Author: Dan Houston

  • Dubarry Ultima boots

    Dubarry Ultima boots

    If imitation is flattery then the Dubarry boot must be feeling rather pleased with itself. Rarely has a piece of footwear been so ubiquitous and so emulated. These were the first and they’re comfy, waterproof… […]

  • Planking wax

    Planking wax

    Made from balsa resin, beech tar, wax and linseed oil and used to impregnate and seal underwater leaks and cracks in planking by swelling with water. Very useful on board any wooden boat especially leaky… […]

  • Wykeham Martin Furling gear

    Wykeham Martin Furling gear

    In continuous production for over 100 years, this traditional furling gear has been successfully fitted to thousands of boats worldwide. Cast in bronze from the original patterns, the parts are machined, polished and assembled by… […]

  • Mercator and his 1569 World Map

    Mercator and his 1569 World Map

    Mercator’s 1569 World Map: it introduced his projection, but the content was also partly based on the ‘portolan’ charts which featured navigational observations by sailors at sea Mercator’s projection proved to be one of the… […]

  • Artist Janet Shearer

    Artist Janet Shearer

    Janet Shearer has been painting and sailing all her life. Since moving to Cornwall in 1980 and living so close to the sea, her love of water in all its forms has become the focus… […]

  • Grimsay Lobster Boats

    Grimsay Lobster Boats

    By Mike Smylie For a tiny Outer Hebridean island with a small population, Grimsay has had an incredible amount of boats locally built for the lobster fishery. In 1846 the census showed 269 inhabitants, and… […]

  • Kuhn Rikon Duromatic 5l pressure cooker

    Kuhn Rikon Duromatic 5l pressure cooker

    We consider a pressure cooker an essential item on board nowadays. They’re easy to use, they retain flavour, they’re efficient and time friendly as well as – nowadays – totally safe. They enable you to… […]

  • Helle floating knife

    Helle floating knife

    A really good sailing knife can be a lifelong companion until it goes overboard and is lost forever. Here however we have a really well made knife that also floats. The Hellefisk has a stainless… […]

  • The Cobb Barbecue

    The Cobb Barbecue

    Invented as a cooking system in rural Africa this is a shoe-in for use on a boat as, firstly it’s a barbecue and oven that you can pick up and move and secondly you can… […]