February aboard Whimbrel got off to a good start. On the first day of the month we got a sail. It wasn’t the best of days but at least the wind had died down to a gentle breeze, enough to sail and feel the boat heel to it. The slight drizzle that passed over from…

Some time ago, sailing into Maldon, I noticed that sediment had been pumped onto the northern sea walled shore of Northey Island – this appeared to be on the inside of the wall. The wall here was more a protection wall. for the tide was free to rise on its inner side where a stretch…

Like during the autumn and early winter before the turn of the year, the early days of January 2026 were again filled with wind, and, it had nothing to do with an over indulgence of brussels sprouts either, so we missed getting out afloat as the old year faded, and again as the New Year…

So, 2025, let’s have a wander back down the creek of time. For me it marked a personal moment in my life: in June it was seventy years since my birth. During the year we have been having a ball – that is the boat, my mate and me – never mind stuff away from…

Idle Duck is a classic shoal draft centre boarder from the famous Maurice Griffith’s pen, built by Miller & Sons, St Monance on the R. Tay in Scotland, and launched in 1962. She was superbly built and has stood the test of time. The vessel is a ‘copy’ of an earlier shoal draft vessel built…

Two articles in the marine trade news forum (Marine Industry News) have struck a jarring note with me. One from a short while ago is within the link below. Best to read before going further… www.marineindustrynews.co.uk/no-legacy-constraints-how-navico-plans-to-reinvent-boating-with-ai Now, I might be missing something within the article, but I feel I can’t possibly be alone in thinking,…

Barry Pearce studied art in his youth but went on to becoming a shipwright and barge master during the 1960s. He has been a life-long barge ‘buff’ – historian – and chronicaller of the Thames Sailing Barge. I first met Barry in 1964 at Cooks Yard in Maldon when the May Flower, my childhood home,…

Left to the vagaries of chance and having or noticing ‘rare’ symptoms on the pathway to being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer by the NHS, I would now be dead. I wrote about it in my book, ‘Sailing through life…‘ Now, unfortunately out of print, but I do have some copies. The extraordinary decision not to…

I came across John Leather’s 1979 book, ‘The Sailor’s Coast’ in a second hand book shop in Leigh-on-Sea recently. It was published by Barrie & Jenkins (No longer around). The book is described in a forward by the author as a tour of the ‘East Coast’ through the lens of Douglass Went, photographer extraordinaire from…

Soon after the mate and I married we found our first boat to own. Christobel’s experience at this time was a week on a Thames hire motor boat, a weekend on a 28 foot ketch and a rowing boat on the Serpentine… I came home on leave from a ship in 1980 and Christobel said…

The future of wooden boat building and boatbuilding in general has been discussed within the industry press for a some while. There is an ongoing skills shortage. A greater number of young women are apparently training or in yards already – I have met a few – but is this enough to make up a…

While berthed at the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour in Woodbridge this summer, I took the opportunity to have a look at the archaeological replica of the ship found at Sutton Hoo on the cusp of World War Two. The ship is as near as it can be to the original, however, apart from iron rivets…

The barge-yacht Tiny Mite had been put on the market back in 2020 due to the then owner’s age related health issues. The old girl was out of the water a ‘jolly long time’ during a very long refit when she finally went back in. During 2021 Tiny Mite was lifted ashore by the Leigh…

The subject of ‘end of life’ problems associated with pleasure craft has been in the news in recent times. I had an article in an East Coast magazine around fifteen years ago about what I perceived as a growing problem, especially around the dumping of unwanted little ships. During the summer days of sailing, I…

Social Media can be a good medium for sharing information and living history, however, as I have found out, not everyone shares one’s passion for disseminating that information. Jealousy or something akin to it causes people to ridicule those that can be bothered. Well, last week, this happened to me. I received a series of…

During the summer I flatted Whimbrel’s battery after leaving the nav lights on during a passage that began in the dark. The boat runs on only one battery of 85 Amps. It is backed up with a battery booster engine start module which is maintained in a state of charge. The supplier was very helpful…

The Good. Aboard Whimbrel, we have a Whale Flipper manual fresh water pump serving our domestic tap. The first pump fitted in 1983-4 lasted absolutely years. The next less so and so on. Yes, Whimbrel is used more in a year during last two decades than in her first ten years or so (I was…

Wandering around Robertson’s Yard above the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour I met a bevvy of clinker craft that for sure have seen better days. Sadly, I know one of the vessels, a Finesse 24, last seen several years ago in a mud berth in the yard. The yard has undergone some development and modernisation since…

It has been some while since Whimbrel has ventured north beyond the Blackwater estuary apart from a ‘raid visit’ to Harwich with my eldest brother when I’ve in England from Canada last year. Last year we went south and up the R. Thames to St Katherine Docks. We had a fabulous time spinning around the…

My site crashed for a while, well, it wasn’t the hosting but the WordPress element. Probably my fault for not updating as and when I should! Anyway, it is fixed – so I’m back. Although I say our season is well established, those that know us will be aware that we don’t have a sailing…