It was in the early part of the new year just a few years ago that I was alerted to the evils of Prostate Cancer while listening to BBC Radio 4’s morning programme. Again, this year there was a fresh ‘bash’ at the subject with a strong message for men. The current UK total of…

The start of 2023 came in wild, damp and depressing, weather-wise. It also ended a very good year afloat aboard Whimbrel and I haven’t much to complain about. 2023 also marks a milestone for Whimbrel: she was ordered and largely built during 1983, forty years ago. There will be more of this later in the…

Between Christmas and New Year the BBC Radio 4 breakfast programme has a guest editor each day. Their job is to work with the programme team and introduce a subject or subjects that interest or concern them. There were three that particularly caught my attention: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, The Head of UK Intelligence Services at GCHQ,…

Although Christobel cancelled our subscription to the Royal Yachting Association when I decided to close our membership down over their total indifference and lack of care regarding the extreme shortage of bottled LPG and Butane gas cylinders of the most common used sizes over past two or more years, the quarterly magazine continues to arrive.…

My RNLI winter 2022 magazines pitched up today in the mail. I was struck by he front cover headline on the ‘Offshore‘ section: ‘Fuel For Watersports – the food athletes and lifesavers choose’ Inside there is a rundown on the activities of three ‘Adventurers’ – Pip Hare, ocean racing sailor; Sian Sykes, SUP Adventurer and…

I was browsing in a second hand store while Christobel was chasing down ‘name’ skirts when I came upon this classic by Jack Coote, the inimitable author of the long standing bible of the east coast – East Coast Rivers. The book, Classic One-Designs, was published by Waterline Books in 1994. Sadly, Jack wasn’t to…

Gravesend Town Pier: a magical facility in the heart of ‘Old Gravesend’ where private pleasure craft, spritsail barges, tall ships, small commercial craft, the Tilbury Ferry and more besides have been able to berth. The facility has been managed for Gravesham Borough Council by a private management team. Ownership has been held by the local…

Email received from Queenborough Harbour today: Calling all classic boat owners! We’re looking forward to hosting next year’s Classic Boat Festival on 16-17th September here in Queenborough.  If you have a classic boat that you would like to get involved and showcase at our event, please contact admin@queenborough-harbour.co.uk.   We’re looking forward to welcoming you all!  Aboard…

On a visit to Petworth House in West Sussex I viewed a painting by Turner depicting the ‘Confluence of the Thames and Medway‘ first exhibited in 1808. Being a ‘celeb’ of his day Turner was oft sought after and he stayed at the house as a family guest on numerous occasions. There are a number…

Little Ship, Big Story is subtitled, ‘the adventures of HMY Sheemaun and the amazing stories of those who have sailed on her.’ I came by my copy direct from the author, as a gift, for the enjoyment he and his wife have had through reading my own titles, here is the story… I was attending…

For at least two decades, if not longer, there has been increasing numbers of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) which have either been abandoned in ‘out of the way places’ or left on moorings until the vessel either sinks or breaks free and washes ashore to be wrecked. Vessels were increasingly abandoned in boatyards, clubs and…

It has taken what seems an inordinate length of time to have the changes made at final edit returned to me. Where we were on the 1st June 2022… The document arrived yesterday – 6th October 2022 – and after down loading, it did not take long to run through what I asked for and…

Both sheet winches aboard Whimbrel were opened out, cleaned and re-greased earlier in the year. I found a couple of the springs to be worn and replaced from spares obtained from Barton years ago. That was when trying to obtain a set of pawls! Barton had stopped manufacture of the bottom action winches, but I…

The Southampton International Boat Show is currently on. The impression I get from the media razzmatazz surrounding this event is ‘Goody, let us flog more £100K starter boats to awe-struck punters…’ There are of course definite signs of a greater interest in environmentally friendly craft, especially on the power side. However, like the grandiose ‘starter’…

It is now nearly three months since I was promised a response by the Royal Yachting Association to my investigations around the difficulty in obtaining bottled gas. The story: Enquiries wherever we went where gas was normally available was mixed. On the whole the smaller bottle sizes were difficult to obtain including a mid range…

I wasn’t aware that Bill Turnbull was suffering from prostate cancer when I began my investigative journey which led soon after to a diagnosis that shook me to the core. It was a BBC R4 Breakfast programme that jolted me into action. That was not so long after Bill’s diagnosis, which ultimately claimed his life……

We set off from Queenborough on the West Swale early the other morning bound for Gravesend. It was a quiet still morning n the harbour, but clearing Sheerness the sails were up and drawing nicely to a northerly – not the forecasted east-northeast! We proceeded nicely up the Nore Swatch and passed the eastern end…

Ah, Dick, you whipped out your colt 45 and blazed away, words zipping as the tale unfolds… I was enthralled. I laughed out loud while reading (most unusual) and nearly cried as sobering and sad words spilled from the pages too. I always knew Dick spent time in Fleet Street on a new newspaper which…

Towards the end of June I wrote to the head honcho of the Royal Yachting Association, Sarah Sutcliffe, regarding the cancelation of my membership and my reasons why. I received a confirmation of receipt from her personal assistant stating that my communication would be placed before the Chief Executive. Time has ticked by. There has…

Coming upstream on the River Orwell yesterday I spied Jack Coote’s old yacht, Blue Shoal on the mooring trot below Ostrich Creek. The vessel, was, I believe, Jack’s last. Many possibly won’t know of Ostrich Creek. It is the seaward end of Belstead Brook which runs down to the salty Orwell where Fox’s Marina and…