September 30, 2019
Return to the South Pacific
No, you didn't read that wrong but it doesn't quite mean that we're setting a course back eastwards either. A number of [...]
September 3, 2019
New money for old rope
I simply adore swap meets. The traditional car boot sale or antiques market in land-lubber life has always had a certain appeal but they are always plagued with the business of having to root through all the junk to uncover something useful. By...
August 5, 2019
Uncommon courtesy
We sailors love our special bits of rules and etiquette don’t we? From COLREGs to radio speak, the yachting world is littered with hints and tips of best practice that help the novice adjust to this whole new language of sailing. But whilst [...]
July 1, 2019
Climate change
Cruising full-time has moments where you seem to go from one extreme to the other. It’s a feeling that I tend to associate with the weather; acclimatising to one set of conditions only to be [...]
June 4, 2019
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines
After the ghoulish curiosity for questions about storms and pirates abates, people are always interested in our engine. And it’s often with a tone of [...]
May 2, 2019
The storm before the calm
Ahhh, the sailing life. The imagined carefree bliss of cruising through gin-clear waters, of sunsets in secluded Caribbean anchorages, of whitesand beaches in the South Pacific, dolphins dancing at your bow wave whilst the steady tradewinds carry you...
April 4, 2019
Trash soup
Sailing gives you the opportunity to have your eyes opened to different cultures, exotic new flavours and languages, enabling you to learn new ways of thinking and being. This constant education is the single most fulfilling thing about our cruising...
March 1, 2019
Row, row, row your boat
To row or not to row? That is the question. Getting your dinghy from A to B, from boat to shore, is an everyday occurrence for any liveaboard. But, although seemingly [...]
February 3, 2019
The squirrel sailor
In a floating world where self-reliance and ingenuity rule it pays to be prepared. Living in a state where both your plans and the weather can change on you is one thing and you never quite know what issue or challenge might crop up on a boat. But...
January 1, 2019
Bareboat sailing
Sailors like to get naked. After all your boat is your home and who needs to be covered up in sweltering layers in the tropical heat? Why not just [...]
December 2, 2018
The cardinal sin
Traditionally there are certain laws or superstitions that sailors like to live by. “No bananas on a boat… don’t let a woman onboard… never leave port on a Friday…” All fine examples of dubious seafaring wisdom that we choose to bluntly...
November 1, 2018
What’s in a name?
Once you’ve been cruising for a while you develop a shorthand, referring to every couple or family onboard by their boat name. We get cards or emails to “the Adamastors” and we never take offence at it, although it’s a far cry from our much...
October 1, 2018
It all comes out in the wash
We’re back in the UK, enjoying the reunions with family and friends that our brief sojourns from our ‘proper’ life at sea allow us. And there is one acquaintance that I must admit I am incredibly glad to see again – a washing machine. Not a...
June 1, 2018
Becalmed
Where has the wind gone? There’s an eerie feeling to losing even the merest scrap of breeze. We know the familiar adage “calm before a storm” so it’s wise to be on the alert when the air goes so quiet. Sometimes, a stillness in the immediate...
May 1, 2018
The beach
Summer has begun. For us Brits the snatched breaks of bank holidays and family vacations send us flocking to the beach. Whether it’s the English seaside - complete with donkey rides, rockpools, and someone selling jellied eels - or jetting off to...
April 18, 2018
Worse things happen at sea
A boat is really a house combined with a car and put into an environment that constantly attacks it. Saltwater and sun destroy whatever they can without mercy. It’s a matter of constant maintenance as things will always break. Some items you can...
April 1, 2018
The pay off
Once the initial questions about storm avoidance and pirate dodging have come to an end we quite often find ourselves in conversations about how we can afford to sail the world. There are countless useful articles and several helpful books that lay...
March 15, 2018
The trading post
When you come from a world of shops, fixed prices and hard currency it’s hard to imagine how you’d go about trading goods or swapping skills in exchange for your family’s food. Yet, in the last year, sailing in Vanuatu, the Solomon islands,...
March 1, 2018
Favours for sailors
It seems that the kindness of cruising strangers is the glue that holds the sailing population together. It’s funny when you think of how the stereotypical image of a sailor is a rather solitary figure. In order to separate the flesh of a fresh...
February 15, 2018
Thunderbolts, lightning, very very frightening…
I remember when we sailed across the Atlantic ocean and had to get comfortable with seeing lightning out at sea. It’s a rather spooky feeling, seeing those dramatic forks and flashes and remaining calm, knowing that when the sky is clear you can...