Yes, there’s a conscious reference here to Where day first began from last year and it’s all about both going west again and a sense of renewal after being so late to launch I might not have. And if I ironically once more skipped North Uist, which Calum Macdonald probably had in mind when he wrote the lyrics to Cearcal a’ Chuain, it’s still absolutely meaningful to me. But this story more or less starts with Tarifa and Norway, so let’s start there…
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4 September 2026
Where day began again
24 August 2025
Where day first began
Cearcal a’ chuain
Gu bràth bidh i a’ tionndadh
Leam gu machair geal an iar
Far an do thòisich an là.
[C Macdonald/R Macdonald, Cearcal a’ Chuain]
Yes, I’m always drawn west, but hadn’t been for a while, so wanted to get out there and cover some ground (water?) with Fly and did, logging some 330 sea miles over the ten days from Saturday 9 to Monday 18 August… (more…)
2 August 2025
Impala stern ladder
Three years ago we had a Facebook discussion about boarding/swimming ladders for Impalas and I finally got one sorted for Fly this year… (more…)
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31 July 2025
Admiral’s Cup
It’s quite simple; for podium places at Admiral’s Cup, you need boats with matching names, so Jolt 3/Jolt 6, Beau Geste/Beau Ideal, Django WR51/Django JPK etc. To win you also need sail numbers matching the lengths of your boats, so MON 52/MON 42. You heard it here first, thanks! ;-)
20 July 2025
Round Mull Race and Cruising with Joey
While the gaps between my blogs get bigger, I’m still here and, bar the increasing timescale, what I wrote just three blogs but nearly three years ago is remarkably similar to how I might have started this one: (more…)
29 September 2022
Packrafting killed my camera!
To cut to the chase, we’re talking about a good day yesterday (something I’ve wanted to do for a long time) marred by stupidly knocking an unsecured camera bag containing my Lumix GM5 + 14–45mm lens in the water when I got out the packraft and almost certainly killing both! (more…)
25 September 2022
Kayak round Lismore
I’m ‘supposed’ to be trading my sailing know-how for Amanda’s in kayaking and we’d hoped to go sailing yesterday…
Amanda lives about 180m up the road and Ruth lives right in between (a neat 90m from either of us). Amanda’s a Sea Kayak Leader and Coach who’s keen to do some sailing where I’m a lifelong sailor getting into kayaking, so Ruth suggested we could help each other. What a good idea!
But a forecast short of wind said ‘kayak’, Amanda suggested the single-day circumnavigation of Lismore we both wanted to do, so that’s what we did. (more…)
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18 September 2022
Not Loch Etive
Let’s start at the end and finish with the beginning today…
I’ve wanted to take Fly up Loch Etive for years, had the perfect combination of neap tides and fine conditions, but hadn’t considered the temporary platform: (more…)
11 September 2022
September Cruise
Time for a sailing blog!
Sometimes things get blogged and sometimes they don’t but, months after I last blogged about anything and nearly a year since I last talked about sailing here, the impetus finally comes from a September cruise I couldn’t have done when I was still working. (more…)
24 April 2022
Kayak store completion and trolley
It’s been a while because I’ve been doing other things too, but the store is now finished bar a cabin hook to hold the door open, and my attention is now turning to Fly and catching up with the garden. But first a quick rundown of my Sea Kayak Oban ‘Confidence Builder’ course on 6/7 April… (more…)
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