We’ve all caught the sailing bug at some stage in our lives but for me it came relatively late and I wish I’d caught it earlier. Growing up in Cornwall…
Sailing skills
Yachting skills: To pinch or not to pinch
Mark and Tanya are heading south- west down the Needles Channel in their Beneteau 40.7, Swift. They’ve been close-hauled in a SSE’ly Force 5 with the ebb tide helping them…
How to anchor for a good night’s sleep
Anchoring is like a religion. There are a number of beliefs and within every belief there are varieties and interpretations. Anyhow, when you start sailing and living on the hook…
How do you navigate a drying channel when the charts disagree?
Tim and Josh have found a space for their Bowman 40, Artemis, which has a 1.5m draught, at Treluggan Boatyard which is five miles off the Tamar up the River…
Why two headsails are better than one
The vast majority of production sailing boats these days are rigged as sloops and fitted with a genoa on a furling system. Many older boats, from before the advent of…
How to humanely keep rodents off your boat
Among the many things that keep a skipper awake at night, few are as unwelcome as the pitter-patter of tiny feet scurrying across the deck. Discovering paw prints and droppings…
Essential tips to survive a sudden emergency: How to free a boat’s propeller from rope or fishing gear
Whether snagged suddenly in the middle of a channel, or a drifting target for shipping, or close to a lee shore, it’s a stressful situation and one that requires a…
How to deal with heat and cold at sea
Extremes of temperature whilst sailing affect not only our comfort but may have a significant effect on health and wellbeing. The scourge of hypothermia or, on the opposite end of…
‘There is no such thing as too much preparation’: Cruising the British Virgin Islands
During the spring of 2024, a friend of mine delivered my 41ft Moody sloop from Annapolis to American Yacht Harbor Marina (AYH) in Red Hook, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands…
What to do if someone anchors too close to your boat?
Clara, Fi and Ahmed are cruising north Brittany on Clara’s Rival 34, Grace. Clara is a recently-qualified Coastal Skipper, and Fi and Ahmed, who are both more experienced sailors, are…