点评:Having relatives in Norfolk meant that when I was growing up we spent a lot of time in the towns and villages surrounding the Broads for our holidays. The one thing we never did was a trip down the Broads.
At 47 and having been put in charge of booking this year's holiday I decided that now was a good idea. My other half doesn't swim and is petrified of water so I decided it would be a good idea for me to book a holiday for the pair of us on the Broads.
Knowing that it could well be me being drowned if this went wrong meant I meticulously went over the Richardson fleet to pick the boat I thought would be best for us. I booked a Monday to Friday on a Siesta through Hoseasons. I chose this boat as it was high up to see over the reeds, was relatively short and had a low back, ideal for stern on mooring and was higher than most other boats inside so I didn't need to worry about scalping myself.
After breaking the news of our upcoming holiday to 'she that was not happy', I then explained my reasoning behind my choices. Let's just say that 'she was still not happy'.
The week before we were due to go I had a phone call off Richardsons to tell me that they were wanting to change the boat we were due to go on due to the higher than usual water levels. We were upgraded to a 'Broadway'. This is a more modern 6 berth boat, it has twin shower rooms and is a third longer than the Siesta at around 40ft long. My own previous nautical experiences have been a rubber dinghy on the beach as a kid and the isle of Wight ferry. I broke the news of the new bigger boat to my other half. Luckily I was at work and had to end the call.
We arrived at Richardsons on Monday 15th April and were checked in and directed to our boat by a lovely lady stood outside in a kind of alcove come guard house. It was blowing a proper hoolie and hoofing it down with rain. As we parked up behind out boat the other half gave me that look that all men know.
Luckily at that point a staff member from Richardsons came over to save me. I think the guy's name was Paul. (I'm really sorry if I have your name wrong). He was in charge of our induction and I think sensed that he could possibly be witnessing my last few moments on earth. He talked us through the safety bumpf and the workings of the boat. I was then sent astern to untie us and the guy who could well be the last person to see me alive took the helm to get us out of the boatyard.
The controls were then handed over to me and he talked us through how to steer, turn and Moor up. The 'Broadway' has both bow and stern thrusters but I was shown how to do everything without using them so I wasn't reliant upon them in case they packed up.
After getting back to the boatyard and reversing back on to the stern on mooring Paul said he was happy with my ability to handle the boat and we were given the OK to take her out to my impending 'death'.
We loaded up our gear and parked the car. We then set off out of on what could very easily have been my last journey.
We headed down the Broads, with the 'aweigh' app to use as navigation. Not having done this sort of thing before and still not knowing how close to death I was or wasn't, I wanted to stop somewhere populated but not having done an actual real mooring on my own with no instructor watching over my shoulder. About 75 mins after departing from the boatyard we found ourselves at How Hill. There were plenty of other boats there already and only a couple of spaces left that our boat would fit in but there would not be more than about 5 to 10 ft left at each end of us. I explained to 'she that was not happy' that I intended to pull up parallel to this gap and stop us dead in the water. I was then going to use my super duper as yet untested thrusters to blast myself to the shore line. She was then to keep the lever held whilst I leapt ashore and tied up.
There was absolutely no pressure on me whatsoever. It's not like every person on the other 10 or so boats on that mooring stopped what they were doing to watch. Luckily my method paid off. Not only did I slip in seemlessly like a pro (much to the disapproval of my fellow boaters who once they realised I'd done it, then pretended they weren't watching afterall) 'she that wants me dead' suddenly realised that all she had to do whenever we moored up was hold a toggle across whilst I did all the work.
I can honestly say that if you have never piloted a boat before or are at all worried about your capability, hire a 'Broadway'.
We covered about 80 miles between late Monday afternoon and 8pm Friday morning and we never hit a thing. Even with the wind blowing us off course as we got to Ludham Bridge on one of several times we went under it (Ludham Bridge is by far the tightest bit of the Broads we went on) a quick burst of the thrusters got us through without touching the sides.
We got home late this afternoon and my prospective killer is already asking me if we can book again for longer next time.
