Preparation and Planning
When I informed Broom of my intentions, they advised that the fuel tanks be sludged,
the fuel filters changed and new spares carried. All this was done prior to my taking
delivery of the boat in the middle of May. I had estimated that the sea passage,
from Lowestoft to Limehouse marina near Tower Bridge on the Thames was around 150nm.
I assumed that the boat was capable of making a safe sea passage of 100 miles with
a good safety margin (it has 2x 60 gallon tanks and two 110hp Ford Mermaids). This
meant that we would have to re-
I decided to engage the services of a skipper familiar with conditions on the east coast and Thames estuary, and in particular entry and exit from Felixtowe harbour which was where we planned to refuel. Broom offered me the option of using a freelance skipper whom they would introduce to me, or to use the skipper/trainer who trains Broom’s own staff. I took the latter option, although slightly more expensive, as it provided the assurance of quality. As it turned out, this provided some hidden benefits that I had not anticipated, as we shall discover later in this article.
Our journey was to take us down the river Yare, on to the river Waveney to Oulton Broad. From there we would go through Mutford Lock, under a railway and a road bridge into the Lowestoft channel that leads to the sea.
Scilla and I drove to Brundall on the Friday. At around mid-