Falling off a ladder teaches you many things. For a start the NHS treats a one-metre fall as serious, so my fall, from above first-floor level, should have had spectacular…
Cruising life
Isles of Scilly Storm Dodging: ‘We had to gain steerage way from a standing start while neighbouring boats were dancing around wildly’
Mary and I are very fond of the Isles of Scilly. In fact, we regard the archipelago as the most delightful cruising destination to be found anywhere around the British…
‘If someone had offered me a third of the asking price to buy the boat back, I would have bitten their hand off’ – Monty Halls
I sat back on the saloon roof, leaned against the mast, sipped my beer, and revelled in the moment. Here I was, at long last, perched on my very own…
‘Never before have I sailed in such wild weather’ – struck by a ‘weather bomb’ near New Zealand
Sammy, my sister, was ready to go. She couldn’t wait to put on her skipper’s hat and head off on a great adventure. It was 1998 when offshore sailing was…
Sailing the Orkneys: ‘Bryan saw a tall black fin breaking the water, followed by another – it was a pair of orcas’
Sitting on my living-room floor surrounded by tide tables, pilot books, and almanacs, one part of my upcoming voyage around Britain began to excite me more than the rest. I…
Sailing from Scotland to Ireland: ‘The mountains were swathed in a blanket of cloud and the waves became enormous’
The magic and mystery of the western isles of Scotland capture my imagination and draw me back every summer. This once-great sea kingdom ruled by the Norse and Gaels is…
Scandinavia’s largest regatta: ‘More like a cruising rally than a race’
Cruising yachts in Scandinavia make a beeline for the Danish town of Skagen over every Ascension Day holiday in May. Nearly all of the entrants are production cruisers. This, along…
Sailing across the Irish Sea: ‘We had never seen such evocative scenery’
Bleary eyed, we stumbled out of our sleeping bags as the boat rocked gently on her berth. Fumbling around we clad ourselves with nautical attire, had some breakfast and prepared…
Coppercoat Brian Black Memorial Award: 2024 winners to be announced at Southampton Boat Show
The Brian Black Memorial Award 2024 is sponsored by Coppercoat and there is £4,000 up for grabs for the winners. The deadline for entries this year is 22 August and…
A grudging feeling of gratitude to our awful water companies
Water management isn’t something we talk about enough on our cruising boats. Blue-water sailors think about it a lot, obviously, and we have, in our time, installed – and mothballed…