2022 Salhouse Meet
Events > 2022 Events
Our Salhouse Meeting for 2022 was fully subscribed quite early in the year and we had booked and filled the complete No2 Mooring with 22 assorted Safari's and two guest boats despite the meeting being held on a weekday. We were also to be joined by several visitors travelling to the event by car and who were a mix of brand new owners, visitors from other river systems and prospective buyers looking to check out and compare the various types of Safari's, their fit outs and customisations.
After a long hot and very dry summer it was looking as though a post event trip through Potter Heigham bridge might be a distinct possibility, but the first signs of plans going a little adrift, was that the weather was forecast turned distinctly cooler and duller/damper than we have been used to for our meets (usually very warm, dry and very sunny). It's time to get a new long range forecasting crystal ball as both events this year had (for us) "unusual" weather!
Salhouse 2022 Scheduled Attendees
No | Crew Names | Boat Name | Type | Attendance | |||
1 | Brian& Jan | Maytime Safari | Mk1D | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
2 | Pete & Marrianne | Doris | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
3 | Lawrence & Claire | Opal | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
4 | Mel & John | Tight Lines | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
5 | Geoff & Judi | Moonshine | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
6 | Alan | Maudie | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
7 | Keith & Zoe | Lanson | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
8 | Annette & Colin | Bluebell | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
9 | Clive & Debbie | Dungraftin | Mk2 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
10 | Tracy and Adi | Goldfinch | Mk3 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
11 | Robert & Elaine | Minnow | Mk3 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
12 | Dave | Regal Safari | Mk3 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
13 | Liz & Tony | Veyatie | Mk3 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
14 | Ken & Pat | Audere | Mk3 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
No | Crew Names | Boat Name | Type | Attendance | |||
15 | Ted | Wild Thyme | Mk4 | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
16 | Jim | Chiltern Lady | Guest | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
17 | Kathy & Gary | Lady Muck | Guest | Arrived successfully by Boat | |||
18 | Dave & Trish | Free Spirit | Mk2 | Foiled by Wroxham Bridge ! | |||
19 | Dave Wilson | Shannon | Mk2 | Foiled by Wroxham Bridge ! | |||
20 | Colin & Linda | Queenie B | Mk3 | Foiled by Wroxham Bridge ! | |||
21 | Diane & Pete | Just Bobbin | Mk2 | Foiled by Wroxham Bridge ! | |||
22 | Anita and Paul | Second Spring | Mk1J | Visit by Car (New Owners) | |||
23 | Roz and Norman | Grayling | Mk2 | Visit by Car (River Wissey) | |||
24 | Jo and Richard | Hopeful Buyers | TBA | Visit By Car (Guests) | |||
25 | Les | White Otter | Mk2 | About to be the new Owner! | |||
26 | Lynn & Ian | Florrie | Mk3 | Queens Funeral | |||
27 | Vicki & Neil | Jobs a Gooden | Mk2 | Queens Funeral | |||
28 | Alan & Moyra | Xena | Mk2 | COVID stopped play | |||
29 | Mark & Miranda | Mara | Mk3 | Business stopped play | |||
Then came the sudden and unexpected demise of Queen Elizabeth II and the announcement of her state funeral and bank holiday with optional venue closures. Salhouse management confirmed that the venue would stay open and that our meeting could still go ahead.
Next, just a couple of days before, a combination of High Pressure over UK, Neap Tides, and recent heavy rainfall resulted in extremely high water levels first observed by the party travelling across Breydon Water from the Southern Broads and intending to overnight at Herringfleet but on arrival finding the moorings underwater...!
A quick check on the Brinks Webcam revealed just 6ft clearance on Wroxham bridge even at LOW tide - a situation that did not change until 3 days AFTER the event. This meant that 4 boats and crews were stuck on the "wrong" side of the bridge for the event. So a quick change of journey plans was needed...
So on the day we now expected only 17 boats instead of 24. This number increased to 18 by the surprise and welcome arrival of Adi and Tracy on Goldfinch who dropped in for a chat while in the area.
Our numbers were also swelled by some extra visitors travelling from other waterways (Roz and Norman, "Grayling", River Wissey in Cambs), new owners who had just aquired (Anita & Paul, "Second Spring" a rare Mk1J) or were about to close on Safari purchases (Les, "White Otter") and/or were actively on a Safari hunt (Jo and Richard, still patiently looking).
Everyone made our visitors welcome and a great time was had by all, exploring boats, comparing notes and swapping ideas for major and minor projects. Teas, cakes, and offers to "take a seat" were also generously provided to all of our "pedestrian" attendees....
We had intended to try and repeat the "Owners With Boats" photo opportunity but unfortunately time ran away and we didn't manage to get round to everyone, so here are the ones we did get. (email me if you want a copy of the original). Next year we may try for a complete group photo...
Sadly this event marked the end of 40+ years of boat ownership and the very last outing for Brian and Jan on Maytime Safari before they sell her for the second time, and hang up their Safari jackets and suits. However we may get to see them again as Brian has taken up caravanning again!
For those that don't already know, Brian and Jan were the founders of the current incarnation of the Hampton Safari Boat Club, having set up the very first meet up events back in 2013 and (health permitting) attendeding pretty much all of our meets since. We wish them all the best on their second "retirement".
Thank you to everyone who booked and/or attended this years Salhouse meet which was our biggest yet both in terms of booked moorings and scheduled and surprise visitors.Thanks also to everyone who attended on foot having been thwarted by high water levels. In true Murphy's Law fashion, the high water levels subsided just as quickly as they had arisen (again somwhat unusually) on Wednesday - just in time to be too late! Finally we hope that Alan (Alan and Moyra, Xena) has a speedy recovery from COVID, picked up after a recent spell in hospital - hopefully we'll see you again next year.
On which topic.....next years meet up will probably be scheduled for around mid June assuming we can book the Salhouse venue again. This will put us back into longer days and lighter evenings and hopefully warmer weather for sitting around chatting outdoors. It will most likely be a week day once again (due to venue booking restrictions). The dates and location will be confirmed early in the new year as normal on the website....