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…

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…