Back aboard Blue Dove, it is as if I had never left. As I had hoped, reconnection (both with the boat and with Madam) was immediate and seamless. There are two differences – first, we…

Here in Hoorn old buildings are awkwardly tilted. Elegant young women cycle through cobbled laneways. Century-old, ponderous sailing barges still work out of the harbour, there are flowers everywhere and it rains often.   All…

IJsselmeer (yes, that’s the correct spelling) is the large body of water created by the damming of the Zuiderzee in the 1930’s. 20 miles wide it is an ideal place to sail, and on Saturday…

Miss Perfect has become a competent skipper but crikey, she is a taxing taskperson. I have been trying really hard to be good crew, but I nearly spilt 3 coffee grounds in the sink. There…

The Standing Mast Route through Netherlands is a trip worth doing. Once. Often very beautiful, but there are just too many bridges, locks and ditherings about. In Groningen alone there are fifteen opening bridges through…