Walton Backwaters 13-14 July

A fresh westerly breeze was blowing when I arrived at Titchmarsh Marina to launch my Swampscott dory Maisie Lou. We were due to meet up at Stone Point and I understood that two boats had launched the previous day, Dave Smith and his crew Paul in the Skipper 17 Mischief and Mike Woodhouse in his Lune Pilot. Another DCA member turned up just after I had launched, David Slater with his grandson in his Laurent Giles designed 12 foot Dabchick. He seemed to be getting on OK so I left him to it and set off to seek out the others.

When I got to Stone Point it was to discover that the fresh wind had forced the Lune Pilot into the shallows on a lee shore and we didn’t see Mike again until pub time in the evening. Mischief had arrived and also Charles Proudfoot in Tai Tai II his Roamer. We waited some considerable time but the Dabchick didn’t appear so we set of for a sail to Landermere Creek. I had not yet sorted out the best sheeting for my new lug mainsail so it was rather hard work in the conditions — everybody well reefed. After a bit I called on my little 1.5 Yamaha which kept up with the others pretty well.

We spent the middle of the day rafted up at anchor in Landermere, yarning and eating. It was almost low water when we decided to head for the marina again. I didn’t recognise the place at low water and foolishly ran downwind into the shallows. However after a bit of wading I was able to sail off to windward in the few inches of water that I had. I was able to sail back almost the whole way in spite of my sheeting problems except the last 100 yards when the wind was on the nose and the moorings thick as flies on a cow pat.

All the boats were assembled at the marina:

Charles Proudfoot Roamer Tai Tai II Dave Smith and Paul Skipper 17 Mischief David Slater and grandson Dabchick Mike Woodhouse Lune Pilot Peter Bick Swampscott Dory Maisie Lou

We finally met at the pub where we dined before returning to our boats to sleep. I originally intended to pitch a tent at the marina but my estate car had sufficient space to sleep in so I settled down in a dark corner of the car park just out range of the security flood lights.

I was disturbed about 2am by two men breaking into a car a few yards away. There was nobody nearby but I managed to frighten them off without letting on I was alone and half naked and stuck in the boot! I was able to give a description of one of them to the police in the morning. It appeared they were intending to siphon petrol out of the tanks but were tempted by a collection of cassettes, which they didn’t take because they were of classical music. As it happens the harbourmaster whose car it was, was sleeping in a caravan only a few yards away so I could have called for assistance. They missed his power tools so I did some good. Arising from this it seems that the best place for your car and trailer in a marina car park is under a light. There was a security patrol but it stopped at midnight when the entrance gates were locked and barred. In the morning most people set out to further explore the Backwaters.

The consensus was that we didn’t like sleeping in a marina. Bright lights all night and all sorts of disturbances! A shower in the morning was nice, but next year we will return to the peaceful creeks.