If you’re going to get stuck somewhere, Dublin is a pretty good place to do it. The plan had been to stay for a day or two while the Isle of Man TT was rained off. I could do the Guinness tour, listen to some Irish music in the pubs. Drink some more Guinness… Who … Read more
I’m writing this with a cup of coffee at my side – as you do. It took no time at all to make. Well, it didn’t once I had woken at 0730 with the gas alarm going off, pulled the sleeping bag over my head, hoping the incessant beeping would sort itself out (which it … Read more
That stands for Isle of Man Tourist Trial. The fastest and most dangerous road race in the world: Madmen on motorcycles flinging themselves around 37 miles of town squares and mountain roads at average speeds of 130 miles an hour. Top speed is over 200. The “madmen” thing comes from the middle Sunday – “Mad … Read more
The authors of the Clyde Cruising Club’s pilot books are gentlemen not given to hyperbole. One assumes they are gentlemen – with starched collars and whiskers and deckhands in the fo’c’sle to work the vessel. After all, their guide to the waters from Kintyre to Ardnamurchan begins with a poem from the Log of the … Read more
Joshua Slocum, on his solo voyage around the world, looked up into the cockpit one dark and stormy night and saw the pilot of Drake’s ship The Pinta at the wheel. Jean Le Carn in the Vendee Globe Race held his sister in his arms – and woke up hugging a sail bag. Hallucinations, when … Read more
Did you hear the story of the Spanish farmer and the bull? This farmer had a brand new calf and it was time for it to move out of the stable and into the field during the daytime. But the calf wouldn’t budge out of his stall. No matter how much the farmer cajoled and … Read more
Monday April 22nd 2019 Setting off to sail 350 miles from Lowestoft to Falmouth, you would think you could get away from the Extinction Rebellion people bringing central London to a standstill… Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for saving the planet – also, I’d rather climate change didn’t start setting off unseasonal hurricanes. But … Read more
There are three things Roy Marshall likes to do. He likes to spend his mornings sitting in his Aladdin’s Cave of nautical junk and wait for people like me. He likes to raise money for the Lifeboat. And he likes to talk. I’ve been in Oulton Broad, just up the lake from Lowestoft for five … Read more
I don’t think I have posted anything about my folding bike. The only time it has been mentioned at all was when it got me lost one miserable winter’s night in the sugar beet fields of Essex. But in fact the Brompton is just about the best thing on the boat. Brompton bicycles are very … Read more
If you wondered why people write sailing blogs, here’s an answer for you: You get to meet all sorts of useful people. My friend Jeremy is one such. I’ve never met him, of course. He’s a “virtual friend” – although, we have exchanged an enormous number of emails as he attempted (and finally succeeded) in … Read more
