Author Archives: Pip

OTTO (our autopilot) started acting up on the passage from Bermuda to Tortola. Every so often, with increasing frequency over the course of the trip, he would stop autopiloting and say “Drivestop!” in a camp German accent. We figured Otto … Continue reading →

IT may be that we’ve spent too long around boats. The other day, I was–for reasons that we don’t need to get into–describing what a PIT manoeuvre is to HB and Becca thus: “The chase car drives alongside the other … Continue reading →

YOU wouldn’t know it, from HB’s descriptions of paradise, but it’s not all the life of Riley out here. For instance, over the last few nights we’ve been watching the ‘Twilight’ series of movies. For those of you lucky enough … Continue reading →

Well . . . sort of. We just crossed Sir Francis Drake Channel to St John in the USVI. We have picked up a National Parks mooring to go and clear in at Cruz Bay.

PERHAPS it should be “Scary Charterers and Fishies.” Either way, we are a mere two live crew again, until Becca comes back after Christmas, and we have a whole lot of work to do so we are going to hole … Continue reading →

NAMED after the notorious pirate Black Norman Sidebottom, Norman Island is deserted except for two incredibly noisy bars whose live bands sound like drunken kareoke. We are parked about a hundred feet from shore. HB and Becca assure me that … Continue reading →