From car-crash viewings to wasted journeys of hundreds of miles, Wayne Palmer shares the steep learning curve of buying his first boat
Learning curve
‘The hurricane had us confined to the aft cabin for 24 hours’
Holly Turner shares some lessons from a turbulent hurricane season in the Caribbean with a 10-month-old baby and Scrumpy the Jack Russell
Stuck head-first in a cockpit locker – a true story
Qualified marine engineer Martin Blount shares the terrifying ordeal of getting stuck upside down aboard his boat while working alone, on a river mooring
Storm sailing: ‘The boat was slammed over and water poured in’
Randall Reeves leaves the storm jib in its bag while braving the Southern Ocean to prove that speed is safety when storm sailing
‘I was rescued at sea 13 times, but this was the worst experience by far’
Veteran power and sailing yachtsman Dag Pike reflects on his multiple experiences of being saved offshore
‘As the engine spluttered and conked out, panic resumed’
A series of unfortunate mistakes threatened Mark and Nadiyana Farnworth's dream maiden voyage before it began
‘We let go and the entire rig sank like a stone’
A collapsed mast threw an unexpected obstacle in the path of Tim Ainsworth Anstey’s passage from Gotland to mainland Sweden while sailing with friends
‘I got taken for a ride by my counterfeit crew’
When Alan England found himself stranded in Greece without crew to assist his return passage, he made a rash decision he was soon to regret
A putrid smell of burnt oil, fuel and resin filled the air – a learning curve
First thing on Wednesday morning, my phone started to ring. Given the timing, I didn’t think the marina calling would be good news: a burst fender, frayed warp maybe… It…
‘We had a huge project on our hands’
Elizabeth Earle shares what she learned buying a dismasted vintage Amel in the wake of Hurricane Irma