Of course, Leigh Ray a pen name and it is widely thought to be the lead author of ‘Swin, Swale & Swatchway’, Herbert Lewis Jones, actually co-written with Charles Barrett Lockwood. Ray Leigh, as many old sailing hands will know, often wrote articles for early issues of Yachting Monthly magazine. Interestingly if one does a…

During last autumn, I came across a book about the ‘lost’ route to Portsmouth from the R. Thames. The Wey and Arun navigations formed the backbone of this route from the ‘east and west’ respectively (although it was almost north-south). The route was effectively closed around the time of the trip made and problems were…

Some weeks before the early days of August 1983 we had cycled from Canvey Island, up Benfleet Hill and along a leafy lane cutting through extensive woodland to the yard of A F Platt Ltd, based in its own woodland paradise on the Daws Heath/Hadleigh border. Our son did the trip too, at a little…

After much thought we have at last made the break with the Island Yacht Club, Canvey Island. An incident over the Bank Holiday weekend in August 2019 is at the root of this decision, which I will publicly discuss further down, but has been further driven by other more recent events. The final straw came…

Poor Seaden has lain forlorn at Swale Marina in Conyer for some years now. The boat has essentially been abandoned: the owner having moved onto another project. Why the abandonment, I have not been able to fathom. In discussion with the marina regarding a berth for next week, it was mentioned by the office that…

Last year we’d decided that it was time to strip off all the boat’s varnished surfaces to bare wood and start again. The last time she’d been ‘naked’ in these areas was prior to her first coats in the autumn of 1983! Whimbrel’s varnished areas include the rudder, transom, sheer strakes and entire cabin sides.…

Some weeks ago I managed after a bit of an effort being taken for a ‘web ride’ to obtain an update for the Garmin GPSMap carried aboard Whimbrel. See: http://nickardley.com/ditch-crawler-wants-to-thank-satnav-helpers That was early in my knee replacement rehabilitation. Having since reached the boat, been for a sail even and completed a job of tensioning the…

Not many people know much about the history of the Coastguard. It was formed in 1822 by the amalgamation of three services set up to prevent smuggling. Often the individual services were acting against one another in effect assisting the smuggling gangs. As boaters, we are all mostly aware of the presence of the Coastguard…

Deaths due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is something to be feared, either in the home, a rented holiday pad, caravan, motorhome or aboard one’s treasured little ship, which is this post’s perspective. Many years ago, when Whimbrel was new, I retrofitted ‘gas’ alarms beneath the drinks rack seen in the cabin view below. They…

So, I thought, it’s about time the satnav carried aboard Whimbrel was updated while I had the time. The unit, a Garmin GPS Map 557, was purchased back in 2014 and it has served alongside the traditional charts carried aboard, kept updated annually (Which reminds me!) for I have never relied upon the electronic unit…

Down the Wind appeared from beneath the Christmas tree some months back – kind of Father Christmas, I thought at the time. So, I took it into hospital with me to give sailing succour when disabled with a new knee! Have I read it before? Not sure: couldn’t find a copy on my well stocked…

The Calor Saga has developed a little, but don’t become euphoric: it remains bad news. I began to ‘worry’ about this nearly two years ago now and contacted the Royal Yachting Association (waste of space) and the marine leisure press – only one outlet initially interested the story – and eventually decided I had but…

Many east coast sailors know and love the pretty little marina at the head of Woodrolfe Creek at Tollesbury. But, how many realise that just up the road, a little beyond the tide line, sits a world beating innovative company. I didn’t, but I have known of Tollesbury’s connection to the wider maritime world in…

Having a professional maritime background, I knew that when the media picked up on Government attentions being drawn to the activities of the minority, then it would not be long before the associated department, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), acted. The law of the sea around the coasts of the United Kingdoms has changed…

I was sitting in hospital with time, I thought, to get on with a blog I had earlier prepared. The plan was to use up those boring hours of waiting with time to muse and think… It wasn’t to be for I was in and out after having a total knee replacement that there just…

Would I have an electric motor? The answer to that is highly probable. If I was ordering Whimbrel this year, and not forty years ago. Times were hugely different then. We were just getting away from the petrol or diesel fit, scenario. My main use is for entering and leaving marinas, leaving my mooring and…

In the dark days following the New Year, a rerun of the ‘Sailing’ programme Howards’ Way, first filmed and screened in 1985, was advertised on Drama Television. The series originally ran from 1985 -1990. My mate laughed. I smiled, for a spark of nostalgia was ignited… I was away at sea at that time and…

I have been forced to be very selective about when to go for a sail with a knee that is a little unreliable … therefore the number of times I have got out has been reduced. I am pleased in a way that the weather has helped in my decision making! So, after helping out…

This is no longer a joke. Boaters and caravanners to an extent will be champing a the bit in frustration at the news from Calor that the small 4.5/3.9 butane/propane cylinders are discontinued as of now. The size that has replaced these are 7kg/6kg butane/propane which are appreciably taller and will not fit most locker…

The misuse of jet skis in the Lower Thames (Sea Reach), River Medway and Swale has been an ongoing and increasingly dangerous problem for many years. This of course has been a problem not just within the mentioned areas, but everywhere. During the Covid-19 pandemic many people new to water borne activities purchased personal watercraft…