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This season we have managed several rallies and a long trip in the Summer. It kicked off at the end of July when Niki and I set off, accompanied with Brian of Puffin Bach , to deliver…

The 2025 AGM for the gaffers’ association was held in historic Gloucester, at the confluence of the mighty Severn river and the Sharpness canal. National AGM’s don’t have an inspiring…

I’ve been busy editing the video clips from this summer and posted an episode on my YouTube channel. This one covers the journey from Hellevoetsluis to Dordrecht (covered in this blog post…

Nieuwpoort light I left Nieuwpoort before light and experienced that sailor’s privilege, to see the sun rise out of the sea. I made my way close inshore against the last of the eastgoing…

With the strong south westerlies from the remnant of storm Ernesto finally abating, it was time to leave the seclusion of the canal system and return to la mer . Leaving Middelburg Exiting…

A peaceful sunrise in Oude Tonge The weather was still pretty boisterous and also straight out of the SW, so we had a day of motoring into the wind from Oude Tonge, through the Krammer…

Numansdorp harbour at the end of its canal An advantage of travelling with a local is that you see places that might well otherwise pass beneath the radar. Our latest two stops are good…

Passing through the Oranjesluis back into the canals During the rally, we enjoyed an extended period of warm, sunny weather but the remnants of hurricane Ernesto upset this fair spell.…

At Hoorn, we were joined by Alice and her friend Leah, who had been inter-railing together since finishing their exams in June. The first battle of the Zuiderzee Molly and Lahloo rafted at…

Downwind in light airs on the Markermeer After two weeks cruising the canals and lakes of Holland along the standing mast route, Molly is now back to more open water. Leaving Haarlem Niki…

Passing through one of the huge lifting bridges to Gouda The NL OGA 20 armada left the lovely Wijnhaven Marina in Dordrecht in two enormous streams, when the bridge lifted at 0820 and…

Willemstad Our group of boats which had gathered at Wemeldinge began their journey to Hellevoetsluis by first visiting the picturesque town of Willemstad. The fleet rafted to the town quay…

Molly berthed in Middleburg Having entered the canals and reached Middleburg, our next task was to cross the Zeeland region to reach the pre-rally gathering in Wemeldinge. After fuelling…

Saturday sound Molly of Mylor, Puffin Bach, Plum and Moon River in Nieuwport. We had a morning to available to explore before moving on to Blankenburg with the afternoon tide. The…

We made a 4.30am start from Blankenburg, leaving the port in the darkness with the bright lights of Zeebrugge port ahead. It was a very calm morning and we motored down tied with just the…

The weekend of July 20-21st saw Molly attend a gathering of gaffers at Duver marina in Bembridge. Niki and I had a lovely sail across to the Island and rafted up with the fleet. This was…

This summer’s main event is to attend the NL OGA 20th anniversary rally in the centre of The Netherlands. The first leg was a night departure from Gosport, to Eastbourne. After a couple of…

A busy bank holiday at Portsmouth harbour entrance Looking for a relaxing way to enjoy some slightly mixed bank holiday weather, we arranged to meet Puffin Bach and her skipper Brian (with…

Less than favourable weather made a trip out of the harbour an unattractive prospect today. Nevertheless Niki and I spent the day gainfully employed in the harbour calibrating the log,…

Molly has been ashore for the winter, giving me a chance to more easily carry out some maintenance. When people ask me if I had much to do, I’d reply that I didn’t, but I kept a list and…

When Molly came ashore for the winter, I wanted to protect the mast from the worst of the weather. Withe the mast lowered, I was able to make wooden cruitches to support the top end,…

Having been afloat for eighteen months, it was time for Molly to be hauled out. To protect the mast from the elements and enable maintenance of the wood and rigging, I dropped the mast.…

Having escaped from Chatham marina and made it around the corner of Kent, to Ramsgate, I only had two days to get home to Gosport. This meant two more long days in quick succession for…

Following the OGA60 party and the East Coast cruise, Molly found herself in Chatham Martime Marina, on its heritage pontoon and with almost 200 miles to travel home. I had allowed 6 days…

The first section of Molly’s meander home would be with the OGA East Coast cruise, which had been arranged in part for the benefit of us visitors from further south. The object was to…

Molly rafted in Chatham to Emmanuel , between VIC96 on one side and Puffin Bach and Plum of Mylor on the other Continuing our cruise from the Orwell to the Medway, taking in the Essex…

The party to mark 60 years of the OGA (association for gaff rigged sailing) took place in two halves. Celebrations kicked off right in the centre of Ipswich with all the cruising boats…

The wavy jet stream has been bowling low pressure systems at us one after another and we three boats from the Solent have been obsessively poring over weather forecasts, waiting for a gap…

I have explored the Stour in our previous boat Aurora, a Cape Cutter 19 and I wanted to repeat a passage I had made to the navigable limit at Manningtree. The crews of the three boat that…

Having reached Dover, and with a couple of days of bad weather approaching, I made for Sandwich. When I was planning this trip, I particularly wanted to visit because of the cruise up the…

Beachy Head lighthouse Our much anticipated cruise to the East coast, to attend the OGA diamond anniversary party in Ipswich, began a few days early. A forecast for bad weather caused the…

It’s a pleasure to visit somewhere new and what better way than in company! I was very happy to join a rally in Langstone harbour with the Solent OGA group. Langstone is a place I had…

