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    Windermere Revisited



    Windermere Revisited

    I return to the waters of my youth, to the very bay on Windermere where we used to stay on our holidays when I was very young, and where I learnt to sail. James Woolgrove from South Windermere Sailing Club takes me out in a club Wayfarer, and we sail across the lake to revisit my old flat, and the island of Blake Holme, which I as a child believed to be the real Wild Cat Island in Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and `Amazons” books.

    MUSIC
    Monarch – Laura Platt
    Footprints in the Sand – Roots and Recognition featuring Melanie Bell
    – from Epidemic Sound
    www.epidemicsound.com

    INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING?
    Read my book, ‘The Dinghy Cruising Companion’ for much more information about dinghy cruising
    and order my new book ‘Sailing the Shallows’ – out now!
    www.bloomsbury.com
    And join the Dinghy Cruising Association:
    www.dinghycruising.org.uk

    AVEL DRO – my own boat.
    Avel Dro is an Ilur designed by François Vivier, and built of clinker plywood by Les Charpentiers Reunis of Cancale in 1994. I bought her in France in 2003 to import her into the UK, and more recently returned her to France again. The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her simple boom-less lugsail rig and lack of a mainsheet horse, (sometimes controversial among my viewers). Although rare in Britain, Ilurs are relatively common in France. Modern Ilurs are slightly different from mine, as they have more built in buoyancy. The name Avel Dro is Breton, Avel = wind, Dro = to turn – so it means a whirlwind.
    Length 4.44 m
    Sail area 12.2 m²
    Beam 1.70 m
    Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m√

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    30 Comments

    1. @johnstephen2869 on

      I just loved watching you guys sailing, and now I don’t feel so bad after all. However I know how it is to visit old stamping grounds, It’s both happy and sad, If you know what I mean. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could turn back the clock? Thank you guys, God speed.

    3. @geoffmilner on

      Roger, do you think growing up in the Lakes is partially responsible for you being so much of an open borders liberal lefty who looks down people with patriotic feelings who can see mass immigration destroying their country? I expect you don't understand this comment given what you said on your recent video. Hope you don't vote in the UK since you dislike the country you would never defend.

    4. @iainhirons9909 on

      With the new cinematic music…….I was expecting Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn to make their appearance…..diving in the water……followed by a loon….

    5. @troytreeguy on

      Lovely Roger, I sailed on a saltwater bay as a child, most of it was so shallow I could see the bottom or even drag the dagger if it was all the way down. Sunny days lazing about a sand island exploring reading eating snacks. I look forward to going back one day. Be well.

    8. @ianseddon9347 on

      Used to camp and sail with the Camping Club Boating Group on a field of the YMCA camp in the next bay …. Many happy memories of sailing and canoeing on that bit of Windermere… you’re right it’s all fancy now… not camping with an Elsan and a primus!

    10. @robstevens5503 on

      That seems like a lovely place to be nostalgic about. Things never stay the same as what they are in our memories. Time moves on. That is why memories and nostalgia are so precious.

    14. @bjornragnarsson7564 on

      Hi Roger. Saw it at min. ca.10:10–10:20. You mention that the rain gear. is unsuitable for dinghy cruising. I bought a similar one (66˚N) in Iceland. We sailed (10T. sailboat) over to Scotland and left it on board because it was so stiff and that damn velcro was stuck to everything that was a little hairy. But it protected me well in the Atlantic low-pressures. Then I decided that my ocean cruising was over, my body stiff and less energy than before. SoGoEasy and enjoy the ride on my dinghy. Safe sailing

    15. @andybullock6848 on

      As an Australian who also imbibed Arthur Ransome as a boy, I hired a Laser to explore Lake Windermere during a visit to the UK in 2018. The lethal boom on that Wayfarer looks lower at its outer end than at the gooseneck.

    17. @johnc6809 on

      Wonderful to see you out on Windermere Rodger. Pity about the shop being closed. Never landed on the island before? We have a beautiful old watercolour from the Lake District. It’s a view of Coniston Water. For myself here in California, it was Silver Lake, and sailing Puff. Thank you for this. Your latest book was a joy.

    18. @richardkeen1996 on

      Really lovely to follow you on your journey of recollections!! Change is inevitable – when I was small we sailed from Birdham Pool in Chichester Harbour and it was all very rustic and simple. It's still there but, like your family's holiday home, it's changed and is just not quite the same anymore. Perhaps it's an age thing??!

    21. @colourdream-C22 on

      After watching you for years, nice to see you near my favourite Ullswater.
      But I also love Coniston and I stayed in the Yewdale a few times. Where i had interesting conversations.
      You are correct, it is swanky, but unfortunately the youngsters in the lake district can not afford properties.
      They are all being bought up and converted by city dwellers. They are now AirBNB etc, and, such as Coniston, the community that was once the village is disappearing to be replaced by temporary residents.
      There is increasingly around all the villages, the soul is disapearing.
      If you read this Roger, I'm taking the Wayfarer to Morbihan in June……

    22. @nesleinf on

      It's quite narrow for two grown ups in a Wayfarer 😀 You were quite too close to the water for comfort sometimes in my opinion. I have once capsized in an eastgerman contraption looking very much like a Wayfarer. It came suddenly as a surprise, so I don't like it when the water comes too close to the railing 🙂
      Nice video – and you are right. Islands are for visiting and exploring 😀
      Love from Denmark

    27. @ramblerandy2397 on

      Hee-hee, I love Roger's aahs and ohs, as he negotiates a Wayfarer in heavy wet weather gear. Quick boat, but that bloody low boom does seem to want to take every opportunity it can to give you a good clout. Dare I say that Roger has been spoilt rotten by the relative comforts of the boomless/loose footed Avel Dro. Plus another sail [jib].? Good grief.! 😊

    29. @sailingspark9748 on

      Sadly, it is not just the Lake District, everyone wants to live or vacation on the water, it tends to push out the locals who have been there for generations. I know I can barely afford to even visit the town I grew up in, it's also completely unrecognizable from my faded memories.

      That aside, I am glad I am not the only one who hates sailing their dinghy on her ear. My GP tends to get very stubborn when the rail gets close to the waves.

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