: A good mornings work on Sólmara. I made an outboard mount for the pushpit. Having the engine in a …
: Moved Sólmara to a new winter berth in Falmouth Marina. She’s now outside the tidal sill, which …
: You Must Capture Your Ideas Capture ideas immediately in a reliable format, then review them soon so valuable thoughts aren’t …
: As paradoxical as it sounds, going down a path and not finding a track is part of finding a track…… …
: I cross this footbridge over the River Kennall on my 🧠 Thinking Walk 🚶🏻♂️. It’s a crossing in both …
: A nice charity shop find to add to my local history book collection.
: From ‘The Art of Being Ruled’ published in 1926 - ‘Remember the machines! would be a good watchword. …
: Quarter-share in a boat anyone? Joking apart, a sad end to what, in her day, would have been a …
: Getting some much needed air through Sólmara’s cabin. She’s been neglected again of late. I need to …
: Falmouth looking non too shabby for 1st November
: I read old, obscure books from Project Gutenberg to follow my curiosity beyond the familiar. If we …
: I’ve picked The Art of Being Ruled by Wyndham Lewis from Project Gutenberg. Published in 1926, it’s …
: A misty first light 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️this morning. Cleared the head and cleared the mind.
: Dreams of the Sea - William Henry Davies Poetry isn’t really my thing, but this one speaks to me. I know not why I yearn for thee again, To …
: Quite a few little Speckled Wood butterflys flitting about on my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️today. Hard to …
: An interesting sky on this fine Cornish morning.
: Attention Is a Choice In the Navy part of my job was to pack parachutes, and one of them was used for real. It was fitted …
: Took a long hard look at myself on todays 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️
: What If It’s Not Impossible? Commitment, coincidence and the unexpected ways life opens up. I’ve collected quotes for years. Most …
: I’ve a busy week at my desk ahead of me, making my 🧠Thinking Walks🚶🏻♂️all the more important. A …
: Day 6 of strong/gale/storm force winds down here in Cornwall. Now we have a yellow warning for wind …
: Stepping out of my comfort zone on Wednesday to give an online talk to Cruising Association of …
: Woke at 07:00, as usual. Except the government says it’s 06:00. Cross the Channel to France or Spain …
: A quick trip to the marina to check on Sólmara. Roads flooded, still lots of debris about. …
: At the risk of becoming monotonous, here’s another weather update. Although (thankfully) Storm …
: A day without electricity supply. Heating oil doubled in price since last year. Diesel over £2 per …
: Nearly midnight and the power has just come back on after a 19 hour outage. Fingers crossed that …
: Still gusting near 70mph as we cop for the backside of storm Austen. Latest estimate for getting our …
: Had to brave a quick trip outside to get the camping stove. Fence panel smashed. Plants and pots all …
: 06:45 Storm Austen howling in the trees. Rain lashing down. Power has gone out. Waiting for …
: 16:15. It’s getting darker now. Raining steadily. Storm Austen bearing down on Cornwall from the SW. …
: You Don’t Need Permission: Just Start At eleven, I sat an exam that sorted me into a higher academic tier. The system decided I was bound …
: A milky sun over my 🧠Thinking Tree 🌳 today. A stillness in the air gives no hint of the storm …
: Our Inshore Waters Forecast this morning - WIND: Westerly 4 to 6, backing southerly 6 to gale 8, …
: Lady Agnes: A Schooner, a Story, and Two Ports Close to My Heart This morning, we drove from our home on the south coast of Cornwall to St Agnes, a village on the …
: I Lost Eight Years of Blog Posts Most of us build online on land we rent. Here’s what that cost me, and how I moved. For the eight …
: It’s official. The Met Office has named the incoming storm ‘Austen’, and it’s the first of the …
: Passed a lovely Red Admiral basking in the sunshine on my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️this afternoon. They’re …
: Just taking a look at @obsidian.md as a place to collect and connect my writing notes. I’m …
: First of the Autumn gales incoming on Friday. Could be our first named storm of the season. Nine …
: A week ago I set out to answer two questions 1. Who am I? 2. What do I want to write about? It’s …
: After a solid morning at my desk I really needed my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️. Managed to sneak it in …
: “As the hound obeys the hunter’s horn call, so I’m called back home to Cornwall.” Last night, The …
: Enjoying a brilliant concert by The Countrymen. Songs of Cornwall and the sea. Miners, wreckers and …
: Lovely sunset over Falmouth Bay on the way to see The Countrymen at Princess Pavilions
: Steve Jobs said you can only connect the dots looking backwards. I’ve just mapped 69 years of my …
: Our suncatcher dolphin is working well this afternoon.
: Two years to the day since I saved a little sailboat from her abandonment on the River Thames near …
: Woke to the coldest morning since end of April (5°C / 41℉). Bit of a shock to the system, …
: No doubting the season at my local fruit and veg shop
: I didn’t get my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️in today, so here’s a photo of the River Kennall I took the other …
: Youngsters, a bit of advice. Keep a little notebook. Record the big moments in your life, just a few …
: A curious weather record here in Cornwall: last night’s minimum was 18.7°C (65.7°F). That’s warmer …
: Apart from a 40 minute walk and a sandwich lunch, I’ve been at my ‘desk’ for 8 hours. What have I …
: A noticeable drop in temperature last night. Greens are turning to brown around my dewy 🧠thinking …
: 06:40. Been awake since 5. Cold and dark outside. Autumn is here. Missing summer already.
