The Brian Black Memorial Award 2024 is sponsored by Coppercoat and there is £4,000 up for grabs for the winners. The deadline for entries this year is 22 August and…
Cruising life
A grudging feeling of gratitude to our awful water companies
Water management isn’t something we talk about enough on our cruising boats. Blue-water sailors think about it a lot, obviously, and we have, in our time, installed – and mothballed…
Sailing to the Scillies and back: ‘In the timeless rhythms of the ocean, this latest period of flux and profound change is the greatest’
Being poked in the cheek and asked ‘Is this annoying? Is this annoying? Is this annoying?’ by my bored 11-year-old daughter Isla was indeed annoying. But what made it even…
‘We got battered by a storm that wasn’t forecast’
Although we had managed a brief visit to St Kilda, the Scottish weather during 2022 had not been great, so my wife Sarah and I pondered going somewhere warm. I…
Cruising Corsica and Sardinia by yacht
Cruising the Mediterranean in my own yacht has always been a dream, and it finally became a reality in 2023, with the June delivery of a new Hallberg-Rassy 372 in…
‘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,…
What are the most affordable ways to start sailing?
Pardon the liberal use of cliches, but as somebody once said, ‘Sailing equates to standing in a cold shower tearing up £10 notes.’ If it’s racing, it will be £50…
‘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…
‘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 –…
Cruising the Scillies and Gurnsey: ‘All was well in our little world’
Now in his 82nd year, my father Ewen reluctantly ended a nearly 50-year relationship with his much-loved and well-used succession of yachts as the last of four Black Velvets went…