The owner of Tarantella told me of his decision to sell his Finesse 24 which he purchased as a project some time ago – see below. Finesse 24 Tarantella comes onto the market… The vessel has now been placed on Appoloduck at a very reasonable price – she just needs finishing. See: https://m.apolloduck.com/boat/finesse-24/597309?fbclid=IwAR0rMb6EtHSsR8cfH6xlFBTETPuzHm7OTCW-p-FSSaXkzBir7M9DUncTWys If you decide…

It is a little after mid-February and in our neighbours garden a flowering cherry is coated in budding green leaves. All around, daffodils are breaking open in glorious yellow sun bursts, whilst the snowdrops continue to delight. Down my creek the level of activity among the many laid up craft has risen markedly: the weather…

In the autumn we took Whimbrel’s ‘new’ sails over to Faversham for Wilkinson Sailmakers to carry out some servicing – a guarantee refit. They’d looked at my Genoa last summer and did a little bit of work … I was ‘chastised’ for not bringing the sails in after the completion of the first year. ‘Sorry…’ I…

The seemingly prolonged ‘saga’ of the bits and bobs, such as spars, rudder, floorboards and tiller, that needed attention during this winter has eventually come to an end. There will some varnishing of the dinghy’s gunnels and seats to do – preparatory work was begun on that back in October – in the spring. See…

During 2017 I was awakened to an advert purporting to advertise our Whimbrel for sale … it turned out that a seller had utilised a picture of our boat to sell theirs! The then owner made contact to apologise for using Whimbrel’s mug shot … however, the adverts wording showed knowing people all wasn’t so…

Outside it is cold and bitter, although not freezing. A strong north-westerly has hit bring cold air down from the north. We had snow last week, but it didn’t feel cold and before that fell I’d enjoyed two lovely sails in bright (warm even) conditions – it was zero degrees on one day – and…

It came to pass when I was afloat with my youngest sibling in mid December that Whimbrel took on board some water into her bilge … a rare event. I thought it was the stern gland, but on other hand seemed to be way too much for that alone. See: http://nickardley.com/ditch-crawler-enjoys-a-december-sail-with-a-sibling/ Sibling in silhouette… On my…

Some years ago, I wrote to the head of BBC regarding the punctuality and ‘clarity’ of the weather bulletins they were putting out at self-imposed specified times to fit in with the reader at the Norwich BBC weather centre. I was told that I could fill out a complaints form… At the time, BBC Suffolk…

The second of January ‘dawned early’ as our alarm clock buzzed at a little before 0630. Christobel made our morning beverage whilst I headed for some ablutions. Both done, we headed off for a sail! The tide was a neap with high water a little after 0930 and we walked round towards our Whimbrel as…

Ah yes. I called my youngest brother up about a couple of ‘family’ matters and casually mentioned that I’d been looking at the weather for a weekend window … ‘Doesn’t have to be a weekend…’ came the instant reply, adding, ‘I’ve got loads of leave left over…’ I was soon recontacting with news that there…

Some time ago, I seem to remember it was the spring, but can’t find anything in my files to substantiate this, I had an email from a chap who wanted some advice about selling his father’s Finesse. His dad had passed away leaving the boat to the family … I responded asking for various details…

As a distraction we jumped on a train last week and went to Barking … mad? No, we’d enjoyed a talk at the Essex Record Office History Group earlier this autumn and placed ‘a must do’ in the diary. The talk was about Eastbury Manor which is situated in the centre of Barking a little…

Sometimes it is necessary to do a spot of maintenance on the dinghy. On the whole this tends to be done during the April to June period in between ensuring that Whimbrel is more or less up to scratch. But due to the possibility that I might not be feeling ‘on top of the world’…

This post is dedicated to John, who after some thought, has booked a PSA blood test – well done John… Having had a spot of inclement weather and being away visiting family for a weekend the level of autumn sailing was beginning to trail away with the season, so, with two days of good forecasts…

Message for Brian Ingram – recontact me: your email contact details aren’t connecting back to you… best wishes, Nick

Do you remember my blog back in the summer about ‘the deadly snake that wants to bite’? If not read… If so, and a man of fifty or over, have you been tested yet? More men are dying of prostate cancer than women of breast cancer, and in the press you’ll not hear a single…

On our way back from Cornwall last week we stopped off for a couple of days at Dorchester … but our arrival was interrupted by a small detour into Topsham. Why? Well, the spritsail barge Vigilant sits by the town’s wharf being rebuilt. The Vigilant, the subject of a lovely little book, ‘Sailorman’ by E.…

While my wife and I were down in Cornwall on holiday – a NO BOATS holiday – I just happened to fall through the gates of the Rhoda Mary Shipyard down stream in Truro. Now, the Rhoda Mary is a vessel I was quite intimate with as a youngster: with my older sibling, I would…

From time to time holidays are taken without Whimbrel being the link-pin of our lives … we went to Cornwall and have now returned, refreshed and ready for autumn … winter and the freshness of the 2019 spring… Now down in Cornwall, on a ‘no-boats’ holiday, it is exceedingly difficult not to stumble upon a…

The Queenborough Harbour Trust began putting on a traditional boat festival some seasons ago. Last year (2017) there was on the whole a very successful event, albeit that a ‘raft’ of yachts did not pitch up. My understanding was that some 2, 500 people visited over the weekend. enjoying  host of yachts, the spritsail barge…