By the 7th September, the forecasters were starting to talk about the Autumnal weather. Such predictions however were far from our minds as nine Wanderers gathered at Weir Quay on the Saturday morning for the start of this year’s cruise. Whilst there was a light north westerly blowing, the West Country was still enjoying summer temperatures and generous helpings of sunshine.

The plan for Saturday was somewhat ambitious, but Wendy and Graham Davis, the owners of the first Porter Bros manufactured Wanderer, (W1527) had driven all the way down from Surrey for the weekend and were as keen as everyone to share the delights of this part of Devon (if you looked to your right) and Cornwall (if you looked to your left)!

The Tamar River snakes in a wide “S” bend around to Pentillie Castle which is largely obscured behind a wooded headland. A substantial quay suggests that something of note is lurking “up the drive”. The river narrows beyond this point with tall reed beds on the west bank, but tacking remained an option and most Wanderers made it under sail as far as the quay at Cothele. This is a National Trust property built between 1485 and 1627 and was home to the Edgcumbe family for centuries. The Quay itself is an outstation of the National Maritime Museum. The restored Tamar sailing barge “Shamrock” is moored alongside. This was our lunch spot in the sunshine with the offer of pasties, tea or coffee on sale at a kiosk for those without a picnic, there was a distinct reticence to move on when everything had been consumed. Besides the Wanderer fleet, Janet and Anthony Byrde in their Drascombe and Richard and Peter Goodfellow, in another Ian Proctor designed dinghy called a Beaufort, were sharing the Cruise with us. It was great to have them along. The river beyond Cothele to Calstock can be sailed with a flooding tide, but time was now against us and the command to stand by engines was given. Barbara and Steve Harvey and Chris & Vicky King being purists were engineless so a couple of the flotilla moved forward in pairs towards our final destination of Morwhellham Quay. The River gets really interesting north of the viaduct at Calstock with the remains of old chimneys, once linked to their engine houses, leaning at gravity defying angles on wooded hillsides, almost willing someone to give them a last push to mark the final end of the mining era. For here indeed were some of the most productive tin and copper mines in Europe, which for two centuries ensured that the Tamar was a bustling, industrial shipping lane for laden barges, carrying their ore to Plymouth for onward shipment. Lime was carried on the return journey to the kilns, still visible at intervals on the riverbank to be spread on the acidic soils of the surrounding fields.

We tied up to one of the slips at Morwhellham and whilst Julie and Toby Elliot chose to relax in the sunshine, the rest of us made our way to the mine. The “train” takes you deep inside the hillside to experience the hardships of life for miners in the 18th and 19th centuries. Our guide proved to be encyclopaedic in his knowledge of the area and its history and he finally had to be reminded that the tide was a factor in our timetable notwithstanding the cream tea which was still to be demolished. Morwhellham offers the tourist an extensive range of activities as part of a living museum. We were all dismayed to find there was no time to dress up as Victorians for the “cruise photograph”, in spite of a lot of barracking by Chris King whose digital camera was in overdrive. We scooted back to the boats and found the mud around their transoms was almost as gooey as the cream on our scones! Once afloat there was great cleansing of shoes and much else besides as we sought to arrive back looking shipshape at Weir Quay. The pub at Buckland Monochorum greeted us as we arrived for our evening meal. Unfortunately John Carter had had to depart, but we enjoyed his company and it was great that he and Bob Palling had joined us as single crews for the cruise.

Sunday morning was Autumnal! Squally showers and the promise of strong winds dictated that we should alter our plans which had been to sail down to Saltash where the tide and winds can be quite challenging. Some decided to return to explore Cothele and Morwhellham from the land, others joined Jill and David Davies for a gentle game of croquet on Dartmoor! Jane Summers’ hockey skills were put to great effect. She managed to miss a hoop two feet in front of her ball, but defied all logic by hitting her ball in the opposite direction in a reverse follow through! The afternoon ended with a board game, inherited from Ian and Betty Proctor, which challenged five yachts to complete a course around three buoys. Vicky and Chris, Steve and Barbara and David got stuck in and in spite of some awesome tactical sailing on the home straight by Chris King, he was just pipped to the finishing line by David Davies.

Thanks to everyone for coming, especially to Wendy and Graham, Julie and Toby, Marion and Geoff Hall and John Carter who joined the West country cruise for the first time. We hope to see you again.

David Davies