I was beginning to think that Harwich had become a forgotten corner of the country! With less than a week to go before the 2009 East Coast Cruise, only one boat had indicated their intention to attend. And I was wondering whether all the effort of organising the event was worth it. However, by the Wednesday, I’d received another registration form in the post and a couple of phone calls from other members to say they would be coming along. Ourselves included, that would make five boats in all and with a reasonable weather forecast in the offing, should make for a good weekend.

Graham & Wendy Davis were the first to arrive on Friday afternoon. With everyone else making their own eating arrangements that evening, Bev & had I invited them to our house for dinner and we spent an enjoyable evening in their company. Richard and Chris Bend were staying at a local hotel and were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary. Congratulations to you both. Colin Gilbert was staying with friends in Shotley and would be meeting us on the water on Saturday morning; alas, no Sally this year as she would be taking Ellen to a very important ‘Fairy Party’! Hope it went well Sally. Finally, Chris Codlington was travelling down from Norwich on Saturday morning.

By Friday afternoon, an area of Low pressure had begun to sweep in from the Atlantic and the forecast for the East Coast on Saturday was now indicating south westerly winds, F3/4 with F4/5 on Sunday. Oh well, we’ll just have to play it by ear….. An email on the WCOA forum from Tim Robertson, who had also organised a cruise on the Pembrokeshire coast this weekend, advised potential attendees to his event that as the forecast for that area was winds F5/6, any sailing was unlikely. My sympathies Tim, but hope you enjoyed your stay in St. Anne’s Head.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and as predicted, the breeze gradually filled in from the SW. So far, so good. I’d packed the car on Friday afternoon so we could make a quick getaway after breakfast to be at the Harwich Town Sailing Club boat park by 9am. Everything went according to plan until we arrived in Harwich, only to discover that I’d left my mobile phone at home. This meant that I had no way of contacting Colin in Shotley to advise him of our plans. Bev was therefore despatched back to Manningtree whilst I started to prepare the boat along with Graham & Wendy, Richard & Chris and Chris C who had already arrived.

A briefing concluded with a plan to sail to the Walton and Frinton Yacht Club in the Walton Backwaters. Whilst this would mean a long beat across Dovercourt Bay, we had a Spring tide with us all the way and plenty of time. When Bev returned with my phone, I called Colin and arranged to meet him off the end of the Harwich Pilot’s pier. By 11.30, we were all afloat and after our rendezvous with Colin (and crew, Andrew Smith) we set off towards the harbour entrance.

The wind was a warm and comfortable SW F3 and with the sun shining brightly, made idyllic sailing as we tacked back and forth in the direction of the entrance to the Backwaters. From this point, it’s difficult to believe that an ‘inland sea’ exists beyond. As we neared the buoyed channel the wind freshened to a F4 and a couple of boats hove to and put in a reef. Tacking down the Walton Channel between the moored boats required everyone to keep their wits about them and to remember who had right of way! Finally, we entered Foundry Reach and the ‘last leg’ to the W&FYC. Here, we came alongside their very convenient pontoons and retrieved our picnic lunches. The ‘crews’ were all a bit soggy after the long beat, mine in particular complaining of wet knickers! So we found a spot by the water in the sunshine to eat and dry out a bit.

The tide this weekend was a big one and by the time we’d finished lunch the water was lapping at our feet. However, it was time to depart anyway. As it would be ‘downhill’ sailing all the way home, we decided to return via The Twizzle and round the back of Horsey Island. It was nice to ease the sheets and enjoy the rural views. We spotted a couple of seals too. Back out into Dovercourt Bay, the sea became choppier as we headed towards Harwich. It was good sailing although I was glad we were on a reach – ‘dun tacking’ for today.

