They do say that one small, spur-of-the-moment decision can change your life. The last 48 hours have been like nothing I have ever experienced before. It all began very innocently: I was underneath the galley trying to stop the water pump squirting all over the ready-use stores when Jeremy Vine popped up on Radio Two … Read more
What is it they use to make sardine cans? You’d think they were boxing up nuclear waste, the weight of metal in those things. Admittedly, this is not something that had occurred to me until I read that the Golden Globe racers were committed to throwing nothing into the ocean unless it was fully biodegradable. … Read more
I missed lockdown. Well, I didn’t actually miss it, I avoided it. I went sailing by myself. I’m over 70 and the government wanted me to stay indoors for weeks on end and – as I now understand the term – “shield” myself. So, for 42 days and 3,629 miles (measured by noon-to-noon positions), I … Read more
How did we get to talking about a subject like this? Honestly, wouldn’t you rather discuss the world’s most fabulous anchorages or who has seen the Green Flash or, heaven forbid, engage in the interminable anchor debate. But no, people keep talking about holding tanks. Certainly, there are some places where pumping the head overboard … Read more
It was reading the Ocean Cruising Club’s Facebook page that made the decision for me. On Friday, the Norwegian yacht Escape West posted: “We are in Curacao waiting for the morning light to go into our reserved space in the Spanish Waters. Then the coast guard call us and tell us Curacao is closed, we … Read more
Buried in Gmail’s “updates” folder, among the Amazon orders (milk-frother, earbuds) and the daily inspirational quotes which never get read, was a message from Samsara’s insurance company: “All signs are pointing to storms on the North Sea and Baltic coasts. Meteorologists predict that hurricane-like gusts of up to 160 kilometres per hour are expected from … Read more
So here’s the choice: Have a heart attack or lose the boathook. Not much of a choice really. It was a new boathook. There is a tradition that old sailors die on the foredeck – at least there was until someone invented the electric anchor windlass. If you saw my post on the subject last … Read more
A Facebook friend kindly asks to hear about more adventures. How about this one… I didn’t mean to be out in a Force 9. That sounds like something out of Arthur Ransome. But, honestly, in Blood Alley Lake round the back of Poole Harbour’s Brownsea Island, the forecast was for W 5-7 occasionally gale 8. … Read more
They’re talking on Facebook about mid-ocean weather forecasts. They’re always talking on Facebook about mid-ocean weather forecasts – Iridium and grib files and SSB modems and whatnot. The Old Man’s head is beginning to hurt. Actually, it put me in mind of a time, years ago, when I was talking to a fellow competitor at … Read more
