Back in April, when we all thought Spring had arrived, I was asked if I wanted to go sailing on the Norfolk Broads on the first May Bank holiday weekend. At the time the weather was warm, the sky blue and there was a light breeze so it seemed churlish to say no. By the Tuesday before we were due to travel our esteemed organiser, Tim Robertson, very nearly emailed all those who had registered to pull the plug on the weekend as the weather forecast was appalling.

However the weather doesn’t put off Wanderer owners that easily, so Colin, Sally and Ellen Gilbert, Graham and Wendy Davies, Tim and Max Robertson and Richard and Chris Bend assembled at the Waveney River Centre on Saturday 1st May. Some participants were even brave enough to camp and appreciated the new wet rooms that have been built at the campsite for the new season.
 

You should never believe the weather forecast! No force 6 or driving rain, just the 'wildlife' on Richard and Chris' boat cover to frighten people.

We paid for our Broads licenses and having rigged Tim spent a few minutes demonstrating how to check rig settings especially mast rake and shroud tension which have a big effect on windward performance. We had the pleasure of watching 3 classic Broads sailing boats glide past and about 1130 we set off against a light breeze and tide in the direction of Oulton Broad.
 

Stately Broads cruisers

One feature of Broads sailing is that a light breeze can easily disappear when the river sinks low into the reed banks. Graham and Tim squeezed through but Richard and Colin resorted briefly to engine power. At least the motor got a short run after its winter lay-up. Once we had turned into Oulton Dyke the wind improved and we reached gently up to our lunch spot at the eastern end of the water. We enjoyed lunch in pleasant sunshine watching the club racing and expressing our shock that Tim did not seem to be equipped with the large stock of boiled eggs which have become traditional on Broads cruises.


Enjoying lunch. No eggs!

Re-launching without incident we set off down the broad avoiding the on-going races and spent half an hour practising man overboard drills with a float. Not too difficult in the conditions although co-ordinating coming alongside and picking up the buoy was a challenge for some and made clear the potential difficulty of bringing a large wet body over the side whilst controlling the boat.

Having enjoyed the open water of Oulton Broad we enjoyed a gentle sail back to the Waveney River Centre with the more enthusiastic continuing south until Beccles church was in view.

We all met up in the evening at the pub on the camp site where we discussed the days events over a very pleasant meal – who had grounded in the reeds and who had failed miserably to pick up the ‘man overboard’, despite the skilful manoeuvring of the helm, because she didn’t really want to get her gloves wet (that’s you Chris)! Saturday had been a real pleasure – warm when the sun shone and the breeze gentle enough to allow enjoyment of the scenery.

It couldn’t last though. Sunday dawned just as the met man had said – cold, wet and very windy indeed. Text messages confirmed that everybody had decided not to sail.


Southwold beach on Sunday 2nd May - the waves explain why we all decided not to try sailing that day.

We all went our separate ways for the day - some to NT properties, the swimming pool, the herring museum in Great Yarmouth and Southwold amongst other places, keeping our fingers firmly crossed for better weather on Monday. (Trying to keep warm in a pub in Southwold we met a woman who knows Margaret Dye! Margaret was not very well just before Christmas but this lady promised to pass on the news that Wanderers were sailing on the Broads despite the inclement weather)

The brave campers amongst us reported very gusty winds and lots of rain overnight but the forecast ‘front’ didn’t seem to have passed over Norfolk as quickly as had been predicted so we abandoned trying to sail on Monday too. “We don’t want to put the children off sailing altogether by going out when it is so unpleasant” was the feeling but there was at least one adult there who was quite pleased to be heading home early in a lovely warm car.

We have not attended many Wanderer cruises but this is the first time that we have only managed one days sailing out of three, so don’t be put off! Not a perfect sailing weekend, but far better than most of us had anticipated. As always the company was excellent and many thanks must go to Tim for organising the weekend.