Tricky rivers

Generations of small boat sailors have enjoyed the tidal estuaries of South Cornwall and Devon (see chart below), with their hospitable towns and villages, fine scenery and secure shelter. This makes for a very popular cruising ground, good for relaxation, but it is still possible for a yacht to venture away from the crowd, into peaceful corners where she is likely to be the only visitor, or even the only vessel in sight. On a recent West Country cruise, Mary and I planned to re-explore two of these unfrequented places, in order to update our local knowledge. Then relaxation turned into drama, but it allowed me to improve my knowledge of how to anchor in shallow water and strong currents.

We were aiming first for Weir Head, at the tidal limit of the River Tamar (chart right). I first went there as a boy, on the which was a fast, sleek excursion boat in the 1950s. Holiday trips to Weir Head had been a regular feature of local life since Victorian times, when paddle steamers provided the transport and the river was also busy with sailing coasters, some serving the mine workings and wharves that lined the banks in the upper reaches. At