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 Saturday 25th January 2020
Saturday 25th January – depart Wells 0600 return Cley 0930
Set sail east in our largest vessel bound for Blakeney Point an important habitat for seals and sea birds
Whelk boat max 8 persons – exclusive charter £695 or £95 per person
Sunday 26th January – National Geographic Magazine exclusive fleet sailing
Monday 27th January – depart Stiffkey 0700 return Wells 1100
Join us as we rendezvous with our crab boat at Stiffkey and return back to her home port of Wells
Crab boat max 6 persons – exclusive charter £495 or £95 per person
Tuesday 28th January - depart Wells 0700 return 1030
Meander through Stiffkey’s saltmarsh navigating creeks and channels watching for wildlife as we go
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £345 (min 2 pax £195)
Wednesday 29th January - depart Wells 0730 return 1100
Fresh coffee warm blankets breakfast aboard with us as we sail west past Holkham on to Scolt Head
Whelk boat max 8 persons – exclusive charter £695 or £95 per person
Thursday 30th January – depart Wells 0800 return 1130
Explore the enigmatic saltmarsh surrounding us in Wells before heading out over to remote East Hills
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £345 (min 2 pax £195)
Friday 31st January – depart Wells 0830 return 1200
Enjoy a magical mystery tour in our engineless mussel flat only the wind/water to power us along
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £345 (min 2 pax £195)
Saturday 1st February – depart Wells 0900 return 1230
Today we head off to explore the wildlife around Warham encountering creeks channels and saltmarsh
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £345 (min 2 pax £195)
Sunday 2nd February – depart Cley 0930 arrived Wells 1300
Powered by wind tide and sculling action only today we set out to explore our own home port of Wells
Mussel Flat max 4 persons – exclusive charter £345 (min 2 pax £195)
My silk escape and evasion map of the Caucasus was spread out in front of me, shaking as the Russian helicopter gunships and artillery tried to dislodge Chechen and Ingush bearded fighters who had streamed out of the heavily wooded foothills to capture our small Russian town. It was 0100 during a cold winter’s night and I was trying to work out if we should hunker down in the damp concrete basement or follow one of the tracks on the map...
During WW2, MI9, the British military intelligence escape and evasion service had developed these silk maps for downed pilots, covert operatives, special forces and other ad hoc units. They used silk because it was durable, easy to conceal and didn’t make crinkly noises when used. Today they are printed on synthetic Tyrek. During my adventurous life I have always travelled with a silk map of the areas that I am working in, they are if nothing else reassuring, but more often than not very useful. This thread of my life provided the inspiration for CEC HQ to produce a silk map of the North Norfolk coast, worn by all of our skippers and often used to get us out of a tight spot, especially when in a tight spot.
“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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