When we tell people we’re bluewater cruising around the world, the first question is almost always the same: ‘What about storms?’ I’m hesitant to reinforce a Hollywood dramatised view of…
Adventure
Sailing to the most remote islands in the world amid ice and snow
It’s five years since our first voyage to Antarctica and we need a break from chartering to the Antarctic Peninsula. We love Southern Patagonia and the Antarctic but it’s time…
Ovni 430 review: new interpretation of a successful concept
The concept of rugged aluminium centreboard boats is well proven, but can a boat displacing 14 tonnes when loaded sail well in the light airs that predominate during summer in…
What’s it like to sail to the most remote of the South Sandwich Islands?
We dropped anchor in 12m of water, a long stone’s throw from an unfriendly rocky cliff face and immediately the reality of our position set in as Vinson of Antarctica…
A complete guide to high latitude sailing (and avoiding icebergs)
I’ve just returned home from skippering 59º North’s Farr 65 Falken from Annapolis, Maryland, to Isafjordur in north-west Iceland. We covered over 3,000 miles, sailing via the stupendous Prince Christian…
Sunk by a whale in the middle of the Pacific ocean
“Tommy, this is no joke,” Rick Rodriguez messaged to his friend and fellow skipper Tommy Joyce. “We hit a whale and the ship went down. We are in the liferaft.”…
Sailing in Europe: Your guide to 90 days of summer cruising
Whether you need to fit around work, school, or Schengen zone requirements, three months of sailing in Europe can make for a summer to remember. Exploring the many cruising areas…
Swimming with humpback whales
“Slip into the water, don’t jump. Try not to splash, and follow me,” our guide Torea hurriedly told us as the panga-style boat slowed to a stop, only 100m away…
Cruising Costa Rica: discovering an unspoilt paradise by boat
The sea curls with distant groundswells as the fragmented skyline of Panama City dips into the horizon. A neat queue of cargo vessels waits at anchor for their turn to…
The hen that sailed around the world: a farewell to Monique
Monique, a Rhode Island Red hen who joined solo sailor Guirec Soudée on multiple sailing adventures, even including 130 days icebound in Greenland, has died at the age of 9.…
Smallest boats: The bonkers world of Microyacht adventures
Often the smallest boats to cross oceans look much like a child’s crayon picture of a little boat on a big sea, certainly Yann Quenet’s Baluchon does. Baluchon is only…
Sailing Svalbard: a photographic expedition in the Artctic circle
It’s 0600 and I hear movement down below, our guide Marcel going for his shower. I’d woken a couple of hours earlier when I knocked a pillow covering the window…
Sailing across the mouth of the Amazon Delta in a 21ft Herreshoff
Stephen Ladd is a city planner from the US who opted for a better life. Not being inclined to luxury, his first book goes under the title Three Years in…
Roving Commissions extract: Calm in the Storm
Not for the first time, the Royal Cruising Club’s wonderful annual journal Roving Commissions has turned up a jewel of seamanship. Delving into the 2021 edition I found an account…
First look: Viator 54DS – electric powered explorer
Electric propulsion makes a great deal of sense for explorer yachts that have to be self-sufficient for long periods. Energy reserves can be replenished through regeneration when there’s enough wind…
Cuba by boat: discover an unspoilt paradise by boat
After a month cruising in Jamaica aboard Distant Drummer, our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sloop, we were in Montego Bay and waiting for a fair wind to carry us north across…
Skiing Arctic ice by yacht
A single walrus raised its frosted head, eyeing Firebird as we dropped anchor at Tynarebukta on the Isfjorden. Rugged mountains were enveloped by a glacier that spilled out onto the…
Skip Novak’s Mission to Save the Albatross
I let go the lines at the pontoon in Cape Town and watched Pelagic Australis motor out of the basin, breathing a monumental sigh of relief. She was bound for…
Nordic legends: cruising the breathtaking Faroe Islands
“Stop filling the boat with cheese!” I exclaimed to Paul, as he stowed a massive food shop in Ponta Delgada ahead of what would be a nearly 2,000-mile passage to…
Does a professional skipper ever outrank his or her yacht’s owner?
Having been a skipper of other people’s yachts in my former life and, for almost three decades now, a ‘poor bloody owner’ – most of the time employing skippers –…