Some many years ago we fitted a carpet into the main cabin aboard Whimbrel – it was something we did after I read in one of Francis B. Cooke’s books about ‘comfort afloat of an evening…’ In any case, it is almost a common sense action. Cooke believed in carpet slippers too! A carpet makes…

Last year when on a road passage between Arundel and Devizes, we passed through Midhurst, a delightful little town situated in the West Sussex National Park. Investigating later, it was discovered to be not so far from Jane Austen’s childhood home. Bingo: a place both myself and the mate have wanted to visit… So, a…

Autumn marks the end of the sailing season for most boaters. Others stay active. For many years now since my enforced early retirement from sea, Whimbrel and her crew fall into the latter category. After my return from taking my youngest brother and a cousin away for a great late summer early autumn weekend on…

At long last, I can ‘release’ the title to you: it is out there in the wider world of book sales. The publisher said in their letter when accepting the book and offering a contract: ‘…your submission was found to be a powerful, poignant memoir, an admirable chronicle of overcoming extraordinary odds…’ ‘…keen to comment…

This project has seemingly just meandered atrociously from one edit to the next at a pace that can only be described as snail-like. I have reached ‘final edit’ so many times, I’ve almost approached despair. The edit was returned some while ago, corrected, I was told, but absolutely nothing had actually been done. There were…

I have visited the Nottage Institute once before. It was some years ago when sailing with my sister and two other friends as crew. We’d come up on the tide for some stores. We enjoyed an early morning sail up to Wivenhoe on the last of the flood and managed to get into one of…

We have had a couple of visits to Maldon by water so far this summer, but on our last, we berthed at the mud marina and yard which is part of the Marine Store empire. There is a relatively decent loo and shower facility available and a very friendly and helpful team ashore.. I soon…

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…