Last week on holiday in East Sussex I had a free few hours and had a gander around Rye Harbour sniffing along the water’s edge. The Mate was otherwise engaged, so I was alone. The fish quays along by ‘The Salts’  in Rye Harbour were busy with boats. I watched as one boat lifted some…

Well, what a week we had here in the southern foot of Essex. Temperatures up to 18 degrees and another dry period. Having not got a lot of sailing under my belt so far this season (I was out of it for February due to illness!!) I sneaked out for a couple of hours last…

My tip if you are like-minded with a traditional looking craft, or even are caring for a historical maritime gem, is go to Faversham this summer for the Maritime Festival at the head of the creek. The Faversham Festival takes place on 22nd and 23rd July but many craft arrive on the Friday tide. The…

One of the joys of winter sailing is the huge flocks of birds encountered. These come in many forms in my neck of the woods ranging from tiny little grebe to, unfortunately, Canada geese, but of those I saw none on a stolen sail at the end of this last week. It was an age…

The little ship yard of C. Toms & Son of Polruan down on the Fowey had news of a new Cornish fruit schooner being planned on its facebook page. That’s interesting, I thought. The vessel, a replica of the Jane Slade, is to be built from steel … I wondered if the yard had had…

Two major maritime events take place on the Thames and Medway this year. They are both in their own way of historical significance too. The first is in April and is at Greenwich on the River Thames. The waterside town is hosting tall ships for a maritime festival which kick-starts ‘their’ sailing season. Vessels will…

A Finesse colleague called and asked if I could advertise the sale of his treasured Finesse 24. It is something that will surely come to me, eventually. The owner wrote: I am reluctantly putting Dream of Baloo up for sale and wondered if her details could be added to the For Sale list? Due to…

Farewell 2016, you have been kind to me, the Mate and Whimbrel this last year. But, I know it hasn’t been the same for all sailors: this last year we lost a good sailing friend a keen and long standing Finesse 21 owner, Terry. May Terry sail upon a sister on a sea perpetually soft,…

It comes but once a year … Christmas. Some hate it, others love it, but it should be celebrated for all the right reasons. For nearly 15 years one of the chaps who attends our local church has given ‘us’ the top cut from a tree felled in his ‘tree field’: he used to grow…

I have been ‘quiet’ for a little while, and apologise to readers. A little sailing has been enjoyed, testing Whimbrel’s new canvass, but on the whole, I’ve been wrapped up in a major task. Editing… It has been a long ‘stressful’ job this: I’ve had to reduce wordage which has meant a ‘line by line’…

A year or so back I realised that I was wearing the boat’s sails out. She had a new set from W-Sails of Leigh-on-Sea when she was 21. That was 12-13 year ago. So, I cast about and mused on where to get these done. W-Sails was closing down and not into ‘big’ stuff. Our…

My Mate, Christobel, has had a bad week ‘man’ flue has caused some distress and she’d been looking forward to getting out for an autumn sail up Benfleet Creek to appreciate the colours and bird-life. ‘Off you go…’ she said. So what was I to do… It started off somewhat misty with grey cloud above.…

Some while ago I entered Whimbrel onto a list of craft wishing to take part in a first for the Queenborough Harbour Trust. These good people decided  to hold a festival for such craft. This was done purely on speculation in recognition of the number of traditional boats that berth within the harbour during the…

Well yes, I knew this: I have been helping Janet Harber keep up to date details of the waters in which my dinghy trails astern of Whimbrel on her travels around this coast for a great number of years. This help has been provided by many people around the rivers and creeks, including Judy, Janet’s…

Yes, autumn has arrived. Two things tell me this, other than the shortening of the days, and these are the arrival of Brent geese on the Leigh and Canvey Island saltings, and the sudden disappearance of terns. Autumn offers something else too, but we’ll come to this. Not that you need to feel the nip…

Many years ago during a passage up the Thames I detoured into Dartford Creek but only as far as the barrier. At the time I hadn’t any information as to what lay beyond (The Mate was surprised at the time when we turned about and sailed away…), but I’ve long harboured a wish to go…

During my wandering around the Thames below the Pool of London and beyond along its edges, a few derelicts have been seen. There are more than would imagine. The reason is perplexing: I understood the authorities normally ‘ordered’ the removal of a sunken vessel. I suppose if a ship is just abandoned and the owner…

On the radio the other day someone who tars all with the same brush, blithely announced that the rich could spend their money on their yachts in a discussion about those that ‘have’ and those that have not. Now, yes, there are ‘rich’ yachting folk. But, in the main, we yachting folks are normal hard…

While in Chatham maritime Marina I took the opportunity to seek out the Snark. I could hear that blasting was taking place – a reminder harking back to my ship life, once known, never forgotten. So as my Mate and I were also wanting to visit the new exhibition of the Nemur, or at least,…

Away on my travels again, as if oft the case in the summer period, I’ve ben coming across a few clinker strakes around and about. Some have been in pretty good shape, others not so, and even ‘stroked’ a plastic variety seen up atop Iron Wharf… At Iron Wharf is a Finesse 21, Harmony, a…