Heave To!

Position: 37°48’27″N 1°47’15″E Three days out of Sardinia, 75 miles from any shore, the weather finally turned nasty. It was dark, an hour from first light. For the previous three hours the weather had hung off in the distance. Miles …

London Town

Position: 51°31’0″N 0°02’32″W Back in the early 1980s, when I lived in London, each neighbourhood still had the distinctive feel of villages. There were greens surrounded by shops and a church. Local pubs were full of locals who had lived …

Dunrobin Castle

Position: 57°58’53″N 3°56’41″W The Sutherlands seem like a bloodthirsty lot. Or at least they were. At the turn of the 19th century they were also the wealthiest landowners in Britain. Eclipsing even Queen Victoria. One of the better-known Scottish clans, …

The North Coast 500

Position: 57°26’54″N 6°35’22″W The invention of the North Coast 500 (NC500) led to an inundation of tourists in the Scottish Highlands. Tourists in the sense of literally touring with a self-driven vehicle while pausing and snapping photos every 10 minutes …

The Orkneys

Position: 58°58’17″N 3°02’52″W We’re going to return to all the stuff we did before we reached the Orkneys shortly. My daughter’s wedding photos aren’t back yet and tales of bloodthirsty lairds and epic Jacobite battles will take a little more …

Kefalonia

POSITION: 38°18’03.6″N 20°36’05.2″E Coming out of the lee of southern tip of Ithaka proved a little more challenging than expected. The winds bore down on us at 25 knots, whipping spray off the waves. Reefed and ready, we tucked a …