All of a sudden we are between the two small islands and the water is very still and very clear. Somewhere ashore, a mule cries, but I have no time…
Holly Overton
Alan Villiers: The War With Cape Horn
Sixty-two days out from Tocopilla, Chile, the Pitlochry, a four-masted barque, 319ft long, was off Terschelling, having breasted a Force 8 gale up the English Channel dashing along at 16…
Gighay and Hellisay, Outer Hebrides
To the north-east of Barra and a couple of miles out in the Sound lie the rock-and-heather islands of Gighay and Hellisay. With a combined area of less than 500…
Bob Roberts: Coasting Bargemaster
More and bigger ships were using the river, and once or twice I spent my spare hours walking the banks of the lower reaches, watching the interminable stream of traffic…
Babbacombe Bay, Devon
On Devon’s eastern flank there is a degree of protection from the prevailing winds and Tor Bay served as an excellent anchorage for the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic wars.…
A wild ride around the toe of Africa
The coast of Southern Africa can be a cold, windy, inhospitable place, so we decided to tour South Africa and then Namibia by land. But first, we needed a safe,…
Jonty Pearce: A Slushy Field
For several decades I have acted as Medical Officer for our local steam fair. I have no doubt that my lifelong love of steam was inherited from my father, who…
Guide to the Frisian Islands
Navigation The Frisian Islands are in an area of rapid and constant change, so it is essential to use up-to-date charts. German chart pack 3015 is updated annually and comprises…
George Carter: Looming Lights
I reported for duty and found myself aboard a Trinity steamer, which was to put me aboard a ‘fog-ship’, the North Sand Head light vessel, stationed on the Goodwin Sands.…
Rise in UK Jellyfish
Recent surveys have suggested a significant rise in many jellyfish species here in the UK. Already this year the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have had thousands of reports from the…