翻译:我有亲戚住在诺福克,这意味着在我成长的过程中,我们经常在布罗兹周围的城镇和村庄度假。但我们从未做过的一件事就是去布罗兹旅行。
47 岁时,我被任命负责预订今年的假期,我认为现在是个好主意。我的另一半不会游泳,而且很怕水,所以我决定为我们俩预订一个布罗兹假期是个好主意。
我知道如果这件事出错,我可能会被淹死,所以我仔细地查看了理查森船队,挑选了我认为最适合我们的船。我通过 Hoseasons 预订了周一至周五的 Siesta 船。我选择这艘船是因为它很高,可以看到芦苇,相对较短,后背较低,非常适合船尾停泊,而且比大多数其他船都高,所以我不必担心自己会划伤自己。
在向“不开心的她”透露了我们即将度假的消息后,我解释了我做出这些选择的原因。我们只能说“她还是不开心”。
在我们出发前一周,我接到了理查森的电话,他们说由于水位比平时高,他们想更换我们乘坐的船。我们被升级到了“百老汇”号。这是一艘更现代化的 6 床位船,有两个淋浴间,比 Siesta 号长三分之一,大约 40 英尺。我以前的航海经历是小时候在海滩上乘坐橡皮艇和怀特岛渡轮。我把这艘更大的新船的消息告诉了我的另一半。幸运的是,我当时在上班,不得不挂断电话。
我们于 4 月 15 日星期一抵达理查森,一位可爱的女士站在外面一个类似壁龛的守卫室里,为我们办理了入住手续并带我们上船。当时正刮着大风,雨水倾盆而下。当我们停在船后时,另一半人用所有人都知道的眼神看着我。
幸运的是,理查森的一名工作人员过来救了我。我想那家伙叫保罗。(如果我记错了你的名字,我真的很抱歉)。他负责我们的入职培训,我想他感觉到他可能正在见证我在地球上的最后几分钟。他向我们讲解了安全保险杠和船的工作原理。然后我被派到船尾解开我们,那个可能是最后一个看到我活着的人的人掌舵,把我们带出了船厂。
然后把控制装置交给了我,他向我们讲解了如何掌舵、转弯和停泊。“百老汇”号有船头和船尾推进器,但我被展示了如何在不使用它们的情况下做所有事情,所以我并不依赖它们,以防它们坏掉。
回到船厂后,保罗倒车回到船尾停泊处,他说他对我驾驶这艘船的能力很满意,我们得到了许可,可以带着它去迎接我即将面临的“死亡”。
我们装好装备,停好车。然后我们出发了,这很可能是我最后一次旅行。
我们沿着布罗兹河前行,使用“aweigh”应用程序进行导航。我以前没有做过这种事,仍然不知道我离死亡有多近,我想停在人多的地方,但我还没有真正自己停泊过,也没有教练在旁边看着。离开船厂大约 75 分钟后,我们来到了 How Hill。那里已经有很多其他船只了,只剩下几个可以容纳我们船只的空间,但我们两端的距离不会超过 5 到 10 英尺。我向“不高兴的那个人”解释说,我打算平行于这个间隙拉船,让我们在水中停下来。然后,我将使用我尚未测试过的超级推进器将自己推向岸边。然后,她要握住操纵杆,而我则跳上岸并系好船。
我完全没有压力。并不是说停泊处其他 10 艘左右的船上的每个人都停下手头的工作来观看。幸运的是,我的方法奏效了。我不仅像专业人士一样无缝地潜入水中(这引起了我的同伴们的不满,他们意识到我这样做了,然后假装他们根本没有在看),“想要我死的那个人”突然意识到,每当我们停泊时,她所要做的就是抓住一根绳子,而我则做所有的工作。
我可以诚实地说,如果您以前从未驾驶过船,或者对自己的能力感到担忧,请租用“百老汇”。
从周一下午晚些时候到周五早上 8 点,我们行驶了大约 80 英里,没有撞到任何东西。即使我们到达 Ludham 桥时有一次被风吹偏了航道(Ludham 桥是我们经过的布罗兹中最狭窄的一段),推进器的快速爆发让我们得以通过,没有碰到两侧。
我们今天下午晚些时候到家,我的潜在杀手已经在问我下次我们是否可以再预订更长时间。