Mud, and much more

Robert Stracey reveals why the mudflats of Walton Backwaters were a joy to come home to after a Round Britain Sail for MacMillan

- Robert Stracey

While trying to convince a sailing acquaintance of mine about the charms of the very picturesque Walton Backwaters, I knew I was failing when he simply exclaimed, ‘It’s just all mud and no water!’

I for one think that says far more about him than it does about the Backwaters, or any part of our beautiful Essex coastline for that matter.

From the north bank of the Thames’ lower reaches to Harwich, Dovercourt and the River Stour, the Essex coast is a wonderland to be explored by keen yachtsmen and women, the thinking sailor’s playground if you like. It is no wonder that such literary figures as Arthur Ransome and Maurice Griffiths chose to put pen to paper and get poetic about the place; it is quite magical in every way. This is due in no small part to the numerous small creeks and inlets coming off our local rivers that provide the discerning sailor with a quiet anchorage, and each very different from the last to offer its own special adventure.

It is down one such small creek that this little sailing adventure begins. Stowe Creek is just off the River Crouch at North Fambridge. At the end of the buoyed channel marking the creek is a marina which is home to Premier Sailing. For the past five years, Colin Stracey and the team at Premier Sailing have set out on a quite extraordinary cruise through their favourite waters, returning to North Fambridge seven weeks later.