After another frantic round of “remember exactly what is needed to go into the car for a weekend of camping and sailing” we finally set off into the Bank Holiday road madness for the Waveney River Centre near Beecles on the Norfolk Broads. In true style we arrived just as it got dark. The first big decision was to either put up the tent before it got too dark or eat before the pub stopped serving – no contest. In fact with help from fellow Wanderers we managed both, even though a non-sailor with a tent 10 times bigger than ours had taken our pitch and encroached onto half of the one remaining pitch on the campsite. Tip - arrive earlier. There must be something “special” about Wanderer owners – our 4 tents collectively could have fitted inside those surrounding us.

The Waveney River Campsite leads onto a marina. The complex is well set up with a gentle slipway, good space to park boats overnight, a swimming pool for non-sailing days, a well stocked shop and the pub – what more could we want?

Saturday was glorious. 7 boats set off upwind for Oulton Broad in warm spring sunshine and a gentle if fluky force 2 breeze. The Waveney had rather a tide running but there was enough boat speed to counteract it, and the reeds to either side channelled the breeze and gave a useful lift.

The plan was for Dotterel to lead the way with Tim and Niamh Robertson in Joshua Slocum sweeping up the rear. The slipway was still in sight as Tim’s mainsail fell down and Dotterel’s mast got stuck in a tree. Tip – do not sit a 5 year old where helm needs to be and do not try to reposition picnic bag during a tack! The rest of the morning was less eventful and entirely delightful. A right hand turn (if you can do that in a boat) took us along Oulton Dyke which opened out into Oulton Broad. This lovely wide expanse of water offered the first chance of more leisurely beating and a chance to relax before mooring up alongside the park and bandstand. Good chance for a cup of tea and ice cream before setting off on the return trip. We took a detour towards Somerleyton Swing Bridge before retracing our tracks to the campsite and a group meal in the pub.

Rain showers arrived during the night and the ever increasing wind the next day put paid to sailing in favour of swimming, walks, National Trust properties and a bit of shopping. The camping group numbers were increased by Chris Codling from Norwich who did it properly and camped on his boat. When the wind eventually eased, 3 never to be defeated boats went out into the evening sunshine, meaning that there was sailing on every day. Tim and Colin even managed to fly their spinnaker, although by this time the tide offered more propulsion than the breeze. They did however need to get the paddles out to get back to the pontoon.

The bank holiday forecast was for strong winds late in the day, so 6 boats set off early and tried to drift up tide towards Beccles. Progress appeared reasonable until after half an hour we looked back and realised we were only about 200 metres from the start point. It was then we realised that the engine was not much good left in the boot of the car. Tip – if in doubt put the engine on the boat! Chris and Richard in W70 were more sensible and were therefore able to give us our 2nd tow of the weekend until we caught up with the others who seemed to be sailing rather well in nil wind.

In a river about 10 boat lengths wide short tacks were the order of the day. Needless to say our progress against the tide increased with the wind speed until in the end it got rather exciting as we hiked out to keep the boat flat. We never did reach Beccles as the strengthening gusts got quite challenging but Ellen got a good taste of being in a boat in a bit of a wind and an even better taste of what it was like to get stuck in a tree for the 2nd time! We know Colin is a keen bird watcher but that was going a bit far even for him! This time Chris demonstrated nerves of steel and towed us out. Tip on this occasion – keep away from the bank and reeds whilst gybing.

Thanks to Tim for a well organised and enjoyable weekend. I am looking forward to next year as long as we can go somewhere without any trees!

Sally Gilbert W1163

Fellow wanderers were:-
Gavin Davis and Shirley Bennett ‘Odds and Sods’ - W1235
Richard and Chris Bend - W90
Joe Wright and his Dad - W468
John Cavell and Tony - ‘Latitude’ - W1428
Mike and Lesley Bennett ‘Y Knot’ - W1416
Tim and Niamh Robertson ‘Joshua Slocum’ - W1038
Colin, Sally and Ellen ‘the Woodland Folk’ Gilbert ‘Dotterel’ - W1163
Chris Codling – W130