I have the picture in front of me now. The intrepid explorer in the foothills of the Himalayas – his yak in the background. Actually, that’s not quite true. It’s just me on the beach, posing with my folding bike before setting off to ride around Anegada. Anegada is the most northerly of the Virgin … Read more
The definition of cruising, so they say, is: “Boat maintenance in exotic locations”. Lately, Instagram has been alive with the saga of New Zealand friends in Grenada who replaced their thrust bearing without taking the boat out of the water. The final picture (in SCUBA gear with a screwdriver to tighten the anodes) was greeted … Read more
For all those people who asked when I was going to write another book, it turns out the answer was: Not until I was clocking a hundred miles a day without touching the helm or the sheets. Sure enough, the Atlantic crossing by the trade wind route provided the perfect motivation – there wasn’t anything … Read more
I blame the beer. And the Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s wifi code. This is very clever of them: The wifi code is BUYMOREBEER – and you do feel obliged to, sitting on the deck under the Heineken umbrella trying to get to the British Virgin Islands. The way things were going, It looked as though … Read more
It’s such fun, writing this blog: You throw out a story like a seed in the wind – and back comes a saga. This is Diamond Rock. It looks uncannily like Rockall, except that Diamond Rock is a lot bigger – 175 metres. Also, it’s much more important: While Rockall only manages to extend UK … Read more
It is about 200 miles from Grenada to Dominica. It took me four days, and I ended up in Martinique. That’s the good news. It could have been Venezuela. The other news is that I found the Caribbean Current. Of course, I knew all about the Caribbean Current. It gets a whole page to itself … Read more
I am hoping that people will read this and say: “Ah, yes. Been there… done that.” If not, I am going to feel an awful fool. Because it’s happened again: I arrived back from the family skiing trip to La Plagne – it was great, thank you; perfect weather all week and not too warm, … Read more
Calling all native French speakers: i could use some help.I have to choose a translator for the Old Man Sailing book. I have a likely candidate but, speaking only “Restaurant French” myself, I have no idea if he’s any good. He has translated the first 500 words. Now I need some French-speakers to read his … Read more
Petit Becaye isn’t much of a bay. The pilot book describes it as “so small that four boats would be a crowd” and advises you to take down your sails before entering – but I forgot that bit. Anyway, I am the only one here. I don’t think I’ve had an anchorage to myself since … Read more
Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Prince William – Princess Margaret, of course… And now me. Mustique is not an island you can bypass. Mustique is one of those islands that actually deserves the words “unique” and “iconic”. Just north of the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines, it really is the world’s most exclusive (and most expensive) … Read more
