The River Deben is certainly well off with a large number of boatyards, and most are not purely for lay up but have a capacity to build and restore wooden craft. GRP owners are catered for with similar overhaul/refit services in their mixes too. At the head of the navigable Deben River, the Larkman’s Yard…

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) has for a year or so been putting out articles about ‘safety in and around’ the water. These have been in own magazine but oft as not, relayed by Marine Industry News. I have even seen them on social media (facebook) other platforms too, likely. The information has not…

The article below in Marine Industry News is very interesting: it is clear that the USA is moving fast on this matter. I believe it is something the EU and UK should be activating too. The USA Federal Government seems to have taken the lead now with a conference, see below: US summit on abandoned…

Apparently we are into the season of boat shows. Now, I have been to a few boat shows during my sailing life, the first being, probably around fifty years ago at Earls Court. I can remember it being a fun day out. Did I buy anything, No! Years later I attended a couple of shows…

It was with some glee that we got away for the May (Workers) Bank Holiday after all the necessary work of varnishing, deck repairs and internal cleaning. We still have the antifouling to do and it is coming up fast – the mate, in particular is enthralled with this! On the Friday, Christobel had a…

All Thames estuary sailors know the basic story of the Sir Richard Montgomery, the United States ammunition ship that sank on the tail of the Grain Bank in 1944. And, due to a mixed media interest warning of the direst of consequences should the ship explode, people on both sides of the Lower part of…

A while back it was announced in the maritime press that there was to be an International day for bringing together the marine industry, marina/ports and the marine fraternity. This has been set for 23rd May 2026 and apparently has generated much interest with many organisations signing up. Following on, another date has been set…

Yes, I have been getting down to it. Even Christobel has asked if we have enough antifouling paint … indeed, we have (or she has) and discussion has taken place for berth cushion washing and the inside of boat cleaning session… So, during the mixed weather that March threw at us in my little corner…

I had come across this old lady on a visit to The Blackwater Marina at Maylandsea some years ago but now moored and based at this delightful haven, I have taken a greater interest. She is owned by yard manager, Beccs Polden. Vivid at Blackwater Marina – 2023. She has a clinker hull with the…

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…