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We had a lovely evening at Cruising Association House in Docklands. Although we have been members for a year or so, it’s the first time we have been to an event in person. In fact, it may have been the first physical, non-Zoom event there since Covid-19 rules have been relaxed? It’s really wonderful to be able to meet real people in person once again, as opposed to via the ethereal IT cloud. Because we live outside the M25 now – a vague region that an ex-City work-colleague d

The open sea One of the joys of sailing out in open water is that there are no roads, no road markings and no road signs. There are written ‘Rules of the Road’ you must know, in case you encounter other vessels and need to avoid an embarrassing collision. But subject to the wind direction, you can sail in whatever direction you fancy; as the bird flies or maybe as the fish swims? You very rarely come across a fence or a wall in open water causing you to stop or alter course.

The winged lion of St Mark It is said that Venice was the first true European colonial empire. It has also been said that Venice gave Britain the blueprint for its own future empire - both were small maritime powers that gained global reach. Do we see any other similarities in how Venice and the early British endeavours were organised? Let’s start at the end. Two main factors led to the waning of the famous Venetian Republic: i) a prolonged war with the Ottomans, which we tou

Missy Bear being taken by tractor to her dry berth in November. Our sailing plans have been thrown up in the air again! No, not Brexit. Nor Covid-19. Not even the crazy little Tsar. Yet! No, the delay to relaunch is actually for a much more pleasant reason: ‘ The Adventures of Missy Bear ’ has won the 2021 ‘Lacey Trophy’. This is an award by the Cruising Association (CA) “ for the best member’s website or blog covering cruising in the year” ! A cynic might say that we might h

Well, it hardly seems any time at all since the school bell rang in Preveza, and it was the end of term. We handed the boat in at the Cleopatra boatyard, and waited for the school bus to take us back across the channel to Preveza. It seemed ages until we would return. What were we going to do? Autumn evenings, cooking on the firepit. Cirencester Market Place, decked out for Christmas We felt it would be rude and ungrateful not to use more of our French visa, so first of all w