24 March 2020
We’re sorry to inform you that for the protection of its staff our super distributor Central Books has closed for the time being, which means we cannot accept any online or trade orders. We are still working on new titles, and will be back soon —...
13 July 2019
One of the reasons these blog posts are so infrequent is I have a few distractions, two of which are Albert Strange yachts. One, Leona (1906) awaits attention when I finally retire (or make me an offer). The other, Emerald (built 1937 to a design of 1910), has...
13 July 2019
I first met her in Tollesbury and immediately fell for her. She was an Essex girl through and through but not like all the others, although she was shallow. As far as I could see then there were only two problems. There was a big age difference—fifty-five...
13 July 2019
The light north-easterly breeze continued during my watch until midnight, and Juanita sailed on through the darkness, her jib shimmering with the phosphorescence of the lee bow wave, and little Punch, the 8’ dinghy following in our glistening wake, with...
1 October 2018
Most people reading this have enjoyed lives markedly more comfortable than those of their parents or grandparents. My own father served at sea when a teenager during World War II, as a stoker and coal trimmer on tramp steamers and later on deep-sea rescue...
23 January 2018
When barely sixteen I spent two months with my slightly younger brother Dave hitch-hiking, and often rough sleeping, around Scotland watching birds. We went as far north as the Shetland isle Fetlar to see the snowy owls which bred there, and managed to cadge...
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