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…
Cruising guides
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…
‘Boat builders seem to take pride in making stuff tricky to get to’
They say that the definition of cruising is ‘fixing your boat in exotic locations’. Well, crouched, sweating, in the aft heads using a head torch and a mirror to extract…
Sailing the Faroes: ‘It’s a challenging but very rewarding cruising area, with endless hills and fantastic views’
Our way of life on board is best described as “Vi tar det lugnt,” Swedish for “we take it easy.” We travel without a specific plan or target; the voyage…
Visiting the D-Day Normandy Beaches by boat
After the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in June 1940, Winston Churchill promised, ‘We will return’. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied landing operation which…
‘We passed no living creature apart from three cows and a lone sheep’
There aren’t many places where you can anchor so close to a mountain it breathes on you. In heavy weather the draughts of exhaled tempest that rush down the sheer…
10 hidden must-see destinations on the West Coast of Scotland
The sheer beauty of the Western Isles and the West Coast of Scotland draws many yachtsmen. Cruising on the west coast of Scotland may have a reputation for being for…
‘The outcrops of rounded pink granite and sandy beaches reminded me of the Scillies’ – exploring the Aegean
Arriving in late March at my partner’s home in Greece, I was expecting a few days at the house before sailing. But with a period of southerly winds forecast –…
‘We spent hours rowing and snorkelling along the edge of the islets’ – cruising the Galapagos in a yacht
The sound of bubbles playing over the hull woke us – a soft whoosh that felt at once mellow and playful. The source of the bubbles was soon discovered: two…
A guide to cruising England’s East Coast rivers
The East Coast is an acquired taste for sailing and, after fossicking about the creeks and swatchways of the estuaries over the past 65 years, I have acquired it. My…