They say that the definition of cruising is ‘fixing your boat in exotic locations’. Well, crouched, sweating, in the aft heads using a head torch and a mirror to extract…
Yachting Monthly
‘Never before have I sailed in such wild weather’ – struck by a ‘weather bomb’ near New Zealand
Sammy, my sister, was ready to go. She couldn’t wait to put on her skipper’s hat and head off on a great adventure. It was 1998 when offshore sailing was…
The secret of yachts that hold their value
Yachts seem to be evolving faster and faster these days, with fashions changing and and ideas about what makes a good sailing boat shooting off in all sorts of directions.…
Sailing the Faroes: ‘It’s a challenging but very rewarding cruising area, with endless hills and fantastic views’
Our way of life on board is best described as “Vi tar det lugnt,” Swedish for “we take it easy.” We travel without a specific plan or target; the voyage…
Sailing the Orkneys: ‘Bryan saw a tall black fin breaking the water, followed by another – it was a pair of orcas’
Sitting on my living-room floor surrounded by tide tables, pilot books, and almanacs, one part of my upcoming voyage around Britain began to excite me more than the rest. I…
Sailing from Scotland to Ireland: ‘The mountains were swathed in a blanket of cloud and the waves became enormous’
The magic and mystery of the western isles of Scotland capture my imagination and draw me back every summer. This once-great sea kingdom ruled by the Norse and Gaels is…
‘The day the sky turned red’ – Lu Heikell encounters an unusual phenomenon
Saharan dust being blown across the Mediterranean is not a new phenomenon, but here it usually arrives in the form of rain. Many times we have woken up on Skylax…
How to tension your yacht’s rig with wire or rod rigging
If you want to trim your rig correctly you should have some idea of the tension in the shrouds and stays, either by rules of thumb or a more exact…
How to improve power management on a yacht
I confess, I’m not a marine electrician, and my understanding of boat electronics is at best rudimentary, but I’ve now been managing my boat’s power generation and consumption for three…
Sailing across the Irish Sea: ‘We had never seen such evocative scenery’
Bleary eyed, we stumbled out of our sleeping bags as the boat rocked gently on her berth. Fumbling around we clad ourselves with nautical attire, had some breakfast and prepared…