Page published 17 September 2025
Monday 23 June 2025 - Up Late Playing Games
Rather than starting by reading this page, you might prefer to start with the report of Day One of the cruise.
After the singsong at The Dog Inn we had got back to the boat and, before going to bed, decided to play a couple of games of Qwirkle. That meant we didn't pack up till after midnight, hence we start Monday's report with a picture of a completed game, taken at 00:18, which, on reflection, I think may have been more properly recorded at the end of yesterday's report.
The objective in Qwirkle is to score the most points. You do that by creating or lengthening lines of tiles with either the same coloured marks or same shaped marks. In this photo it's very difficult to distinguish between the blue and purple coloured marks.
Departing Ludham
Unlike some of our other cruises, there was no rush to get back to Wayford, so it was as late as 09:49 when we cast off from our overnight mooring at Ludham.
Ten minutes later and I was taking a picture of one of the landmarks you see on your way up the River Ant, Neave's Mill.
Passing How Hill
At 10:17 we were passing How Hill. It turned out to be a good time of day to get a well lit picture.
Moments later we had reached Hathor. Things looked quiet on the bank, but the cabin door was open and there must have been someone on board.
By 10:35 we were approaching Irstead with a yacht coming towards us. Beyond the yacht you can just make out the black "Narrow River" sign that I Photographed in May.
Barton Broad and Beyond
We were on Barton Broad by 10:52. What hadn't been obvious up till that point was how strong the wind was. These were the waves on the downwind side of the boat, It was a fight to keep Singing the Blues on course.
Fifteen minutes later we were back on the Ant in near flat calm conditions, as can be seen from the reflections in the water, although what I thought of as the subject at the time was the bank of white lilies.
Moments later we encountered a heavily reefed yacht passing a moored cruiser.
If we hadn't just crossed Barton we would have wondered why the skipper was being so cautious.
By 11:24 we were approaching the kink in the river around half a mile from Long Dyke...
...and 30 minutes later the Singing the Blues had been made tidy with our belongings ready to take back to the car.
It was great to be aboard the boat for around 24 hours. It takes our mind off the hassles with our house sale. It was back in April that we thought we had found a buyer for our home. Ours is not a conventional house and garden and we accept that sorting through the legalities may take a little time, but our buyer's solicitor didn't even start work on the purchase our place until his client had moved into temporary accommodation and now is taking a fortnight or more to respond to each of our replies to his enquiries. It's becoming a pain!
Next: read about a Bank Holiday Cruise.