Calling all Wharram catamaran owners - join us for a weekend of Wharram Micro Adventures. 4th, 5th and 6th August 2017, in Cornwall.
There's nothing better than a Hui!
What's a Hui? It is a Polynesian word for 'social gathering' and they regularly take place all over the Pacific. So we felt it would be wonderful to organise our very own Hui here in Cornwall, starting from Wharram HQ, Devoran.
We have based this weekend around the full moon (Spring tides), to allow all Wharram Cat owners to sail up our creek at high tide and moor near our Wharram site on the first night. The tides on the Friday are not as high as we would like, so the bigger boats may have to moor further down the creek.
Rory McDougall will be bringing his Tiki21 'Cooking Fat' to the Micro Adventure weekend. Rory sailed this iconic Tiki 21 around the world in the 1990s and arrived second in the 2010 Jester Challenge across the Atlantic.
Also there, will be the Wharram Designs owned new Mana 24, the 21ft Tahiti Wayfarer and the 27ft Amatasi and a Melanesia. So all the small Wharrams will be represented. Let's see if we can get some larger Wharram's to come as well.
Also there, will be the Wharram Designs owned new Mana 24, the 21ft Tahiti Wayfarer and the 27ft Amatasi and a Melanesia. So all the small Wharram's will be represented. Let's see if we can get some larger Wharram's to come as well.
The Plan
Friday 4th August
Arrive by sea or car & trailer and gather at 'Wharram HQ', on Restonguet creek at Devoran, Cornwall (people sailing in by boat do contact us and we will give you advise on where to moor). A fun afternoon and evening of relaxed Hui-style 'Bring and share' food and drink, our BBQ will be lit to cook your own food. Listen to a briefing for the weekend from our team, meet James Wharram himself and partner Hanneke Boon, along with sharing your 'Wharram adventure stories' with like-minded Wharram friends around the camp fire. (Camp on your own boat, or if you are joining us without a boat – camp in your own tent on our grounds).
Saturday 5th August
We leave on the early morning high tide, for a full day of sailing in 'Carrick Roads' and out to sea, before anchoring somewhere along one of our local creeks or beaches (depending on wind direction on the day). More food and talk round a campfire during the evening, ending with an overnight camp - either on your Wharram Cat, or on the foreshore in your tent.
Sunday 6th August
Leave from our overnight mooring - for more sailing and exploring local creeks and a pre-designated break for lunch. Then either make your own way on to your next destination, or sail back to Wharram HQ, to continue home by road.
We hope this will be a great way for all our UK based Wharram boat owners to come together for a fun weekend gathering of 'kindred Wharram spirits'. Indeed, if any of you would like to arrive a few days earlier, we'd love to welcome you - come and help us lash the cats together prior to the micro weekend!
James Wharram on the 'Micro Adventure' concept
The concept of 'micro-adventures', has been a way of thinking and living all my life. In the book I'm writing on my early youth, I describe my life between the ages of 16 & 18 when I roamed alone over the moors and hills of the Lake and Peak Districts and later Scotland, with minimum of gear. There was none! The 'War' had just ended. Boots, windproof clothes and rucksacks were not available. Each weekend & longer holiday break, with the lack of modern fashionable gear – effectively became my very own 'micro adventure'.
I suppose my first Atlantic crossing, on a 23'6” self-built catamaran, could also be described as an 'extended micro adventure'.
I now belong in an Honorary position to several societies – one I value most highly is being a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Around 2010 in the Geographic Magazine, my attention was drawn to the book 'Micro Adventures' by Alistair Humphries. I bought it and relived my teenage years and attitudes to adventure in its pages.
However, it was Pierre-Yves (a French student who spent a three months internship with us last year) who first turned my reminiscing into reality. He reassembled our Tahiti Wayfarer double canoe – a design I had mentally neglected amongst so many ocean-going designs. During his stay with us, whenever the tide was high, he sailed it on our creek and around the Fal Estuary; sliding along close to the trees in the creeks, exploring the foreshores and then braving the wider waters of Carrick Roads, through him my long ago micro adventure memories resurfaced.