On Monday, last, the 31st January 2022, the family laid our mother to rest. As reported in an earlier post, she died on Boxing Day 2021 with our sister holding her hand. Our mother was born on 14th December 1931 into a world far removed from the world we now live in. She met our…

During this last week, I received a note through the post with unknown handwriting. It was from the sister of Pat O’Driscoll. The sister had opened the post of Pat’s on the run up to Christmas and probably is still doing so: Pat, bless her, died on 28th November. It would have been about the…

A little while ago, before the end of last year (2021) there was much in the media about safety around the coasts and within harbours and rivers. It was the irresponsible behaviour of watercraft owners in particular which was homed in on. The hiatus caused by irresponsible ‘new’ owners of Personal Watercraft during the Covid-19…

I was walking across the yard of the Island Yacht Club some time last year when a hail arrested my steps towards the jetties and Whimbrel. I toddled over and was met by a grinning chap who proceeded to furnish me with a flourish of praise and thanks. What for you might ask. Well, he…

It has been a bit of a month down on the Thames estuary with just a few available days fit for sailing when the tide was in. I grabbed two of those… My eldest brother was over from Canada a little while back and he hit a period of excellent weather in the east, enjoying…

I first met Max when he pitched up at my yacht club to begin working on the regular Saturday routine. He had been at it a little while without my knowledge while I was away summer sailing aboard Whimbrel. I immediately found Max to be one of those honest down to earth guys that often…

I knew Dick in a childhood sort of way one does when the person appears in one’s life to crew (and work) aboard your Thames spritsail barge home. Dick disappeared from my life and he next turned up as a ‘yotty’ working for Yachting Monthly. Dick later graduated to News Editor and had his own…

Apparently, the reporting of near miss incidents has fallen by a staggering near 50% over the last few years. The Port of London Authority are clearly concerned for they know that safety has NOT improved to that extent. It is the reporting that has dropped. The PLA want river users to be proactive in reporting…

For all Finesse owners this is your opportunity to meet with many more owners and see other craft within the Finesse fleet. It is a worthwhile enterprise and great fun with like-minded souls. The 2022 Rally is planned for Queenborough over the mid-June weekend when tides are of a friendly height. I gather a number…

Recently I updated my ‘Books’ page on the web site. See: Well, moving on from there, I have fantastic news: A new book is due. Today, I signed a contract with a publisher after negotiating a book deal. I can’t say much more at the moment but in the coming months there will be a…

During the summer we sailed into West Mersea a few times. One was over a weekend when there was a bit of a fair taking place on the carpark in front of the West Mersea Yacht Club – regatta end day, I think. Apart from Christobel asking how she could become a fairy … the…

During August, we’d popped up into St Osyth for a night after booking a berth with the yard at the head of the creek – home port of the spritsail barge EDME. Upon leaving we had a night in Brightlingsea to use the shower facilities and get a ‘shed load’ of laundry done! There are…

New flowers in early January when we were deeply in the second full scale Covid-19 lockdown were apt for what I was getting up to when not walking and varnishing dinghy bits and other stuff… Current projects: I do have more up my sleeve but when this will come to fruition, I cannot at the moment…

Autumn is properly with us now in my little corner of England and sailing out on a tide has resumed. First the Brent arrived and then the terns disappeared. Flocks of overwintering waders have arrived too. The Brent geese were a little early, I thought, signalling perhaps harsher conditions on their home territory. Home: I…

Abandoned vessels have almost become the norm around the Thames estuary shores. A news item recently in the maritime press – Leisure Marine – has highlighted the problem of the end of life for boats. See: https://marineindustrynews.co.uk/about/ Some interesting ‘stuff’ is discussed in this industry media outlet… It used to be common for old wooden…

Sailing towards Harty ferry during the first week of September we passed by the disused Turkey Cement Works Dock on Elmley Island between Ridham Dock and Grovehurst Jetty on the ‘north/south’ section of the West Swale. Earlier this year I had spotted a trailer-able yacht of around 26 to 28 ft out of the water…

Have a staycation, the Government, media and travel industry said. great, we always have a staycation in the summer… It was all a very good idea for the many people who normally chuck bucket loads of money into a foreign holiday. That money has been fuelling a boom in house renovations, camping, caravanning and boating…

Some while ago I wrote about a few of the barge-yachts I knew about and of the lovely Tiny Mite which I’d learnt had then come onto the market. The little ship has been extensively rebuilt, sadly, however, the owner no longer has the health to enjoy his years of work. Walking past the Leigh-on-Sea…

Wow, what a success this year’s Queenborough’s Traditional Festival was. The weather was kind and puff-ball clouds slowly crossed sunny blue skies after early morning high grey cloud cleared away. A late summer carnival atmosphere soon enveloped us all, with people wanting to visit the assembled fleet… I’m told that nearly 2000 people visited the…

While visiting Brightlngsea I had a walk around the hard standing within Morgan’s boat yard. Over the years I have followed with my camera the progress, or not, of long term projects. It has been at least three years since my last walk around and changes have happened. The yard has undergone a few changes.…