Favourite ships, well, perhaps not in the complete sense: one, the dear old Cutty Sark, isn’t actually a ship any more. The other is an imprint within my childhood memories of life on the River Medway, the Arethusa, or as she is known now, the Peking, a German built nitrates carrier, before she became TS…

Tall Ships Festival – Greenwich: Two items have come to my attention, well, I’ve known awhile, but the latter is now going to happen too, rather than being an idea. In 2014 the Tall Ships came up the River Thames to Greenwich – Whimbrel was sailing down river as most of the vessels came up…

Swinging the Lamp – Thames Estuary Tidal Tales Publishing date is now 25 February 2016. Here is the publishers press information sheet…

From the Cruising Association – Kent Area secretary Clifford Mickleburgh.  Winter Warmers 2015 – 2016 [2nd Thursday of each month starting after supper at 8pm] both members and non-members are very welcome and are held at: The Dog & Bear, The Square, Lenham, Kent, ME17 2PG. Tel: 01622 858219. The members usually meet for a…

Ah yes, I’ve been on the verge of becoming fractious: we’re half way through the season of Advent, well on the way to Christmas and my inner self, never mind the mind, knew that it had been a little while since I’d communed with my little boat … other than resealing a couple of windows.…

Goodness me, hasn’t it been a windy month! One good thing comes from this aspect of the past month or so: I’ve done a lot of work towards my next book, the one to follow in the path of Swinging the Lamp. Although it isn’t folowing in the same fashion as my previous works: that part…

These two ‘old girls’ were found whilst taking my mother around some old haunts and then on another day into a well known ‘garden centre’ (come general store…) in South Essex. The first, in Leigh-on-Sea, looked decidedly like a Walker Dinghy – mahogany clinker in structure and sad looking indeed. She had a name plate with Swatch…

I was sent tickets (for myself and the mate) for the annual show of art works by members of the Wapping Group – this year held at the Minster Gallery in Winchester. At first I thought we’d not be able to go, but looking at our planned route for a holiday in Dorset, it conveniently placed…

Here is some news of my latest book – Swinging the Lamp: Thames Estuary Tidal Tales. The new book is to be published on 18th February 2016 by Fonthill Media. It can be preordered on the link below: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swinging-Lamp-Thames-Estuary-Tidal/dp/1781554986/ref=sr_1_10_det?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446117597&sr=1-10#productPromotions Colour Section: Fonthill Media, my latest publisher, has seen fit to place the bulk of the…

Fluttering through the post some while ago came an invitation to attend the Art of the Sea exhibition at the Mall Gallery just off Trafalgar Square. It was sent by Hadleigh (Essex) based artist Alan Runagall who is a society member, as well as being a Wapping Group Artist. Alan’s work is varied but ‘the Thames’…

For some time now the world at large that has even a modicum of concern for the environment has been reluctant to use plastic bags, but they do have some good uses. Sailing yesterday up towards Benfleet after a beat eastwards against the flood we sailed past two moored craft with strings of supermarket bags…

Ah yes, it’s that time again. A time for ripened fruits, glorious colour and misty mornings which often last well on into the afternoon… A couple of weeks ago we drove out to Dartford taking in a visit to Bluewater where a M&S do a good selection of mens bits, then we drove into old…

It seems a long while ago now, but we went into Faversham to attend the maritime festival where Whimbrel was an exhibit! Just as we were leaving a mooring out in the East Swale the gas ran out – no problem: the chalndlers always has some … then the loo failed to pump out ……

This year Whimbrel made it into the Ore & Alde. I had a crew of three aboard with me, my sister and two buddies, a nice couple from down in wild Wiltshire. They’d boarded the day before and we’d had a glorious sail up from Pin Mill. Initially, we were going to stop off at…

A week in politics is a age but a week away from the water is an eternity… My old sailing buddy who skipped out of his booked sails last year ‘pleaded’ to be allowed to come back aboard … of course there wasn’t any problem with that for he has always been a good ship…

Ah yes, it all seems such a long time ago now … our summer started with an invite to do the post match report for the 50th of new series of Medway Bage Matches, on my part, and hand out cups on my mate’s part. That done we cruised for a week around the Medway…

Bradwell Marina is a place oft used by many up and down the coast. It is especially useful as a jumping off point for passages northwards or southwards, as in my own case if one peruses our log books. One of the other reasons it has, over the years, proved useful is the fact that…

Time was creeping on and after loitering with intent … in Maldon, we broke free and sailed off down river to Lawling Creek, a fine place for a shoal draft vessel to rest at anchor. Rest wasn’t our reason for being there: Whimbrel’s  bottom needed a scrub. This was done on Mundon Stone, settling some 2…

During a visit to Maldon I had opportunity to get closer to a little gem of a barge yacht. I’d seen her on the water some years ago but not had a real look… How the vessel works as a sailing vessel I have no idea: down sizing, as has been done here, reducing everything in…

I’ve been adrift now for a little while and during that time some fellow clinker boats have caught my eye, so I have a clinker fest for you all… The craft types are wide and varied and by no means anywhere near a ‘collection’ – they form a small number of the type of construction that…