Bev and I arrived first back at Harwich Green beach and recovered the boat onto our trolley. Richard & Chris, Graham & Wendy and Chris arrived shortly after and we helped them recover too while Colin and Andrew sailed on back to Shotley. However, there was still one more trolley left. Suddenly we noticed another Wanderer heading towards us. Had Colin decided to return to Harwich? But how did their trolley get there? Bev then pointed out that there were three people in the boat! As they came nearer, we saw that it was Mark (sail in any weather) Evans and David Drewery, veteran East Coast cruisers, with Mark’s daughter in W1438. We haven’t seen Mark and David for about three years so it was great to meet up again. Apparently, they’d arrived ‘on spec’ just as we were heading out of the harbour that morning and felt unable to catch us up so had sailed up The Orwell to Pin Mill for lunch at The Butt and Oyster.

We had all planned to eat at The Mogul Indian restaurant in Manningtree later and we invited Mark & David to join us. We were delighted that they did and spent a very convivial evening. Mark was taking his boat to Alton Water the following day so sadly would not be joining us again.

I woke early on Sunday morning and immediately switched on my computer and started trailing through various weather sites to see if I could find a forecast I liked! The overall verdict was a southerly F4 although the Met Office was predicting gusts of 25mph around midday. Bev was not happy about that! Nevertheless, we packed our bags and set off for Harwich.

It was a bright sunny day and a moderate wind was already blowing straight off the sea into the harbour from the south. We met up with Graham & Wendy and Chris C and discussed our options. A passage along the Stour estuary to Manningtree was the obvious choice as it would be a straight reach there and back. However, Bev was rather concerned about those Met Office gusts and was reluctant to sail. I asked Chris if he would be prepared to have me aboard his boat as crew and fortunately, he was. Bev was more than happy to drive back to Manningtree and meet us for lunch. I phoned Colin in Shotley and briefed him on our plans, to which he was very agreeable. I then received a text message from Richard and Chris to say that they would not be sailing today. So it would be just three Wanderers en route to Manningtree.

Having once again made our rendezvous on the water with Colin and Andrew, we set off in a Westerly direction, our boats making good speed on a beam reach. I don’t often get the chance to crew these days and I must admit I was rather enjoying it. Chris’s boat is an ex sailing school, Winton built craft and has obviously had a hard life. However, Chris is an excellent helmsman and we easily held our own with the two other newer boats. Old Wanderer’s never die – they just sail on & on & on & on ……!

We made such good progress that we decided to take a break at Wrabness beach as there was unlikely to be enough water at Manningtree yet. It was very sheltered under the trees on the south shore of the estuary and we enjoyed a drink and a snack whilst watching various boats out on the water, including an impressive trimaran travelling at incredible speed.

It was then onwards towards Manningtree, this last leg taking about half an hour. We brought our boats up onto the beach and decamped onto the sea wall for lunch. Just then, an old Wanderer friend, Ken Steggal came over and greeted us. Ken belongs to the Stour Sailing Club and reluctantly sold his boat a few years ago due to health problems. However, he looked well and it was good to see him again.

After a drink at the club, we prepared our boats for the return journey and set off back towards Harwich. The wind had backed about 20 degrees so we had to sail close hauled to lay the course. This called for a bit of hiking out in the gusts although they never quite reached 25mph as forecast. However, we made good speed but as crew, I was getting wetter than usual. As we neared Parkstone Quay a large ship was just about to leave so we hung back while she swung round in the channel. No point in calling ‘Starb’d’! Colin & Andrew sailed into Shotley whilst Graham & Wendy and Chris & I made our way round to Harwich beach once again.

It was the annual ‘Harwich Raft Race’ day and although the actual race had finished, there was still a large crowd on the beach enjoying the sunshine. We recovered our boats onto their trolleys and with a bit of extra help, pulled them over the sand and back into the boat park where we started to de rig and prepare for the journey home. Bev came to meet us and asked me how I had got on crewing.
“Great”, I said, “but I’ve got wet knickers.”
“Oh, I’m so pleased” she replied with a big smile on her face!

It had been a wonderful weekend; good weather, good company and lots of good sailing.

East Coast Cruise 2009 attendees were:

Stephen Clampin and Bev Pengelly. W1318
Graham and Wendy Davis. W1527
Colin Gilbert and Andrew Smith. W1163
Richard and Chris Bend. W70
Chris Codlington. W130