Latest Adventures
Norway
Bergen Norway We arrived in Bergen this morning. Our vessel is doing some routine maintenance here. It was rather bleak and damp despite being nearly the middle of summer. Apparently this is quite normal. Seems like Bergen is similar to Aberdeen in Scotland - rains...
North Sea again
North Sea - sunset at 2230 Offshore in the North Sea again, but our Holland boating trip is just around the corner. In the meantime, at this time of the year the weather is pretty good, and it stays light till late. Last night it was a wonderful sunset, at...
Back home again
In the North Sea Back in Cape Town after my trip in the North Sea on a seismic survey boat. In a previous post I showed us crew changing by be swung around from a crane. This time the crew changes are done using RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats). Also involves be hoisted...
UK travel ideas and tips
London Underground - Southgate Station Still on the move - back in the UK, about to head offshore again - this time on a seismic survey vessel. While waiting here, I was have a bit of a reminisce, looking back at our holiday pictures, and was reminded of some useful...
More offshore boating
Crane barge off Angola Still offshore Angola, but on another boat, and another oilfield, some 200 kms further North West and now in 2000 metres of water. This field is not yet in production. A huge crane barge (see photo 1) supported by a number of smaller boats, like...
From boating to shipping and oil
Offshore operations The boat quest has rather come off the boil lately. Have not had time to do any boating, looking at boats or writing about boats. I have been concentrating on earning the money to buy our dream boat. Which is why I am sitting on a tug boat off...
Waterways with a difference
Still no nearer to getting our boat. Have been looking again on the internet. There are a few interesting boats for sale on the Dutch website - http://www.botentekoop.nl/ Cannot do much about them at the moment, still being in Cape Town. However, I will be in UK later...
How much power?
Our boat on the Nivernais - 40 hp And the other dilemma that follows, is how much power do you need? Again, this depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. If you are going to stick to the relatively slow flowing waters of the canals in the UK and...
How many engines?
Watching the wake There is something mesmerising about watching the wake of a speedboat streaming out astern. Until you remember the fuel bill! This picture was taken from the twin engined motor cruiser we hired in Croatia a few years back. We had two weeks cruising...
Sailing in Greece
Sailing in the Sporades The first boating holiday Karen and I did together was a week's sailing in the Greek Islands. We chartered a 37 ft Sun Oddysey yacht at Skiathos in the Sporades. I have done quite a bit of boating before, as well as a few sailing holidays in...
About Me
My love of boats goes back to my early years when I went on holiday with my parents to Knysna in the Cape.
We stayed at a hotel on stilts, and I played in rowing boats and little motor boats on the lagoon.