Henry, my grandson, and I decided to sail together for the Fowey Sailing Opal series, the last yacht race series of the season, as his dinghy season was complete and…
Cruising life
Sailing to Haiti: ‘Visiting Haïti has been one of the most unique and rewarding experiences of my life’
Lordship, my Westerly Sealord, had been stranded in the Dominican Republic for two months. I had been sailing from Martinique towards Cuba with two friends. We were having trouble with…
How to lay your own mooring
Over the years I have had deep water moorings laid for me and also dug in my own half-tide moorings. Both have been in positions which suited the craft I…
‘It should not be this hot’ – a scientific expedition to the Arctic Circle
Stepping aboard the 74-foot aluminium lifting keel expedition vessel in Bergen, I stroke the rugged pilothouse gently and whisper, ‘Hello, friend.’ I know that skippering Witness is going to be…
Sailing around Britain: ‘Caught by the tide off Portland Bill, I began to feel defeated’
Over the course of two summers, I circumnavigated Britain aboard Goldfinch, our Bénéteau 36cc. It was June 2022, and I was cruising on the penultimate leg with a strong and…
In search of the famed ship Beagle, which carried Charles Darwin to his discoveries
For several years I kept my Contessa 32, Minstrel Boy, at Paglesham on the River Roach in Essex and was a member of the Roach Cruising Association (RCA), one of…
What it’s really like working as a Yacht Charter host
Fair weather sailors will undoubtedly be familiar with the flotilla. From family-friendly holidays to booze cruises, many readers will know the feeling of arriving at a fleet garnished with flags…
‘The salty water was dangerously reaching the cockpit edge and we had to prevent the boat from taking too much water’
I first saw the boat after reading a small advertisement in a local newspaper. It was lying under a red tarpaulin. The varnish was faded, the boat was full of…
Sailing the Indian Ocean: ‘It felt like we had travelled back a few centuries in time’
After much deliberation, we finally decided in Darwin that we were not going to Asia. We would miss out on an exciting cruising area but due to the pandemic, we…
Brian Black Memorial Award Winner: Living With the Ocean
Long before living in tiny houses became a big trend, sailors did exactly that. Living a good life in a small space with scarce resources. Not necessarily because they had…