Yachting, Vol. 2Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
History
Yachting, Vol. 2
Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
Yacht racing; Yachting; Yachts
The river below Wroxham is very narrow and very sinuous; its banks
lined with groves of trees which intercept the wind. The lofty peak of
our wherry's sail holds the air over the bushes, and we keep slowly
moving along, while smaller boats are either becalmed or, catching
sudden puffs, lay over at alarming angles. It is a Saturday evening,
and very many little yachts, from the open lugsail sailing boat on
which a high-roofed cabin-top has been placed to the 4- or 8-ton
yachts of smarter build, are making their way down to more open waters
for the happy and healthy week end, most blessed to the person whose
occupations are sedentary. A mile or two of charming river reaches
brings us to Wroxham Broad--a lovely sheet of water surrounded by an
inner circle of tall green and feathery topped reeds and an outer
circle of bushes and trees. It is entered by a narrow gateway from the
river, and boating is freely permitted, subject to certain wise
regulations which are as much to the interest of the public as to that
of the riparian owners.
The reeds have a golden belt where the rise and fall of the water has
left its yellow mark, shining brightly in the westering sun. In the
smooth patches under the lee of the reeds one may see the sparkle of
bait flying out from pursuing pike or perch, and in the still bays the
coots and water-hens dive and splash. Across and across the Broad skim
the white sails of boats and canoes making the most of the dying
breeze, and the wavelets sink to ripples, and the ripples are shot
with streaks and patches of cloud-reflecting calm. We leave this, the
most beautiful and deepest of the Broads, to make the most of the
evening air down the river.
On the occasion of the annual regatta there is a prodigious water
frolic at Wroxham, which is attended by perhaps a hundred sailing
craft of all kinds, and much merriment results.
Gliding quietly down stream we pass on the left Hoveton Broads, Great
and Little--nurseries of wildfowl and kept strictly private, with
chains across the entrance; on the right Salhouse Broads, Great and
Little, on which boating is permitted under protest; and further still
on the right Woodbastwick Broad, also strictly private. Hoveton little
Broad is a breeding-place of the black-headed gull, which nest here in
great numbers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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