One weekend at the end of August last summer, Mark, Joy and myself set off for a trip north from Paglesham. A fourth member had declined to join us, perhaps because our boats were bouncing about on their moorings with the stiff SW breeze. Having only three crew dictated the use of a single boat, which would be quite crowded, but not impossibly so since we had decided to travel light and to eat mainly in pubs and cafes rather than carrying a cargo of food and cooking equipment. Mark rowed some of the luggage out to the moored Wayfarer in our small and leaky tender and returned already soaked. Rowing to the moorings was more exhausting than I could ever remember, not just because of the wind and current, but because the tide was very high, reducing the shelter from the seawalls. I rowed out next and beached the Wayfarer in the saltings so that we could get ourselves and the rest of the luggage aboard without further soakings.

We pushed off and hastened away under bare pole while we sorted and stowed the luggage. Hoisting a small jib further increased our speed, but we were not tempted to hoist any more sails than this. Burnham week was in full swing and as we turned right into the Crouch a safety launch approached, thinking that we might be in trouble since we were the only boat with only one sail. We thanked them and continued out into the Raysand Channel, a sandwich lunch being served en route. Our original plan was to head for Maldon, but once one reaches the vicinity of the North Buxey, the Colne is the same distance as the Blackwater and, since the wind was going that way, we followed it! We anchored off Mersea Stone and, because it was getting dark, we pitched our tents at the top of the beach rather than in the usual place a couple of hundred yards away behind the seawall. It was quite a problem getting the tent pegs even part way into the compacted sand and shingle. The wind had now moderated and, as soon as the tents were up, we got back aboard the Wayfarer and sailed over to Brightlingsea for fish and chips in the cafe near the hard, then back to the tents after the pub closed.

The next morning Joy bravely went swimming — we said we would next time — then we visited the nearby country park with its smart new information kiosk. After that, we sped up the Colne, arriving at Rowhedge just as the pub started serving lunch. While we ate in the pub garden, more and more yachts arrived and tied up alongside the pub. It happened that one of these yachts was sailed by some ex-club member friends, so we decided to join up in the Pyfleet that evening. After anchoring in the Pyfleet, they sailed around in the Wayfarer to remind themselves of uncomfortable cruises of years gone by and then we all had supper on their comfortable and newly acquired yacht, before landing at the oyster hard and trekking to the nearest pub, which is some distance inland.

In the morning, an early start was essential to avoid the boat being stranded and we arrived at Wivenhoe before 1000 to meet Eric who had driven out from London to join us for the day. We spent some time at the Nottage Institute, which is well worth a visit, with its local maritime history collection upstairs and a production line of clinker rowing boats, which evening class members are building, downstairs. When we left the Nottage Institute, it was time for lunch, so we sailed over to Rowhedge again, exploring the Roman River and very nearly capsizing on the way.

After lazing in the sun for a bit we set off downriver to find somewhere to moor the boat while we returned to London between weekends. We headed up Arlesford Creek with a following wind and falling tide and when we grounded near the old watermill at the head of the creek, there was no possibility of sailing anywhere else, so the boat stayed there, moored over some rather uneven lumps of mud. We had a pleasant walk back to Wivenhoe along the disused railway line and Eric gave us all a lift home.

The next Friday evening, Mark, Sue and myself were on a train out from Liverpool St to Arlesford, arriving at dusk. Tired, hungry and laden with gear we found it a long walk from the station to the creek, where we pitched the tents, then an even longer walk into Brightlingsea, where we had a good meal. The next morning, the wind was light, south‑westerly, so we made an early start, heading south. We only just escaped from Arlesford Creek before being stranded by the falling tide. To break the monotony of 20 miles of light wind tacking, we deviated into West Mersea for lunch and an hour’s exploration ashore. That evening, we saw the unusual sight of a 12m yacht sailing in the Crouch. Although in these days of multihulls, 12m are not the fastest yachts, we found that she tacked past our tattily rigged Wayfarer like a car overtaking a bicycle. We camped that night near Burnham on Crouch — supper in a pub again — then completed our return to Paglesham the next morning.

I have to admit that this cruise account is partly intended as a free advertisement for the Hostellers Sailing Club at Paglesham in Essex. It is an unusual club in that dinghy cruising is traditionally one of the main activities and the club itself owns several cruising dinghies for members’ use, although members who own and sail their own boats are equally welcome. It is a small and informal club and there is no proper clubhouse — just a garden shed. Our dinghy cruising activities have declined over the years along with the total of our membership. Also we had a couple of mishaps while cruising a few years ago, causing much damage to one boat and the loss of another, but thankfully not of life or limb. This may have discouraged the more adventurous members. However, things have started to look better this year with a few more new members and a short, but enjoyable cruise as described above. I hope that next season we will be able to do more East Coast cruising and DCA members would be most welcome to join us, with or without their boats.

(For information, please contact me at 90 Tavistock Road, Fleet, Hants, GU13 8EZ — 0252 629902).