Chichester Marina lock gates opened letting saltwater flow past the hull for the first time in months.   On departure the lock keepers always enquire when you will be returning in order to avoid overcrowding when the tide changes and everyone wants to come back.   He stood confidently, armed with his clipboard and pen poised. I READ MORE

In order to preserve the fragility of a boat owner’s sanity, it’s important to work hard at reducing your ‘To do’ list so it resembles something manageable. The key word being ‘reduce’.    I have often used the phrase that boats are ‘on going projects’ and so I’m under no illusion that the list will ever READ MORE

Covid and Brexit regulations require that all arrivals by sea are reported immediately to Her Majesties Border Force to ensure that no illegal persons or goods are entering the UK.   It is therefore now the duty of all skippers to contact this highly professional and pro-active 24hr organisation whom I had been informed were likely READ MORE

The morning of the 7th July saw us through the Barrage Lock at Arzal which marked LJ’s return to sea water.  We waved goodbye to Nina, who was driving our car home via Caen, whilst Richard and I sat waiting for sufficient tide to exit the river. With no Radar, very little in the way READ MORE

She lives. Although the key turned in the lock with some confidence, the hatch doors remained firmly stuck until yielding following a good shove which presented access to the gloom of the saloon. Having left the blinds down and the hatches covered we peered into the dark, not knowing if we were to be faced READ MORE

Exiting from the darkness of ‘Lock Down 3’ and 12 months after last seeing the boat we tentatively looked at returning to France to make sure that LJ was still the right way up.     Although she had been fitted with the latest electrical tracking equipment the last transmitted signal was August 2020 so although we READ MORE

2020 started off rather well, LJ had a new marina, we’d packed up the business and by the time we’d got home in the Autumn of 2019 our youngest kids had moved out of the house!  The pain of their loss was hard to take but we’d recovered by lunchtime and, before either of them READ MORE

October was just round the corner and as midnight struck on September 30th the French tourist industry abruptly shut down.   Tables and chairs were stacked and chained to walls of now silent cafes.  Sun awnings were wound back, lights turned off and the ‘ouvert’ sign was spun to ‘ferme’. We were back in the Vilaine READ MORE

Sadly, as the year was drawing to a close, our temperamental, very expensive and highly problematic electrical system was failing again.  We now only had minimal domestic stand-alone electrical power and had become completely reliant on shore power to maintain any form of normal living. Thankfully, we still have our guarantees and following numerous conversations READ MORE

Several months ago we made passage through the Chanel du Four and ‘The Raz’ to enter the French Atlantic Coastline. Along almost the entire length of this west facing coastline are numerous islands each with its own character and topography. Having already set foot on several of them we headed to L’ile d’Yeu located a READ MORE