The chorus was catapulted over Salcombe town as the room erupted to the somewhat over zealous, combined male and female voice choir of the 52 participants of this year’s West Country cruise :

Wandering, Wander-rah,
Wandering, Wander-rah,a,a,a,a,ah
Wandering, Wander-rah,
For sand, sea, sex, and sun.

The lyricist himself, Andy Peter, founder Chairman of the Class, was clearly passing on a well rehearsed ritual to his son Michael, adjacent to him on the table, at the end of a very special day on the water, in this wonderful part of South Devon.

Philip Meadowcroft, impresario of innumerable dinners, overt enthusiast and of course current Chairman had initially suggested Salcombe as this year’s venue and had choreographed arrangements with the Yacht Club Commodore, the Harbour Master and Dinghy Park attendant, all of whom had been persuaded that Salcombe needed the Wanderers as a catalyst to encourage other major recreational activities to the town. Our wildest expectations were exceeded however as enquiries starting pouring in. 15 dinghy slots at Batson dinghy park had initially been booked, soon to be increased to 20 to meet overwhelming demand. But by closure, 25 slots were reserved and even with that number, latecomers had to be turned away.

Notorious for its social and gastronomic endeavours, the weekend started on the Friday evening at Jill and Philip Meadowcroft’s Salcombe home. They had very generously offered to host a BBQ in their garden but the rain arrived before the guests, and Philip was forced to distribute sausages and burgers through the bedroom window. There was no hint of any dampened enthusiasm however in the somewhat restricted space that was available as the rain poured down outside.

Fortunately the weather front had gone through by Saturday morning. The day dawned bright and sunny with a brisk south westerly pushing up the Estuary. After a briefing at Batson dinghy park, 23 Wanderers, a Drascombe and our ‘rescue’ dory prepared for the first leg of the cruise, which culminated in a rendezvous at Mill Bay for lunch. Some helms sailed out beyond the Bar although the beat was certainly demanding with a flooding tide and squalls keeping the crews on their toes. Under the headland towards the Cadmus Rocks, the bluff shielded the dinghies completely and little eddies of air seemed to waft downwards from every direction. The run back to join the fleet on Mill Bay was relatively soothing by comparison. With everyone safely ashore, including Roger and Jane Rowe who had joined us from the East Portlemouth side, 24 Wanderer dinghies and their crews were spread across the entire beach like a high water mark – a truly magnificent site. The picnics appeared and disappeared as we soaked up the sunshine on this lovely sandy beach. The team photograph recorded the occasion before the fleet gradually
melted away, much I’m sure to the relief of those who had previously been enjoying Mill Bay. We all enjoyed a great run up the estuary amongst the moored yachts towards South Pool and in to Water Head Creek where we explored the very pretty and tranquil Goodshelter reaches, before again rendezvousing on the beach opposite Gullet Point. A call was made to Egremont, along the lines that 52 hungry Wanderer sailors were shortly to converge on the steamer for a cream tea. Scones to be at the ready! For those unfamiliar with the Estuary, the Egremont is a converted Mersey Steamer which provides the floating base for the Island Cruising Club. Of course the caterers had been forewarned that cream teas were amongst the highlights of every West Country weekend. Expectations had to be met. The initial challenge however was for the 24 dinghies to tie up to eight mooring buoys lying to the north east of Egremont from where the launches would ferry us to the waiting scones. Inevitably there were some interesting manoeuvres which were not altogether successful first time round. Persistence and some vigorous support finally ensured that we were strung out bow to transom off the buoys. The upper saloon was heaving with cream, jam and scones and large volumes of tea such, that in spite of our very best intentions, there was a healthy surplus remaining after everyone had had their fill. The next deadline was dinner at the Yacht Club, so without further ado the fleet disentangled their painters and slipped away for an exhilarating beat back up the fairway, this time with wind against tide.

Budgie, the Yacht Club caterer delivered a most excellent meal, which was followed by a game which is best left unexplained, other than to say that the two teams excelled themselves by fully participating in accelerating a model sailing boat on a bit of string through the cutlery and glasses in and around four tables with no breakages! The Gospel choir, led by John and Ann Eakins, was then convened to lead an evangelical, arm waving rendition to ‘recall’ Chris King from Dubai. This will seem a very confusing account for those who are not party to Philip’s skills as a lyricist – but the evening progressed to the Salcombe anthem and finally another masterpiece to the tune of the famous hymn, ‘Guide me, O thou great Redeemer’.

Sunday was another wonderfully sunny day. Budgie had been commissioned by Philip to photograph the Wanderer fleet on the start line opposite the Yacht Club. To achieve this feat, everyone rendezvoused on the beach at Small’s Cove and at the given signal sailed out to form the required line. With a strong incoming tide and again blustery conditions there was at least one minor collision but the photograph was taken and the fleet was released to sail on towards Frogmore, where again a rendezvous had been arranged on a beach opposite Ham Point. It was a joy to see so many dinghies pouring through the Bag on their run up to Halwell Point before they streamed through the mouth of the creek. Most of the fleet continued almost to Frogmore before turning in to a brisk wind and finally to Kingsbridge for the lunch stop. The beat back to Batson was indeed an exhilarating and challenging sail. There were no casualties however and indeed everyone felt very exhilarated and self satisfied that they had achieved the length and breadth of the estuary in such style and of course with such convivial company.

My thanks to everyone who attended and made it such a fun weekend in true Wanderer style.

David Davies