Windermere, I dont understand??

Sans Bateau

Sans Bateau

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Just had a weekend doing some walking in the Lakes, Sat great, Sunday serious rain. On Sunday, we mainly just took a drive around doing short walks and visited Bowness. We were disappointed to see one armed bandit halls and pubs advertising and selling cheap alcohol by the lakeside, also encouraging visitors in to watch wide screen footy. (why visit the Lakes then spend the day in a pub or gaming hall? Such a waste)

Anyway, my real question is a sailing one, why own a 35ft plus boat and then keep it on a lake? It just seems to me to be so restrictive, personally I'd get bored, there cant be many places to sail to. More like a caravan park for boats, or am I missing something? Perhaps someone who keeps their boat there can help.

For me I'm looking forward to another weekend up in the Lakes without the family get togethers we had this weekend, so we can go a bit more wild with our walks.
 
It probably gets used a lot more than many coastal boats seem to. Some never seem to get checked let alone used.
 
Having spent a year on Windermere:

I think some boats are there because it is "less challenging" and more "family friendly" than the sea, they are caravans with fantastic scenery and a bit of sailing occasionally if the owners so desire (and the people on the next mooring to me admitted this, they enjoyed the occasional sail but just living on board, sitting in the cockpit and watching the wildlife is fantastic in itself). Having slept on my boat on Windermere I can see their point, got to be one of the best moorings in the world!

There are no tides. For the day sailor this is a wonderful benefit. No worries or planning, just roll up and sail irrespective of the time. Not many places in the North West you can do that (this was the attraction to me).

The fluky winds on Windermere channelled down from the surrounding hills actually make sailing on Windermere more technically demanding than open sea. If you are so inclined you can get really in to your sail handling. It takes a top team to perform well on the lake.

The big downside for me was the tacking. Unless you are lucky and get a consistent easterly or westerly you are going to be tacking regularly, every 10 minutes or so. Fine if you are feeling energetic, but if, as was often the case with me (single-handed), your desire was a leisurely cruise up and down the lake, you could be so busy tacking and trimming that there was insufficient time to relax and enjoy before the next actions were required.

Why 35+ footers - back up to the floating caravan as mentioned above. Holiday cottages and static / large caravan pitches are very expensive. I know it was much cheaper for me to keep a boat on the lake than it was for one of my friends to keep his large caravan parked just south of Bowness, and I had better views, more peace & quiet etc. It does actually make sense if you want a family getaway / weekend bolt hole.
 
Thanks for that, puts a much better understanding on it for me. I can see that spending a nigh at anchor in a secluded bay, just the wildlife, would have its attractions
 
Lakey has some great pictures, but here is one of mine from a couple of years ago. 5am on Windermere, looking North, the loudest sound is the fish jumping /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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I've just got a mooring for my 19ft yacht (I know we're getting off the point of having a larger yacht!) the mooring is very reasonable, easy access from Ferry Nab and in my case I have a 'floating tent' rather than a 'floating caravan'! Spectacular scenery, easy to get to and great sailing grounds for my little girl to learn to sail.
 
I had the franchise at the "Spinnaker Club" in the marina village for 2 years. A loverly house 15 mtrs from the lake went with it, also a cheap berth for my 23ft jaguar. As for the sailing, it was a poor substitute for the sea, and I tired of it after 1 year. I can however see the attraction for those who live in the NW around the Manchester area as a place to get away from city life, and see it as a good place to keep a floating second home.
 
I sailed with Neddie on Windermere and bought his boat - Windermere is ideal for what we want, easy sailing for my other half whilst she learns, no tides to worry about, ideal place to take friends 10 year old lad, plenty of facilities close by, cheaper than taking the caravan, more privacy than the caravan, can be surprisingly quiet even in Summer, etc, etc.

It won't please everyone but will do for us.
 
Neddie has it all in the post higher up.

Beautiful. Quiter than you'd think. You'll do more sailing handling and manouveres in an hour than you may in a day at sea. (I once sailed up the west of Belle Isle into a southerly breeze. It's all moorings and it took me nearly two hours and more than 80 tacks, singlehanded.

