What does lifting a sodden man overboard out of the drink and tensioning the backstay have in common? Well, unless you’re sailing a very small dinghy, they both make use…
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Meet Vuyisile Jaca: The South African up for World Sailor of the Year
Grab a chance and you won’t be sorry for a might-have-been’ – that well-known quote from Ransome’s We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea is an excellent piece of advice…
Moody DS48 review: We sail this new yacht across the English Channel to see if she has what it takes
High topsides, muscular bow sections and a formidable deck house make the Moody DS48 an imposing sight, even standing alongside her on the pontoon. Point her bows towards the open…
Exploring French Polynesia by boat: The call of the South Seas
Friday’s dinner topic in late September, 2022: ‘I don’t want to go to French school. I don’t even speak French.’ ‘You will make friends,’ I argued, but the hoped for…
How to pick up fore and aft moorings
Fancy going to Polperro next weekend?’ I asked my partner Chris on New Year’s Day. ‘We’ve finally got some high pressure coming in.’ I needed to visit Polperro as part…
Just how visible are yachts to shipping?
Having worked aboard merchant vessels as well as being a yacht sailor myself, I’ve gained invaluable insights into the visibility challenges posed by small vessels and the critical importance of…
Don’t cross the Dover Strait. It’s thick with traffic out there
Forty years ago this summer I made my first Channel crossing according to an old, delaminating, mildewed and fading logbook. It is the first logbook I ever kept because prior…
How to plan a cruising route to the north: Sailing to Shetland and Norway
The wind is cold, the air clean and the light majestic. While sailing north might not be everyone’s idea of a relaxing holiday in the sun, for the adventurous of…
‘Sometimes your boat knows best’
Zen Again was heading west for Africa. We had departed our home port of Fremantle, Western Australia in June. We visited Shark Bay, Cocos-Keeling Islands, Rodriquez, Mauritius and Reunion. Now…
‘Navigating infancy makes rock pilotage and tidal calculation look like a stroll in the park’ – Libby Purves
I applaud the idea of families with small children trying out what cruising would be like with them as crew. One of the many things never mentioned in National Childbirth…