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…
Cruising life
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…
A family charter adventure: ‘The squall suddenly passed and the wind and waves abated to a quiet calm in the bay’
We’ve just touched down at Dalaman airport, Southern Turkey and it’s June 2024. It’s our first time bareboat chartering as a family and we’ve chosen a four-day family charter around…
Sailing to warmer climates for winter: ‘The nerves are still there, sometimes utterly stomach churning’
You don’t really notice it too much at first. At each stopover on our summer Mediterranean wanderings we meet up with other yachties, and talk inevitably comes to your cruising…
‘I spent the next four hours winching her further and further up the mast’ – Pete Goss
When I was a ship’s boy in the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, an old-timer once offered a piece of advice: ‘Make the tide your friend, boy.’ I’ve embraced it ever…
Planning a cruise: Secrets of successful skippering
When planning a cruise more than a few days out it is rare that the navigation and weather stars align, allowing you to choose your destination, the time to leave…
‘Is there a chance that your family actually don’t like sailing?’ – Monty Halls
This month’s column broaches a very delicate subject. I’m not going to tiptoe around it, I’m going to take it head on, and ask the question that should loom large…
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…
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…