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I didn’t expect this when I got up this morning. They weren’t there when I went over the side on the way back from the Azores. The bottom was as clean as a whistle. After a lot of Facebook discussion, Poole Harbour gets the blame. Apparently we’ve had so many really wet summers (until this … Read more

  RIP (the hat)   It is with great regret that I have to report that my favourite hat – indeed the one I am wearing in my profile picture, has been lost over the side. It’s my own stupid fault. I had 20 knots of wind across the deck, it had already blown off … Read more

My parents (Mother is saying that Force Six is a “yachtsman’s gale”. Father isn’t listening) Mother had a rule: If there was a gale warning on the Shipping Forecast, we didn’t go out. Actually, we didn’t go out in Force Seven either, in case the Shipping Forecast had got it wrong. And, just in case … Read more

This has never happened to me before – and, come to that, I’ve never heard of it happening to anyone else. But, it’s a bit alarming to say the least… This evening, I went to drop the anchor. I know from experience to lay out a good bit of chain on the foredeck – the … Read more

September 26th 2018 This is Poole Harbour tonight. It’s going to be hard to leave tomorrow. I can’t believe I will have been here ten days – the first week because of gales and the rest because of calms. I’ve been ashore once for four hours to fill up with water, do some shopping and … Read more

September 23rd This must be the longest I have stayed aboard in the same place since I moved onto Samsara last year: Six days and we’re still gale-bound in Poole. Well, technically-speaking, it’s not a gale – just blowing 25knots and raining sideways like it did all day yesterday. Am I bothered? I’m loving it! … Read more

September 20th Sitting in Havelet Bay in Guernsey last Sunday, I fired off a post to the family WhatsApp group saying that the book claimed the bay was protected from south westerly gales – and that I hoped the book was right. In the event there was a good deal of swell but I came … Read more

September 1st 2018 At five O’clock the alarm went off. At 5.30, the other alarm went off. The explanation for not getting up – not the excuse (there’s no excuse) – is that there’s still 300 miles to go to The Lizard, the nearest I’ve come to a ship in the last ten days is … Read more

August 30th 2018 Sitting here on the lee berth, feet wedged against the windward, occasionally finding the keyboard jumping under my fingers I tell myself I should not be complaining. Remember all the complaints about beating into strong headwinds for ten days round the top of Scotland? Well, logic suggests that if you keep sailing, … Read more

August 23rd 2018 Today the cooker fell off. There was a crash to which, I must admit, I didn’t pay much attention at the time, being out in the cockpit, getting us sailing again. We had spent twelve hours hove-to under trysail even though the wind never did make it to full gale force. However, … Read more