From London to London: how we circumnavigated Europe, by Ed and Sue Kelly
Sue and Ed Kelly’s voyage is subtitled 6,200 miles, 494 days, 74 locks, two new engines and one snake. It took them via the swollen Rhine River, Main River, and through Eastern Europe via the Danube and Canal of Death to the Black Sea, Bosporus Straits, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Aegean and Mediterranean and back by Biscay and the English Channel to their starting point at St Katherine’s Dock.
In July 2013 Paul and family cruised the stunning North Brittany coastline between Paimpol and Roscoff. The brief for the trip was to cross over from Poole, spend time ashore in as many places as possible, and return their Ovni, "Little Wing", safely to her home berth, all in the space of a three week break from work. They discovered a wonderful cruising ground with a great variety of idyllic, tranquil islands, small bustling harbours and winding rivers.
The call of the Far North: preparations for a transit of the Northwest Passage, by Jimmy Cornell
As Jimmy prepares for a transit of the Northwest Passage, he tells us about preparing boat, equipment and crew for high latitude sailing, based on lessons from his voyages to Antarctica, Alaska and Spitsbergen; and about designing a new Aventura for the trip in summer 2014, which will be the first stage of a planned fourth circumnavigation with the Blue Planet Odyssey.
As you sail past the O2 “Dome” or fly over it on the cable-car, look to the opposite bank and you will see the site of the largest private dock in Europe, the birthplaces of the hydraulic crane and the modern lighthouse, the yards where “bad buoys were made good” and HMS Warrior was launched, and the wharf where Brunel’s first steamship had her engine installed.
Electronics masterclass with Tom Cunliffe, Saturday 9th November 2013
Once we navigated oceans by the stars. Now it’s barely imaginable to cross the Thames without a computer. If you’ve ever been baffled by the array of technology available to the modern yachtsmen and left wondering what is useful and what is just good marketing, this is for you.
Taking the Stress out of Single and Short-Handed Sailing, with Duncan Wells
Duncan is an RYA Instructor, Principal of Westview Sailing, and a features writer for Yachting Monthly. There is something for everyone from master mariners to novices in his talk, which is full of practical ideas delivered with humour.
A North Atlantic Circuit in Gulliver G, with Geoff and Kate Caesar
Clare Francis famously crossed the Atlantic in Gulliver G back in 1973. In October 2011, 37 years later, current owners Kate and Geoff Caesar took her over the Pond again on a 10 month circuit of the North Atlantic.
