Here’s the recipe that we use offshore on Apsara. a cup of rye sourdough starter (in theory, a wheat sourdough starter could work, but rye sourdough starters are much more tolerant of the conditions encountered on board a boat. If you can only get wheat sourdough, make bread every day for a few days following […]
Seawater sourdough bread Read More »
Over the past two years, quite a few strangers have sailed with me on Apsara, recruited mostly through the Internet (on websites like Crewbay or its French equivalents). While in most cases things went smoothly, I’ve learned a lot about what makes some crews better than others. Here are a few hints if you are
The perfect crew…. Read More »
Sailing in and near Clew Bay The Clew Bay area offers excellent cruising with a number of beautiful, safe anchorages, well sheltered from the prevailing south-westerlies. Roonagh quay, at the southern entrance of Clew Bay, is used by the ferries to Clare Island and Inishturk and is not suitable for a yacht. Clare Island harbour,
A yachting guide to Clew Bay Read More »
Those of you who have been following Apsara’s tracker lately might have noticed that it was in Antarctica. Not with Apsara, though, she’s safely tucked away for the winter in South Brittany. I had found a job as a first mate on an expedition boat which I joined in Brazil in October for the delivery
Sailing in the Ice Read More »
Completing a 3 days Three Day Basic Safety Training with the Irish fishery board (BIM) was an opportunity for me to revisit the subject of safety at sea, on which, as a fleet manager for Ireland largest sailing school, I had been lecturing regularly many years ago. This led me to review some of the
Safety on board yachts at sea Read More »
The West coast of Ireland is dotted with islands that were inhabited in the early 20th century, but are now deserted, having been abandoned because access was simply too difficult. Probably the best known of these, because of the number of gifted, Irish language writers who lived there and wrote about the islanders’ harsh life,
Sailing to the Inishkeas Read More »