At this time of year, especially on a rare warm winter fine day, I like to sit in Aurial’s cockpit and let my eye and mind wander over the marina…
Cruising life
Jonty Pearce: Seduction of the sea
The physical aspect of on board romance is a subject rarely covered by the yachting press. We know many sailors do participate in a bit of nookie afloat, but few…
Jonty Pearce: The shortest day
Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat. The turkeys are looking worried and getting twitchy when cranberry sauce is mentioned. It seems improbable, but in the middle of…
Jonty Pearce: An Ex Purt
As our experience and sailing skills grow, sailors may become at risk of considering themselves experts. Indeed, those of us foolhardy enough to dare to put pen to paper are…
Jonty Pearce: Secret Water
No, not that one – this Secret Water is our very own. And although Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons never visited, this is the very type of waterway where they…
Jonty Pearce: The Ultimate Sacrifice
The humble sacrificial strip is prepared to perform self-immolative Hari-Kari in order to preserve the integrity of our precious genoa sailcloth that lies underneath its protective wrapping. Often gaily coloured,…
Jonty Pearce: Larks and owls
Carol, known as the Indoor Dragon with her full acquiescence, is an owl. By which I mean that her internal clock mechanisms are set to a different datum from the…
Jonty Pearce: talking MOB recovery with the CA
Jonty and Carole take part in a Cruising Association conference on which kit and techniques give you the best chance of MOB recovery
Jonty Pearce: The wonder of nature
As the dusk fell and the gloaming darkened, the shadow swirled and changed as it writhed in what light still remained, framed between the banks of trees on either side…
Jonty Pearce: Raindrops keep falling on my deck
There is something comforting about lying warm and dry in ones bunk while listening to steady rain falling on deck, securely moored in the marina whose excellent warm cafe will…