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…
Cruising grounds
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…
Sailing the Ionian: idyllic islands
Being hit by the boom is not unusual, but headbutting it is. It was the second morning of our Ionian cruise and we were about to manoeuvre out of Episcopi,…
How this novice couple sailed to the Scilly Isles and back
They say ‘do something that scares you a little bit every day’, and while we weren’t looking for fear, we did seek new challenges. Late to the sailing life, we…
Discovering Easter Island and Pitcairn by boat
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is the most remote inhabited island in the world. Sailing there confirmed it for us. True, we took a detour, sailing north for a few…
A novice’s maiden voyage sailing around Britain
Distant rain moved across the sky like a silver veil. Behind the rain, the land and sea had become one: just a smudge of grey, with Plymouth somewhere in our…
Cruising the Gothenburg Archipelago
Big seas, four-metre-high rolling waves, storms, fog, and squalls. We had anticipated all of it on our first Kattegat crossing, in our 50-year-old, 24-ft Spækhugger yacht Gaia. We weren’t, however,…
Sailing Patagonia : exploring a stunning, barren landscape by boat
Everest mountaineers have the Himalayan Base Camp, those sailing Patagonia have Mar del Plata. It is the last significant town in Argentina before the coast gets more rugged and inhospitable;…
Sailing Sweden: dodging the rocks
Phil Woollam and his family weave their way through the islands of Sweden’s east coast on their Cornish Shrimper
Sailing around Britain and Ireland: All you need to know
Sailing around Britain and Ireland and into its nooks and crannies is always an interesting endeavour. You get to know it from the seaward perspective and as sailors we get…