The nautical adventures and misadventures of Hejira, her skipper, and all who sail in her…
Reference to Homer’s Iliad might be seen as rather ‘highbrow’ and somewhat incongruous given the usual more ‘earthy’ content of these blogs. So, not surprisingly, I must confess to having been introduced to it by an infinitely more learned and cerebral friend and fellow Southerly 135 sailor, John Goodall. Here is his mail to me... Continue Reading →
Is it just me being a cantankerous pedant, or are nautical standards slipping? Maybe they are just evolving and changing to reflect the times ? There was a time when yacht Ensigns were ‘dipped’ to Royal Naval Vessels, and the Navy were expected to ‘dip’ in return as a matter of courtesy and etiquette, poor... Continue Reading →
The announcement of the venue and dates for the 37th America’s Cup in 2024 has been delayed again. With the NZ government only offering $100 million dollars (!) to fund the staging of the cup, there appear to be several locations clamouring to host the event. The speculation includes Ireland, Italy, Spain and even Saudi... Continue Reading →
It is such sad news to report that Barry Locke-Edmunds died at home in Wales on the 28th of October aged 73. Readers of this blog will know that he crewed on the Atlantic crossings to and back from the Caribbean. Barry helped me prepare Hejira for the adventure and gave me such a lot... Continue Reading →
I hope the reference to ‘Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’ wasn’t too obscure and you are not reaching for the ‘esc’ button just yet. Of all of my various ideas (could they be called innovations?) that have been covered in the yachting publications and mentioned in this website, the underwater breathing system has had most... Continue Reading →
Inevitably, water sometimes appears in the bilges and needs to be dealt with. Sponging out is laborious and time consuming if there is a substantial amount – I recently struggled to replace the log impeller blank and took on quite a lot of water into the bilge. There is also a sensible recommendation in the... Continue Reading →
This article appeared in the Summer 2021 Yachting Monthly. It was so severely cut from my blog post, it barely made any sense...
Since returning, I have been in touch with Steve Hancox, skipper and owner of ‘Bryony’ and we have had some interesting correspondence. Bryony is an old wooden ‘Gaffer’ which Steve restored in the garden of his house in Herefordshire. She is 10 metres over the deck with a 2.85-metre bow sprit. She is a “double-ender”... Continue Reading →
We did manage to evade the zealous Yarmouth Harbour fee collectors and after a sumptuous full night’s sleep, we slipped our mooring at 06.45 bound for Northney Marina. Heading down the Solent under a clear blue sky and with the tide under us, we had the best ‘white sail’ sail since departing the Cote D’Azur... Continue Reading →
The updated weather forecast coupled with our delayed crossing necessitated a rethink. With the wind veering to the NNE in the evening, we didn’t relish the prospect of just bashing back in 25 knots on the nose. The better option was to take the 3 hour shorter crossing to the Needles, get in earlier and... Continue Reading →
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