harwich wayfrer

Harwich wayfarer

A Fun Weekend Sailing in Harwich February 2010

The word on the street was as well as sailing in Wayfarers out at sea, these weekends include the opportunity to explore the area, excellent evening entertainment, good food and a few bevvies with a convivial crowd. I therefore quickly took up the offer when invited to join the second Wayfarer weekend trip of the year organised by Simon and Rachel McEvoy. Due to the inconvenient tide times at Brancaster , the venue for this trip was a hostel in Harwich Old Town, conveniently sited opposite the Harwich Town Sailing Club and boat park, and within a stone’s throw of the sea, an area I hadn’t been to before.

Having had a pleasant journey down on the Friday afternoon, we met at the 1912 hostel, where we were assigned bunks, checked the radios and had our briefing for the following day. The plan was to make the most of the large expanse of the harbour area and river estuaries keeping out of the busy shipping lanes. My worries about having to sail before dawn and having to rig in the dark were not confirmed as launch time was set as 8am. We then crossed the road for a few drinks and a lovely meal of beef stew and apple crumble with the members of the Harwich Town SC, who made us all feel very welcome. After dinner out came the musical instruments, and before we knew it we were being entertained by a talented group of folk musicians, who were members of Harwich Town SC. The Commodore Mark Holbrook, then proceeded to serenade us all with his rendition of Wild Thing, we just had to join in, and out came the Notts County accordion and guitars.

Waking at 5:45 we soon learnt that the favourable forecast for Saturday had suddenly deteriorated with gale warnings and plans had to be rapidly changed with cancellation of the 8 am launch. On reviewing the current weather conditions which didn’t match the forecast, after much deliberation over breakfast, it was agreed that those who wanted to, could sail but the sail was to be limited to the Harwich harbour area. Launching into the waves I was happy sailing with Simon in Miss Quinn leading the way with her distinctive red sails. At one point Simon hoved Miss Quinn to, I thought to wait for the rest of the fleet and to take photographs, until out came a cigar and I realised he was taking a sneaky cigar stop. We took advantage of the incoming tide to sail to Shotley Marina for a warming drink and comfort stop. Sailing back was more of a challenge as the tide had changed and the wind had freshened, there were a few interesting gusts. We happily returned to shore to de-rig, freshen up and enjoy a glass of Bucks Fizz. Seven boats went out Miss Quinn, Michangel, Ullathorne, Topsy, Samphire, Nostromo and Bella Donna.

After an all-day breakfast in a Café on the Harwich Town Pier with pleasant views of the harbour and a quick explore of the town’s second hand bookshops, most of us found that we needed to rest our eyes. Those of us who only had forty winks and hadn’t gone bird watching, met at the Harwich Lifeboat Station for a prearranged tour. Harwich covers a large area, receives a large number of call outs averaging at over 130 per year and yet only has 1 paid staff, the rest being 30 volunteers. We were given a talk by two of the lifeboat men and invited to climb aboard and shown around their inshore and off-shore boats. We all came away reassured that if we ever needed their services that we would be in safe and skilled hands, and the money raised is put to good use.

As is tradition the Saturday night meal was a Chinese takeaway, and despite our ravenous appetites, there were enough prawn crackers to be eaten with hot cross buns for breakfast the following day. The evening entertainment got on its way with quizzes and a speed crossword competition organised by Rachel and Simon, followed by poetry reading, games and singing. The game of secrets revealed that much to our surprise, that amongst us was a writer who would make Mary Whitehouse blush describing a sailor returning from a cold sail, peeling off their dry suit to reveal their thermal layers.

The previously over pessimistic Saturday forecast, turned out to be correct for the Sunday with driving cold rain greeting us early in the morning with reports of floods in the South East. It was quickly decided that a further sail was not on the cards, and boats were quickly packed away in conditions which meant those whose waterproofs were a little old soon discovered that they had reached their use by date.

Being driven home in conditions that made me want to still be in a Wayfarer, having recharged my batteries, my thoughts were of a lovely entertaining weekend in good company that seemed more like a week away.