Well sometimes you just loose perspective; the sheer heat can make you feel as though life is just a little out of reach; you begin to hear your own voice, down the line; the clarity seems muffled and thoughts are hard to project; only the immediate, here-and-now is feasible. I’m returned home for a fortnight. Ten weeks of back-to-back courses. I began to feel as if I were in the centre of a centrifuge attempting to focus on the spinning faces. What could I do to help myself “feel” alive? How strangely my mind coped with consistent professional restriction. An identity cleansed functionality. The edges gone. The feeling has taken only about half-a-day to return to the corners of my mind. Like frostbite, parts of my mind were surplus to the constant automation. Dull. That’s how ... read more

I'm all safely tucked-up in my bunk but I don't want to dream about that heeuge octopus I just pulled-up on a lazy-line. No kidding - it was 3 foot wide with a head the size of a football and it made me feel same as a dark night, a sudden draught and a ghost were in front of me. We used to sing a song when we were little children, roger and sue and me: to market to market to buy a fat pig, home again, home again, jiggetty jig. I was humming it all the way up the Meganisi Strait, in my head. ...and I thought, how much I wished I could just turn the boat round and sail down round Italy, all the way out of the Med', the Bay of Biscay, up ... read more

July 10th I was sitting in Yannis Taverna tonight, alone, eating my calamari, bread and tzaziki, when a stranger walked up to me and asked if I were the "captain" with the American people. I confirmed that "yes, my clients are American." She said she had just met my clients who had been going on and on about their captain "that's you isn't it - because we saw you talking to them and they said you sailed the whole boat alone for them whilst they slept-off their jetlag on deck" she turned and pointed at to my yacht (loosely) and said a bit more flattering stuff you would only think me arrogant to repeat ..bla-bla-bla..., and, as I looked at Macushla II, I noticed a Westerly Centaur, exactly half her length was moored beside her. She ... read more

Yes, yes, I have sailed right past my birthday and didn't even make a fuss but, guess what? - Greece is really quite nice. ....and my yacht really is very big. ....so I didn't really notice that my birthday wasn't being populated with surprises. ....after all, I had a French student (though I can't call them students now I'm a Bareboat Skipper) busy propping my yacht and generally running me aground in time for the Greek authorities to turn up and blame me . Well it is my buck. So, I have left Turkey - PHEEEEEEYOOOO!!! How hot was that. Why didn't I do this earlier. As BS, I get to decide where I sail, when and, so far, my guests have been very generous and I'm duty bound to reclaim the weight I lost in ... read more

Not me - I am still hanging in there but it took me an hour and a half to get from Ronin to the breakfast room this morning. I was up at 5am this morning, sourcing my sugar from various stores around the site. I now have a kettle, a mug, a working fridge, tea from England (don’t I Mel) and bottled water. Sugar was a real victory - a whole half a box. So, I spent an hour or so celebrating with one tea after another. Reluctantly shutting my cabin door, I left Ronin as the guests gathered. A few smiling faces, working their way down the jetty, asked me what the wind was doing today but I declared a celebrated unawareness as I was off. This week was a hard slog through expectations ... read more