There is a slipway charge at Coniston based on boat length, and ours came to £12.50. The slipway itself is ideal for Winsome, being hard and shallow with a jetty alongside. We managed to launch without getting wet, and could then pull the boat alongside the jetty.
Mike and Verity set off for a short cruise in very promising sunshine, while we waited for the cafe to open at 10, ordered a cappucino and sat at one of the beachside tables waiting for Mike to return as the lake started to come to life.
Coniston is about 6 miles long and there are no large settlements on its banks. The National Trust owns a good deal of the shore, and the lake appears to be reserved for unpowered and electric boats. At the Coniston Boat Centre you can launch unpowered and electric craft, hire wonderful classic rowing boats, and less attractive but more practical electric launches. You can also hire or bring your own canoes and kayaks, or take one of the frequent boat trips.
Easily the most spectacular trip boat is the very elegant steam launch Gondola, captained and crewed for the day by two gentlemen of taste and sagacity in equal measure. They were clearly smitten by Winsome, and honoured her with a blast on the steam hooter every time we crossed wakes throughout the day.
When Mike and Verity returned, we dragged the boat out of the water up the beach, using the inflatable boat rollers. On his Caledonian Canal voyage, Mike will probably need to do this overnight, definitely if there is rough weather. He returned to Scotland with a better idea of how easy (or not) it is to handle a 70KG, 5.5M plastic boat in what were ideal conditions. Fortunately for him, he should have more people on hand when he needs to do this for real.
By the time Mike and Verity had departed, Winsome had attracted a fair number of curious admirers, and she was much photographed.
We had arranged to meet some family and friends for the rest of the day, and everyone - even the New Zealander - enjoyed a quick spin in Winsome.
For lunch, we decided to leave the crowded beach at the boat club and head for a picnic rendezvous at the other end of the lake. The others had to go by car, and would have missed some of the splendid scenery you can only appreciate from the water.
.. not to mention the scuba divers who appeared out of nowhere to startle our dozy crew
We tied up for lunch at a public launch jetty at the other end of the lake. Canoes and Kayaks can beach almost anywhere, but Winsome is more sedate and needs a smooth beach or ideally a jetty like this one. Park a Moor is the nearest jetty to Peel Island, widely thought to be the model for a fictional island on Lake Windermere which features in the famous children's book "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome. Those of us who had read the book were keen to see the island close up, and a series of circumnavigations were duly arranged.
Alas, few children of today would be allowed by their protective parents to sail unsupervised to an island, let alone spend the night there. We were delighted, therefore, to see what looked like a full re-enactment of at least some of the sense of adventure. Red-hatted pirates and a Skull and Cross Bones flag were to be seen, and the secret harbour housed two period sailing dinghies.
After our lunch and boat trips, we parted company with our friends and set off back to the top end of the lake, this time following the western shore.
The weather remained sunny, though the strengthening breeze was now producing a slight southerly swell, which became more pronounced as we neared the top end of the lake. This made for some fine dinghy sailing, and even some quite large yachts went out - some of them gamely beating their way south, others gently motoring south for (one hopes) a downwind return.
After a quick look at the very top of the lake, we returned to the slipway and recovered the boat to the intense admiration of everyone. Time for a final cup of tea at the excellent beach-side brasserie, and we were on our way home.
Coniston really suits Winsome, being almost a designated "green" lake. One could even believe that the boat in its present form might be a viable rental product on Coniston - the captain of the Gondola reckons Coniston's visitors to be gentler and "more sophisticated" than the more exuberant Windermere trippers, who were thought by the boat hire company there to present too robust a challenge for such a delicate craft!
All in all, a great day out. Winsome maintains her 100% record of never failing to deliver her potential, but the standard is getting higher and higher.
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