Eating and drinking together in the evening around the saloon table is one of my favourite parts of a sailing trip.   The addition of a good game can only add to the fun.  We have some firm favourites that are easy to learn, quick to play and always generate lots of laughs.  See below for details, quick ...

Take a listen to our podcasts, we started them in January 2021 and have a few interesting topics and guests, these are being Published once a week and so far we have the following topics covered: Why do we sailHonest answers from a Yacht BrokerThe Nomad Sailing Operations MangerQHM Portsmouth - all you ever wanted to know Coming up: Favourite Crusi...

Tidal Curves are very useful tools in our armoury and help us to navigate safely in waters of varying depths. As part of our morning boat preparation this is on our list of things to do before leaving. Portsmouth is the main standard port in The Solent so we have a Portsmouth Tidal Curve constructed every morning for reference. What do we need...

If you are travelling a short distance but across a pretty strong tide, the quick CTS method can be quite useful. In this instance you will not need dividers simply a plotter but you will need all the other associated information to formulate your CTS. See Course to Steer. I have also made a YouTube video to support the CTS both full and quick, to ...

Working up a CTS assumes certain skills or areas of knowledge already acquired: Being able to measure distances on a chartUnderstanding how to use a plotter and dividersBeing able to find the correct tidal hour or hoursBeing able to ascertain whether we are in neaps or springsUnderstanding how to read a tidal stream atlas or tidal diamond...

Pilotage - what is it ? There are numerous definitions, one I particularly like is - 'pilotage is the use of fixed visual references on the ground or sea by means of sight to guide oneself to a destination'. Certainly in the Solent and around much of the UK coastline there are numerous visual references wherever you may be, for these visual referen...

2020 has been a year unlike any other and not in a good way, that said I was lucky enough to get the opportunity in August, between lockdowns and the ever changing Tier system, to visit Iles Chausey for the first time. Located to the north east of St Malo on first glance at the chart Iles Chausey looks like a pile of rocks marked with plethora of C...

This is a lovely festive bake and easier than it looks. I think it nice to offer something other than Christmas Cake not being a lover myself although the traditional Christmas Cake is much improved by adding a slice of Wensleydale cheese (it's a Yorkshire thing ;-) That said with Christmas becoming less and less likely this chocolate log will last...