Island Harbour marina I joined the Cornish Crabber Club rally late in their week, due to work commitments. We have been enjoying a patch of glorious June weather and it was especially…

With warm sunny weather but strong winds forecast, Niki and I decided to enjoy a few lazy days aboard and visit some of our favourite anchorages. Our first stop was in Chichester harbour.…

Yarmouth gaffers Our plan after the Yarmouth regatta was to sail West to Poole, Weymouth and then hopefully Dartmouth. Niki joined me aboard, with Alice and her friend Lauren, hot-foot…

The Yarmouth OGA Festival is my favourite weekend in the Solent Gaffers calendar. It attracts gaffers large and small, old and new and it’s great to chat to so many other owners. This…

At the annual Whitsun gathering of the Solent Gaffers a race format has taken root that is rather different to the familiar "pursuit" or "handicap" formats. A Gaffel race is a format…

I was keen to visit Littlehampton by sail, having enjoyed a land based trip a couple of years back. It’s only accessible for a couple of hours either side of HW and is subject to…

Looking down the western Solent with Newtown on the left and Hurst Point light in the distance The weather and tides collaborated to provide ideal conditions for a shake down trip down the…

For the first proper sailing trip of the season, I was joined by my long-time diving buddy Trev. I did have trip to Emsworth in March but, without a mast, it wasn't a sailing trip!…

Mollys mast in the workshop The fully refurbished mast is ready for stepping! Sporting glossy new varnish, rot fixed and anchor light replaced, it looked absolutely lovely. I had decided…

I was very happy to receive these photos today from Nick Gates, the excellent shipwright repairing the rot on Molly’s mast foot. They tell the story of how the scarph is carried out,…

Molly’s mast lowered and ready for maintenance The foot of Molly’s mast when we inspected it in August. In fact the rot extended inside almost up to the tabernacle bolt hole! When we…

On traditional gaffers, the gaff jaws are often covered in leather to help them slide along the mast and prevent wear on the mast. Whilst the Crabber 26 is not a traditional gaffer, I do…

Anchored in Newtown Creek Autumn weather is often volatile, but offers lovely opportunities if you pick your moment. This weekend was a case in point. With three days of sailing available,…

Molly ashore in Falmouth last winter When we took on Molly at the beginning of the season, I spent some time doing a bit of winter maintenance and getting to know the systems aboard. I…

A Crabber 26 (not Molly) dodging the ferries as she passes down the Solent The transit posts for HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, which stand just outside the entrance to…

Having recently travelled down to the western Solent, I thought a trip in the opposite direction was called for. The tide and wind were good for a day trip, so we slipped our warps and…

As the season draws to an end, there was one more rally to attend. The gathering was in Yarmouth, which is always a lovely place to visit. There was to be an informal OGA gathering on the…

Platanias harbour We owned our previous boat Aurora , a Cape Cutter 19 for 10 years and made many friends in that time. It was how we got to know Chris and Kathryn Wicks, who live in the…

Romping home on Sunday morning This was Alice’s first sailing trip since we took over Molly, and she was very pleasantly surprised with the accommodation; as it was just me and her, I gave…

One of the things I love about keeping Molly at our club in Gosport, is that there is so much going on. There are craft of all types and ages to watch, and the traffic through the narrow…

Every year, the Solent area OGA holds a rally in the lovely Isle of Wight town of Yarmouth. It’s always an enjoyable weekend and this year, owing to the Platinum Jubilee, it was over four…

Worbarrow Bay Wednesday dawned bright and fair. Ben and I had a leisurely breakfast whilst admiring our beautiful anchorage. The anchor alarm showed that we had held firm through the…

The Bill of Portland The Bill of Portland is an enormous wedge of eponymous rock sticking out into the channel. The strong tides, overfalls and eddies are very considerable and constitute…

We had an early start and made full use of the excellent facilities at Sutton Marina in Plymouth. Niki left us for the train back to Falmouth, pausing in Plymouth again on her way back for…

We were anchored off the beach at Cawsand. I’ve never been ashore at Cawsand, so the plan was to inflate the dinghy and explore the twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand. Niki said “are…

The first day of our journey East dawned bright and sunny. I moved Molly off her mooring in Mylor for the last time; the majority of our gear was stored in Russell’s van overnight, so the…

Molly on her mooring at Mylor I write this on a Friday having arrived at Mylor after a dash down the M5 after work. Molly has been on the Fal since she was launched in 2016 and we’ve…

It has been very pleasant to spend some time with old friend and fellow sailor, Ben. We hatched a bank holiday sailing trip with two boats in company, his three sons and their dog, but the…

I enjoy anchoring overnight- one of the pleasures of boating is to find out of the way places and enjoy some peace and quiet. However, in the back of my mind, there is always some concern…

Left on my own, I decided to revisit an old haunt up the Helford river to try anchoring overnight. I'd not sailed Molly solo yet and was also not confident about being able to reef.…

We passed a comfortable night aboard in Falmouth Yacht Haven, but the wind had been building during the night. Blowing a F5-6 from SE made for choppy conditions in the Carrick Roads and we…

Niki having joined me again, we had decided to make our first passage in Molly, and the wind direction suggested Fowey. The weather made an un-inspiring start to the day, with drizzle and…

Ready for the off! "Are you ready?", he asked, an hour before our launch slot. Luckily we were, and so began our adventures on Molly of Mylor. I had been spending the winter months getting…