A seagoing boat is not a toy. It is the most serious of vehicles, built to let humans brave an unpredictable, lethally dangerous element with efficient control and reasonable dispatch.…
Sailing Blogs
Is Britain really a maritime nation?
Many years ago, I was on a family motoring holiday driving towards Brittany when, in a small town, we passed under a banner proclaiming a regatta. I was baffled: we…
‘I celebrate easy, simple (and often bad) sailing’ – Monty Halls
There are many folk who have stepped onto Sobek and made an immediate (although entirely understandable) mistake. They have assumed that I know what I’m doing. It’s not a long-lasting…
‘Sailing your own boat is the last available way to feel that old-fashioned traveller buzz’ – Libby Purves
During a chilly autumn week we had to do a 36-hour round trip to Calais – we were foot passengers on one of the few ferries that still tolerate such…
‘The day the sky turned red’ – Lu Heikell encounters an unusual phenomenon
Saharan dust being blown across the Mediterranean is not a new phenomenon, but here it usually arrives in the form of rain. Many times we have woken up on Skylax…
‘Everyone will miss Don, but few will miss his copy’ – Remembering a sailing writing legend
There’s a scene in the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where outlaws Paul Newman and Robert Redford watch from a crag as the distant posse chases them. To…
Don’t let Thames sewage kill off this ancient oyster fishing boat
Samuel Pepys mentions oysters in his diaries 68 times, but that was when they were as common as winkles along the banks of the Thames and when they were a…
‘Being stuck in a lifeboat with a tiger is, to say the least, untypical’ – Libby Purves
I won’t be in theatres with a notebook as much as usual this month – time for some wider, wetter horizons – but may be musing, as I often do,…
‘Pip Hare has always impressed me with her grit, determination and ability’ – Pete Goss
The flexing of spring’s muscles calls for a dusting down of my jobs list. I never intend winter boat maintenance to become last minute but a busy life creates a…
‘Sardines cook over charcoal, sea shanties are sung and cider is swigged’ – Lu Heikell
There is a narrow street leading up from Port du Rosmeur to the town centre of Douarnenez, in the Finisterre region of Brittany. Rue Obscure is paved with cobbles and…