Rowing boats at the Museum of the Broads

Please don't get the impression that Gavin Atkin at intheboatshed and I are in some sort of battle to post as many pictures of the Broads as possible. This is completely not a contest - it is simply that we've both been there in the last week and we want to share our experience of this fabulous area for boating.
But seeing as Gav hasn't got round to putting up pics of these boats at the Museum of the Broads at Stalham yet, I'll nip in and blog them first.
On the right is a rowing skiff, a hull shape very similar to Thames skiffs but somewhat more stern-heavy and having a slightly bigger transom. She was built about a hundred years ago.
Next, a reed lighter. These wide and low boats would be almost completely invisible under their load of reeds (in the winter) or sedge (in the summer), carrying three quarters of a cartload. The marshman would either row from the bow (note the holes for the rowlocks or crutches as they were known locally) or quant from the stern.
Quant poles have a hook at the lower end to get a purchase on the river bottom and a button at the top to push against, although the button is really only of use when you can walk the length of the boat rather than just stand at the stern as you would when punting. It does, however, give you something to grab when you suddenly realise that you are about to leave the quant stuck in the mud. This is possibly the most embarrassing thing that can happen to yachtsman, especially if it occurs when approaching Potter Heigham bridge under the eye of a large and appreciative audience.
By the way Gav, you didn't get a picture of the very nice thatched boathouse at the southern end of Barton Broad, did you? If you did, please post it - I stupidly deleted the shot I took of it during transfer to the PC.

Bus Pirates

Take a look at this, yer scurvy lubberly swabs. NOW, I tells ye!

Punt gunning in Norfolk

Last Sunday it rained all day so we implemented the Standard British Rain Plan - a visit to somewhere educational. Luckily, this meant the informative and entertaining Museum of the Broads at Stalham. And waddayaknow, it had several duck punts on display, including this model based on the old photo below it in the case.
The centre of punt gunning in Victorian times was Breydon Water, the Broad near Great Yarmouth, and the museum has on display the last gun punt specifically built for hunting there.
The punt (the lower boat - the other is a play boat made in Sussex) is 17ft long and carried a 1.5in gun. The gun was loaded with a pound of black powder and about 2lb of shot. Any old scrap metal could be used but the usual charge was mixed nails.
The hunter would lie prone in the punt and stealthily row towards the roosting birds. When in position, he would knock the side of the boat sharply with the flat of his hand to send the birds into the air. Then he would pull the trigger, causing a tremendous blast and pushing the boat back as far as 25 yards.
After that it was a question of clearing up. The dog would fetch the dead birds, and the wounded would be finished off with a shotgun known rather bluntly as a 'cripple-stopper'.
Concern over the number of wounded birds led to a ban on 1.5in guns, after which only 2in guns were allowed.
The punt was found floating in the River Yare in the 1960s, probably simply cast loose by an owner who had no further use for it. It was eventually restored by prisoners at Blundeston as part of their NVQ in carpentry. They added a replica gun as the original was lost.
Although punt gunning is a thing of the past in the Broads, these unique and fascinating boats have a thriving family of descendents in the form of the Norfolk Punt.
Norfolk Punts have the same long, low, flat-bottomed shape as the gun punts but with the addition of an unfeasibly large sail. They go like slippy stuff off a shovel if there are no waves. The Norfolk Punt Club races them from a pontoon moored in the middle of Barton Broad. The museum has a splendid varnished example, unfortunately kept almost hidden under another boat.The Museum of the Broads is raising money to buy its premises, so if you would like to help this worthwhile cause click here and donate lavishly.

Rowing model

Hamleys halfterm holiday hell was slightly lifted when I spotted this:

Rowing in the rain

There is an EU Directive that mandates rain on British bank holidays, so on Sunday at the UK Home Built Boats Rally at Barton Broad it hissed down almost continuously. Our planned outing to the pub at Neatishead took place by car, except for the fearless Tony Waller and Chris Waite who rowed round in Tony's lovely double-ender Isabella III.
Tony had to row rather than sail for two reasons:
a) the wind on the Broad was too strong;
b) he had cracked the mainmast sailing on the Broad the day before.
After essential bailing he set off on the voyage back with Chris in the stern steering by voice (the rudder had been left behind).

More on that Thames boat shed

Edgewood, the Thames boathouse mentioned down there \|/, is currently home to the 30ft Andrews slipper launch also called Edgewood, which is available separately at £53,000 but if you have a million to spare for a boathouse you probably have enough for the launch as well.
She was built in 1962 and won the Andrews trophy for restoration at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally in 2006 after a complete restoration by Woottens Boatyard, which is conveniently right next to the boathouse.

A row up the River Ant

The UK Home Built Boat Regatta foregathered at Barton Broad on Saturday, and I tagged along with my newly painted Nessy, a Sandpiper designed by Conrad Natzio. I've converted her for rowing, though an auxiliary sailing rig will also be provided when I get my act together.
On Saturday I rowed up the River Ant to Dilham, a very narrow and winding river. At Dilham it comes to an abrupt end at a hump-back bridge with intimidating notices to the effect that from there on is a private dyke. In fact, it only continues for a few yards so it's not worth your while trespassing.
On the way is a delightful boathouse at Hunsett Mill, one of the classic photo opps in the Broads. The miller's house is due to be extended and the boathouse replaced by a similar but subtly different version, for which planning permission has been given. Work has already started.
The effect is to replace an aging structure with a new version more fit for purpose in the 21st century, which can only be good.