Assist with navigation; forage and fish for your meals; visit special places that can only be accessed by sea and creek.
Create a memory that will last a lifetime with an indulgent charter with friends and family on the Norfolk coast.
Blue sky thinking takes on real meaning when you're at sea. Re-energise the team with an away day aboard one of our boats.
“We create fun, relaxing, sometimes challenging, but undoubtedly life-enriching adventures on traditional wooden sailing boats, based in Wells-next-the-Sea, on the beautiful North Norfolk coast.
Run by a small, local team of professional adventurers, we skipper and host trips ranging from four hours to three days, through creeks, marshes and open sea. Get involved with the sailing and cooking, or sit back and connect with nature – the pace is yours to choose.
We only use locally sourced high-quality food and drink on our sails, ensuring a full Norfolk experience. Our philosophy is to run a sustainable business by investing in slow food, community engagement projects and the movement of cargo under sail.”
WEEKLY SAILS Friday 17th May
Friday 17th May
Explore the outer sandbanks off Stiffkey with us on this enjoyable late afternoon early evening sail
- depart Wells 1630 return 1930
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Saturday 18th May * JUST TWO PLACES REMAINING *
Experience a full day's sailing with tuition in our Traditional Sea School - learn navigation, knots, tides and more
- depart Wells 0600 return 1400
Crab boat max 6 persons – £145 per person
Sunday 19th May
WILDERNESS CONCERT
– depart Wells 1800 return 2100
James Boyce (guitar) and Joshua Ellicott (tenor)
Join us for an evening of storytelling and musicianship, an immersive experience that’s both thought-provoking and uplifting. This is for lovers of fine and rare moments whose memories will last a lifetime.
World-class music artisan food remote anchorages lifetime memories
max 22 people (includes drinks and appetisers) £197 per person
Monday 20th May
Experience a full day's sailing with tuition in our Traditional Sea School - learn navigation, knots, tides and more
- depart Wells 0700 return 1500
Mussel flat max 4 persons - £145 per person
Monday 20th May
Discover our unique heritage coastline as we sail west from Wells bound for Brancaster
- depart Wells 0630 arrive Brancaster 1030
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Tuesday 21st May
Sailing from Brancaster to Wells, experience the magic of this glorious coastline with us
- depart Brancaster 0700 arrive Wells 1030
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Tuesday 21st May
Set sail through the Stiffkey saltmarshes - plus wild swimming for the adventurous among you!
- depart Wells 0730 return 1030
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £295 or £85 per person
Wednesday 22nd May
Experience a full day's sailing with tuition in our Traditional Sea School - learn navigation, knots, tides and more
- depart Wells 0730 rtn 1530
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – £145 per person
Wednesday 22nd May
Off out to sea we go sailing broadside to our heritage coast heading to the award-winning Holkham Bay
- depart Wells 0730 return 1100
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Thursday 23rd May
Engine-less using water and wind only, we set sail for East Hills navigating channels, creeks and open sea
- depart Wells 0800 return 1130
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £295 or £85 per person
Thursday 23rd May
Outer sand banks are our adventurous destination this morning on this Stiffkey sail
- depart Wells 0800 return 1130
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Friday 24th May
The East Hills is our final destination but along the way we will navigate channels and creeks, saltmarsh and sea
- depart Wells 0845 return 1215
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £295 or £85 per person
Friday 24th May
We return to the creeks and marshes of Warham, a unique habitat from which to watch wildlife
- depart Wells 0845 return 1215
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £90 per person
Saturday 25th May
Join us this morning as we punt and sail through Wells Marsh, going slow, watching for wildlife
- depart Wells 0930 return 0100
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £295 or £85 per person
Sunday 26th May
Unique neap tide special – sail with us to Stiffkey – wild swimming anyone?!
- depart Wells 1030 return 0130
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £295 or £85 per person
James Boyd's Wilderness concerts reflect James’ love for adventure and wild spaces. They are immersive experiences – thought-provoking, uplifting and unforgettable.
May 19th, 2019 - starts 18.00 finishes 21.00
The Immortal Ship
Joshua Ellicott, Tenor - James Boyd, Guitar
This bespoke concert will crystallise from the emptiness and wildness of the salt marsh, the threnody of the wind, the cry of wading birds, the chuckle of the tide. Joshua and James are renowned not only for their exquisite musicianship but for their intimate storytelling that weaves through each performance. They gave their first concerts together a short voyage across the North Sea in Delft. Now with the Coastal Exploration Company they are creating an exclusive experience on the beautiful North Norfolk coast. An unmissable opportunity to hear world class music making in one of Britain's last wildernesses. Including a rare performance of Jonathan Dove's The Immortal Ship, this is for lovers of fine and rare moments.
"Deservedly huge cheers at the end of the night went to Joshua Ellicott
...musical distinction, emotional precision and a keen dramatic urgency…”
The Boston Globe
'Each note falls like a teardrop such is the beauty of Boyd's tone and deeply expressive phrasing
International record review
What most impresses is Boyd's sense of naturalness, of ebb and flow, recalling both Bream's and Segovia's willingness to savour the moment
Gramophone Magazine
“FOLLOW THE WITHIES,” advises Henry, as I tug on the wooden tiller of his clinker-built, 1950s crab boat My Girls with trepidation, watching the narrow, marshy creek zig-zag before her prow.
“Swallows and Amazons, remember? Secret Water? Withies are the sticks that mark the channel, so you know where it is at high tide,” he explains. I spot them, a reassuring line of thin willows, standing upright above swirling eddies of muddy water, steadfastly marking deep water and our safe passage.
Top 10 Norfolk and Suffolk experiences
Learn to sail with the RYA-accredited Norfolk etc (01263 740704; norfolketc.co.uk) or book a sailing expedition in a traditional Norfolk fishing boat through the newly launched Coastal Exploration Company for an adventurous trip along the coast and along the atmospheric creeks and backwaters between Thornham and Cley in North Norfolk. Spot wildlife, catch mackerel, learn about navigation and enjoy delicious homemade food.
We’re sailing across a sandy-coloured sea. Seals pop up around our little crab boat and then vanish, like a game of Whac-A-Mole. Further ahead, a group lie motionless on the water, as if levitating. It takes me a moment to realise that the sea is so shallow they are resting on a submerged sand bank.
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