31st March to 7th April 2014 – Chichester to St. Katharine Dock With the exception of a malfunctioning plotter (Raymarine are replacing it FOC), Hejira was in good shape for the departure at the end of March. A great deal of work has been done in Northney Marina over the winter and I have to... Continue Reading →

I have subsequently added this anecdote about my return to Devon for the final leg back to Hayling Island. I had been catching up with friends in my local pub and conscious that I needed to book my train back to Hejira in Torquay. Doing this 'post pub' turned out not to be a good... Continue Reading →

Big thanks to Bob and Dave who worked their fingers to the bone in our massive clean in preparation for the arrival of my wife, Paula. We had moved up  river from Falmouth to a mid-river visitor pontoon at Malpas, just short of Truro which should have been an easy location for our rendezvous at... Continue Reading →

It has been some time since my last ‘missive’ and so much has happened. Having decided to hire a car to explore beyond what would have been possible by yacht, I thought I would try to ‘look up’ the family of friends of my parents who had moved to Ireland some time ago and I... Continue Reading →

The last mail was optimistic about catching up lost time and getting back on track... Although we have experienced some of that emotion, it has been balanced by disappointment as the days have slipped by and our targets have drawn in. Bob and Stephen arrived in Milford Haven proudly bearing the replacement Windlass which we... Continue Reading →

Since my last mail, we ‘sat out’ the ‘blow’ in Padstow which tied our hands somewhat, so, with a paucity of havens suited to the weather, we stayed put which took us to our next crew change. As this was not in Bristol as planned, this presented something of a problem for John Morris who... Continue Reading →

Well, the weather has indeed interrupted again. We are currently sheltering from gales in Padstow – and, on the bright side, there are worse places to be storm bound ! The whole plan was structured to avoid deadlines and the travelling to wherever we are by car for the in/out on the mainland was intended... Continue Reading →

At last some signal and a partially working lap top so a quick resume on the cruise so far. We slipped from Northney Marina on Hayling Island on Friday 17th May 2013 with a crew of Ollie and his friends Ashley and Raph. We sailed west, spending nights in Newtown River on the IOW, Studland... Continue Reading →

I bought my Southerly 135 in Holland in 2012 and sailed her back to Itchenor in Chichester Harbour, where she was constructed. The builders, Northshore, embarked on a substantial amount of work, at my request, to bring her up to the specification that I wanted. The exercise was somewhat fraught and the details are covered... Continue Reading →