(just entering that channel here)
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As a day sailor with limited periods available, and living on the shores, we found it just perfect.
I do wonder about the bigger boats. They can't be so much fun, but the accommodation thing is a factor.
Now that I have more time, I've gone to a trailable classic dinghy (is this a classic? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) so I'll be trying other lakes and maybe Morecambe Bay.

I can see that there isn't the same challenge as a passage or cruising the Clyde and the Kyles, but it suits us fine.
 
Don't go there.
It is a reference to a sadly departed forumite.



.....and yes, it was a jib. Poor thing had nearly had it's guts blown out and still they complained. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
By the way. The new boat has a jib with a luff that's a bit too long for the forestay. So I'm reluctant to post pics of that under way
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I think that the references to sail handling etc are a tad ott, to say the least..
WIndermere is beautiful, but it really is the pits to sail on.. for 1 or two days, fine, after that, its just a long, narrow - err lake.. thats it.. no challenges at all.
As for the floating caravans, yes, why not.. but as a true sailing venue, offering 'challenges - err, I think not.
 
My very first sail on Windermere, and my first on my first own boat - 38 knots of real wind (as measured by a moored boat), 3 reefs, #3 foresail.

We had a cracking day, if a bit too close to the edge at times, crew of two novices and a YM Instructor (fortunately).

No challenge, none at all. Solid F8 sailing less than 50 metres from a solid rock shoreline in an unknown 30 year-old boat with an unknown crew /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

God we flew that day /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Needie
NO you didnt have a F8.. thats the 'problem' you had a reasonable blow.. but.. no sea conditions to match.
Beaufort is about sea conditions.. the wind speed (Maintained) is only part of it.. without the sea state it is not Beaufort.

As for LS and being bored.. I lived around Barrowford (Lancs) for nearly 30 years.. sailed many boats on Windermere.. power.. sail.. I dived there.. yuk ! lol..

I flew over it many times in my light aircraft.. it is like a river from the sky... not a lake.. very, very easy to get bored - with the sailing I must add.
The scenery is superb.. but repetative.. It IS a little backwater of idylic beauty - a place to wake up to of tranquility.. but as said.. for real sailing.. its got a lot of things NOT going for it.


I spent many days in a Bradwell 18 on Windermere.. it really is lovely. for a few days.

Still have a photo from 1962 in a row boat called Joem on WM with mom n dad.. we used to hire a cottage - still there - in Hawkshead I beleive - or near there - called Tiplog.. Dad was secratary of Mensa... it was - then - a Mensa offering - spent most summers up there... in later life.. we used it as often as possible..

Dont get me wrong.. its a great place for a short time.. its challenges are severely limited.
 
I feel this turning into a Blue Water Is Best thread and the truth is that, of course, both types of boating have a lot going for them. True, on the lake you can have severe weather and you always have a rocky lee shore, but there is no current and you can go home if it's too bad.
On the other hand you can have a superb day out ghosting in pleasant weather or on your beams ends if you wish. The geography is both a bonus and a drawback in that the hills give you fluky winds and stunning scenery, but a smallish body of water with little choice of direction of travel. But for day sailing, as long as you relish the conditions provided, it can be different every time.
Live-aboard, blue-water cruising is a lifestyle choice whereas lake-sailing is a pastime.
 
Patronising Git /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

For use at sea [ QUOTE ]

Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spindrift. The foam is blown in well-marked streaks along the direction of the wind.

[/ QUOTE ]

For use on land [ QUOTE ]
Breaks twigs off trees; generally impedes progress.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fresh water doesn't foam as much as salt water, but it still forms waves, crests etc. in the same way. Wave not to be confused with swell! When it's blowing straight up or down the lake with a 10 mile run to accumulate wave energy it gets rough. At times I wonder (the worst I've experienced at sea is only 55 knots) if actually the confines of the lake make some conditions worse than at sea - there is less space to dissipate accumulated wave energy and more solid cliff to reflect it back than one finds at sea.

I came off Windermere because of the continual tacking & fluky winds, frankly sailing at sea in the same conditions is easier. Sailing the same environment all the time does reduce some of the challenge, but the lack of room to manoeuvre puts it right back in there. It's different, it has different challenges, but I would not for a moment say that they are any less, just different.

I wouldn't go back, but it is a piece of water to be respected just as much as any other. Horses for courses.
 
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