Four Wanderers gathered from as far afield as Edinburgh, Chippenham and Hertfordshire at Coniston Hall during the week commencing Monday 4th August with the intention of cruising the southern lakes in the footsteps of Arthur Ransome.

The fickle weather gods smiled as we gathered on Monday evening, exploring the campsite and finding the best places to launch the boats.

Coniston Hall is a large campsite on the western shore of Coniston Water just south of Coniston village. Access to the lake shore is easy at several spots where tracks lead directly to a gently shelving firm beach. The site is undulating with lots of shade from well established oak trees, however, if you are camping, the soil is thin and very stony. Several places are also rather marshy, and were to become more so as the week progressed…. The site is also quite busy and can be noisy in the evenings – especially if like me you pitch up opposite a large Blackpool Youth Camp group of enthusiastic teenagers.

Gavin Davis and Hazel Jarvis had arrived early on the Monday and were already launched and sailing on the lake by the time we got Joshua into the water. We were then able to paddle round to join Gavin and Hazel on their better bit of beach ready for sailing the next day. Alastair Kinroy arrived shortly after us and got Vanilla Slice ready for sea at the same time, Alastair struggling somewhat with his Snipe combi trailer that weaved dangerously at more than 55mph and made launching very difficult as it was very nose light.

Max (6) launches Joshua Slocum at Coniston Hall in what proved to be a rare sunny interlude

Alastair left after getting Vanilla Slice ready, to go and find his B&B on the other side of the lake and Gavin and Hazel joined us for a pleasant stroll into Coniston village and a large evening meal in a pub. A balmy evening walk back to the campsite watching bats fly among the trees and admiring Venus low and bright in the clear southern sky rounded off a very relaxed first day.

On Tuesday morning we were joined by Jim, Sue, William, Edward, Helena and Bobbie (the dog) Smith from their self catering cottage near Rydall who rigged rapidly and then we set off down the lake as a fleet with the intention of first sailing to the southern limit, then lunching on Ransome’s ‘Wildcat Island’ before sailing up to the Northern limits of the lake for tea at the Blue Bird café by Coniston boating centre.

Coniston has no license charges for using the lake and a 10 knot speed limit throughout which discourages powerboats.

The fleet rigs at Coniston Hall on Tuesday morning

The weather gods immediately conspired against this plan however by offering only very light zephyrs and a steady drizzle, that lead to a slow and damp voyage down the lake. We hauled up in the secret harbour at Peel island without exploring the southern end of the lake for a picnic lunch. The island was ‘infested’ by what seemed like hundreds of teenagers on outward bound holidays canoeing, kayaking and playing 40/40 home in our chosen picnic site! They all seemed to be having a great time however and when they wobbled off shivering to take their youthful enthusiasm elsewhere we were left in relative quiet.

Having recovered our time capsule, which had been hidden on the island since Niamh and I first visited three years ago, we all re-launched and sailed (drifted) slowly back up the lake to recover the boats at the campsite beach.
All somewhat damp and with no wind for further sailing we elected to curtail sailing for the day and planned to meet up in the morning to plan our next days sailing.

Wednesday dawned wetter than Tuesday and still with no wind so sailing was abandoned for the day and we went our separate ways to explore touristy attractions in the area or go walking. We chose the ‘Beatrix Potter Experience’ and ice creams in Bowness-on-Windermere. When we returned to the site the drizzle had lifted slightly so we grabbed the chance of a quick (well slow actually) drift up to the northern end of the lake and a very leisurely spinnaker run back to the campsite in the late evening, by which time it was raining heavily again…

Cumbrian weather proved inhospitable, especially for camping..

Friday was our last day and we were at least able to pack up the tent and boat in the sun as the weather cleared to provide a glorious morning. The Smiths planned to sail on Windermere over the weekend and Gavin and Hazel took the opportunity to sail on Coniston again while we set off back down the M6.

In summary, Coniston Hall is ideally located for sailing on the lake with easy access to the water direct from the site. However it is a large and busy site which can be a little noisy with large groups ‘partying’ into the wee small hours. It was also very boggy, though this is perhaps not surprising given the conditions! A quieter option might have been a smaller site we saw at the northern head of the lake near where the steamer ‘Gondola’ is moored overnight, just off the Hawkshead road.

The August Cumbrian weather played havoc with our grand plans to sail the three large lakes, with the combination of heavy rain and light/no wind proving somewhat trying every day, however the indefatigable spirit of Wanderer cruisers shone through, the scenery (when we could see it) was fabulous and the rare sunny interludes were truly beautiful. Coniston offered us space enough for a full days sailing and the Bluebird Café at Coniston boating centre does a very good range of cakes.

Tim Robertson W1038

Participants on the cruise were:

Gavin Davis and Hazel Jarvis W1235 Odds and Sods
Alastair Kinroy W331 Vanilla Slice
Jim, Sue, William, Edward, Helena and Bobby SmithW1381 Polly
Tim, Niamh and Max Robertson W1038 Joshua Slocum