Sullen clouds pressed down upon a pewter sea. To port, the mountains vanished into swirling mist; to starboard, Bird Island jutted from the restless ocean. I stood in the cockpit…
Cruising life
‘The engine coughed, then spluttered, then died, and I had a brief moment to reflect on chaos theory’: A leaf caused problems aboard my yacht
The engine coughed, then spluttered, then died, and I had a brief moment to reflect on chaos theory, which notes that ‘the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial…
‘It’s easy to make friends while cruising’ – Paul Trammell
Sailing singlehanded as I do, I place a high value on my solitude and am quite happy to spend many consecutive days alone. However, sailing alone amplifies the value of…
A family adventure sailing through the Corinth Canal
The timing was tight. I took the call 24 hours before we were due to fly. Alex kindly asked me if she could help stock the boat. We were scheduled…
‘Anything can be the beginning of another boating friendship’ – Libby Purves
Thirty years ago this spring I had my first novel published, Casting Off – apprentice-work, a bit chick-lit at times, but at least it was nautical. Inspired by watching couples…
Cruising around the Bijagos islands: Taking a break from sailing around the world in remote regions
Situated at the mouth of many rivers in Guinea-Bissau, the Bijagos archipelago is one of Africa’s most isolated maritime regions. Strong tides, violent currents, murky waters, rocky reefs, constantly shifting…
A charter in British waters: ‘Only time would tell whether a week’s charter in the UK would be the end of our future family sailing plans, or the start’
The first evening on board our charter in British waters was just like coming home, it felt like we had never been away from life on board and was so…
Zhik Spirit of Adventure: ‘We sailed our yacht through France to volunteer at the Olympics’
Autumn 2021 and we’d only just recently bought Heureuse – a sound and comfortable Moody 346, in need of a little love and a few mod cons. She was safely…
‘They are all in the memory bank to savour during the winter months at home’ – Lu Heikell
There is a meme that appears on my social media with a Kermit the Frog puppet looking wistfully out of a window into a wintry scene. The caption usually reads…
Sailing in the Caribbean: ‘Turtles grazed on seagrass meadows as we snorkelled around them’
The first night on an unfamiliar boat can be a bit restless. You listen to the creaks and groans of the boat, the waves lapping onto the hull, the temperature…