Bottomfeeder

Reading Time: 3 minutes

As an ocean sailor, or an aspiring one, we are sure you are as concerned as we are about the rampant overfishing of the world’s seas. But there is some good news: you can eat fish sustainably and avoid dosing yourself with horrible industrial toxins at the same time. Learn how from this book.

Our Changing Oceans

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Jimmy Cornell is undoubtedly one of the most important people to offshore voyaging of his generation. Colin caught up to him for a wide ranging interview on what this consummate entrepreneur is planning next as well as his latest publication.

Coming To a Remote Spot Near You…

Reading Time: 4 minutes
It's a pristine place, right-
It’s a pristine place, right?

In my experience long distance cruisers are great lovers of the marine environment, whether it be clean seas, marine wildlife or their favourite wild places. If that is indeed true, we’d be the last people to want to cause harm to pristine places, either deliberately or unwittingly. And yet, as I recently learned, the latter may indeed be the case, even though we have no idea at all that we may be doing it. And it’s all down to the critters that hitch a ride with us on our hulls—Invasive Non-Native Species, INNS for short.

Watch Out For Whales, Part II

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Watching whales is a great cruising experience—but not too close, please!

Collisions with whales and dolphins are becoming an increasing concern for offshore cruisers, as I outlined in a previous post. But up until recently there has been no serious attempt made to quantify the level of actual collision events, or to plot their geographical distribution. Obviously, having some idea of where and when collisions might take place would be really useful information for any crew intending to sail through areas where whales are prevalent, especially as the consequences of a collision with a whale can have dire consequences for both yacht and whale.

Cruising With A Purpose

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Unfriendly dolphin – a common dolphin takes aim at another

The liveaboard life appeals on many levels, but in common with many cruising couples that we have encountered, we have found that it can feel a little purposeless at times. This is partly due to us still shaking off many years of frenetic career work, but we’ve found we’re far from alone in this regard.

So as a means of keeping us busy and engaged after too many years spent aboard research yachts, we have kept up the habit of constantly scanning the horizon for signs of wildlife, with the undoubted benefit that we see far more spectacular creatures as a result.

Climate Change In Action

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Chukchi Sea John and I have a longstanding interest in collecting books on historical and present-day exploration of the high latitudes, or “death and destruction on the ice” as we call it. But it looks like climate change could put an end to this genre more quickly than we thought: This summer, for the first time in recorded history, a sailor has completed a transit of the NW Passage in 12 days solo non-stop and two boats have completed the NW and NE Passages in one season.

A Glimpse Of The Future?

Reading Time: 5 minutes
Deserted on a Sunday

Many yachtsmen who have visited the Rias of Galicia have remarked that they resemble the sea lochs of Scotland (but without the rain or the midges!). And they do, although they are far busier than Scotland, not just in terms of population and boat traffic, but also because of one of the cornerstones of the local economy – fishing, and, most specifically, fish farming.

Love Of The Ocean And The Real Price Of Oil

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I have, with a few short breaks, lived either on, or within a stone’s throw, of salt water all my life. My earliest childhood memories are of commuting by boat from a small island where we lived to a larger island called Bermuda.

I have spent the majority of the last twenty years voyaging on the ocean. Or in fact one ocean: the North Atlantic. An ocean that I feel a special and deep connection to, even though it has contrived to scare me witless on several occasions and make me both uncomfortable and/or seasick on countless others.

I feel a deep and visceral horror about the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, together with dread about the long term effects on the ocean I love and the animals that live in it.

Watch Out For Whales, Part I

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Another race, another whale collision, yet again ending in the loss of a boat and injury to a whale. Thankfully no loss of life, although one day that may not be the case. What is happening out on the oceans? Pirates everywhere, climate change driven hurricanes, and now homicidal whales?