Saturday 23 July 2016 A Coruña, Spain. My house is in the south-east of England. There’s lots of old stuff there, indeed there’s a castle 500m from my back door and a Roman villa just down the road. So I’m not normally that impressed by old stuff I see elsewhere. There are exceptions though.
A Coruna
Biscay Crossing
Monday 18 July 2016 Crossing the Bay of Biscay. Whether justifiably or otherwise, in my mind the crossing of the Bay of Biscay had assumed monumental proportions. One pilot book recommends taking on extra crew for the crossing. All of them agree that it’s tricky. One old salt I consulted in Falmouth who’s crossed
Arrival in Spain
Tuesday 12 July 2016 Arrival in Spain. I arrived last night in La Coruna, on the NW corner of Spain. The Biscay crossing was, um, challenging. I’ll write a more detailed post shortly but for now I have things to do as you can imagine. Stay tuned.
Pilot Boats, Old and New.
Saturday 02 July 2016 Falmouth, UK. Ships’ captains are expert mariners but cannot possibly know every port in detail. That’s where the pilots come in. They are locals who know their areas intimately. They go aboard ships as they approach port and guide them safely in. Nowadays pilots go out to their client ships in
Falmouth, UK
Friday 01 July 2016 Falmouth, UK. Heading South from England entails crossing the Bay of Biscay. This means that right at the start, when you’ve yet to get into the swing of things, you’re faced with a five-day passage across seas that are notorious both for being rough and for being busy with commercial shipping
Cawsand Bay
Sun 12 June 2016 Cawsand Bay, Plymouth, UK Last week I ordered some charts from Sea Chest, the chart agent here in Plymouth (and the best one I know anywhere). I’ve come out here to anchor in Cawsand Bay to wait for the charts to arrive. I could sail off somewhere while I wait but
The Solent, UK
Sunday 05 June 2016 The Solent, UK. I met up with my friend Nick on Friday in his home port of Portsmouth. Today we’re sailing West through the Solent, him in his boat and me in mine. I’m not a racer but like most non-racers I enjoyed the competition and the banter, texted back and
Leaving
Fri 03 June 2016 Brighton, UK. So. This is it then. I’m leaving. Right now. Er, well, here I go then. I’d like to describe it as a momentous occasion but really it wasn’t. Quite literally years of planning, preparation, research, learning, practicing, lots and lots of commuting and slogging away behind a desk,