again we congregated at Barton Turf Adventure Centre.

The weather was fairly blustery, quite windy on Saturday when a few of us managed to get out on the water.  Sunday was definitely windy which caused a miss-hap or two on the way back from the pub. 

Monday morning, when these pictures were taken was glorious. The rest of the country was being soaked by typical Bank Holiday weather, i.e. wet and windy but it hadn't reached Norfolk yet, so while everyone else was packing up early and heading home we were out enjoying ourselves.

  Above is Hazy Days, winner of the 2009 WaterCraft Amateur Boat Building Award for most professional looking home made boat.  Her builder, Nick Paull has since added a sailing rig and doesn't she look beautiful!

It didn't last long however and they took a dunking, but they were back on the water in the afternoon, this time with their out-riggers, and bailer!

This is Cee Dubbs in his fantastic little Rosie Mae, giving Peter and Laita Nobes a sailing lesson. Peter is building a Greenshank Dinghy which is nearly complete so he wanted to get his hand in. Notice Cee Dubbs has got a huge reef in which is an indication of how blustery it was.

Its becoming a tradition to all go for a sail in Ever Hopeful, on Saturday afternoon, we jettisoned the ballast and filled it with people, five in all, and had great fun sailing around using the centreboard as a depth sounder. This is owner and skipper Wayne with his mate Marcus on the helm.   The people behind in the Canadian canoe were not sheltering from the sun but using the umbrella for propulsion. They seemed to be getting along nicely.

And here is Yours Truly, taking Coot for a sail on its home waters. 

Designer Andrew Wolstenholme lives in the Broads.  

The little boat was a joy to sail, she behaved herself, and excited rather than frightened her builder. 

When I was out on Saturday I didn't put a reef in and I probably should have as it was a bit marginal at times, so I tucked one in on Sunday and she was very well behaved. She sailed along nicely and would sit quietly when Hove-To so that I could take some photographs.

Of course I couldn't take the photos of my own boat, so many thanks to John "Ratcatcher" Lockwood for keeping me in the view-finder while holding the camera in one hand, driving his boat with the other, and keeping a lookout for hire cruisers. 

Cheers John, that'll be another pint I owe you.