: Just had our delivery of heating oil to (hopefully) see us through the winter. It cost us twice as …
: The Night I Threw the TV Remote Across the Room It had been dark, cold and raining when I’d stepped outside at 5:30 that morning. It was dark, cold …
: Yesterday’s rain brought up some funky fungi on my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️this morning. The shaggy …
: A strange autumn morning here in Cornwall. Nearly 19°C (66℉) at 08:00. Damp, completely still, thick …
: A fun fact emerged from my rabbit hole exploration this afternoon - Between May 2014 and January …
: I’m down a rabbit hole today. Research for a talk meant going back over the events of my life. I …
: I live in a valley that was site of the first gunpowder mill to be established in Cornwall, in 1809. …
: Today I’ve mostly been ‘scappling’ out a presentation I’m working on. Scapple is a freeform …
: Under my Thinking Oak……………….thinking
: Same spot in Falmouth Harbour, Flushing in the background, 40 years apart. Mor Gwas, my first boat: …
: Mornin! Moody sky as the sun comes up this morning
: Windy and damp on my 🧠Thinking Walk🚶🏻♂️this afternoon. Autumnal but mild
: Paddling Through History To celebrate the start of a new oyster season I dug out this archived post from 2023. November isn’t …
: The Oyster Fishery in Falmouth still operates solely under sail and oar. From October to March, …
: I Built an Ocean-going catamaran. I’m Still Not Sure How A tale of productive insanity It’s nearly twenty years since a rag-eared ring bound little book fell …
: Today’s finds from the River Kennall: pottery, glass and worked slate, probably a century old. …
: Just found this photo of ‘Abraxis’ taken in 1984. I was mate on a two-handed delivery from Falmouth …
: Phew! Road legal and hopefully set up for another year on the road. Piggy bank just paid the bill. …
: It’s that time of year again. Our car is in the workshop, over 100,000 miles on the clock. Govt …
: I’ve been invited to give an online talk to the Cruising Association of Ireland on the 28th of this …
: I'm 70 next February, and I'm starting over (again) I’m 70 in February. I live in Cornwall on a state pension, and I’m starting over (again). The …
: At one time sizeable cargo vessels regularly navigated the Carrick Roads and Truro river right up to …
: After a long day in front of a screen it’s good to reconnect with the real world. Paddling in the …
: Desk at 05:15, still going at 10:50. Not boasting, just showing how motivated I am about my new …
: Sólmara Log 4th Oct 2026 Wind - Variable & light Total Distance: 4.3 nm - Time on the water: 3Hrs …
: Finally found some time, tide, and weather to get out on the water. Hardly any wind, so more of a …
: I’ve spent a lot of time today developing a plan for the coming months. AI helped me refine my ideas …
: A mighty oak sits at the centre of my ‘Thinking’ walk. An oak teaches us many things about life. As …
: 05:15 - Washed, dressed and at my desk ready to focus. Yesterday’s thinking has become todays work.
: This is part of my ‘Thinking Path’. It circles a big field with woodland on one side and the river …
: Taking my Dad for an X-ray isn‘t an ideal way to spend a morning. The view from outside the main …
: The best way to turn over a new leaf is with a new notebook……….right? 📕✍️👍
: This afternoon, by the River Kennall, I met a punk rock caterpillar: a Pale Tussock, lime-green with …
: “It is what it is” - Something I’ve got used to saying over the years. Now though, ‘it’ is getting …
: Just one of the reasons it’s getting harder. This was Sainsbury’s supermarket this morning, one of …
: It’s getting harder and harder to justify the luxury of keeping Sólmara in Falmouth Marina. But …
: It’s nearly October. It’s Cornwall. It’s dark. It’s windy. It’s raining. All perfectly normal. …
: The unexploded bomb found near Falmouth Docks on the 21st was detonated today. Great job by The …
: It’s been what foresters call a mast year. That’s when mature beech trees produce an unusually large …
: Lunchtime watch: Interview with Aldous Huxley from 1958 giving his thoughts on technology, society, …
: As October and the last quarter of 2026 looms large I’m spending the day thinking, planning and …
: The green green grass of home
: I’ve spent the morning wrestling MX records, DNS settings and a custom domain, all to escape Gmail. …
: I bloody love Scapple. It’s a freeform thinking app – basically an infinite sheet of paper where you …
: A stomp around the Poldice Valley in Cornwall this afternoon. In the 18th & 19th centuries it lay at …
: My morning of toilet repair work summed up
: “We need more of the Amish in our relationship with technology: just because something is possible …
: I was feeling better driving back from the marina. Then I saw this. £203.9 per litre FFS! For my …
: Not quite so historic and beautiful, but she’s not doing badly for a 44 year old. And she’s mine!
: A beautiful and historic ship. ‘Kindly Light’ is a Bristol Pilot Cutter launched in 1911. She was …
: This morning I’m feeling ground down. Diesel at £2 a litre, heating oil is through the roof, food at …
: Many of you will have heard of the American sci-fi writer Hugh Howey (best known for Wool which …
: ’Careless People’ — Book Review Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this book, there’s something you should know. I’m a …
: Apparently, the Falmouth UXB has a 144-hour delay chemical fuse that may have been activated during …
: I’m lucky to have this 5 minutes walk from my front door. After a morning at my desk writing, a …
: Back to the Future I first wrote online twenty years ago. In 2006, I started a WordPress blog to document my build of a …
: Woke to the coldest morning since early May: 8.5C (47℉). Fire up our ancient oil-fired boiler for …
: Great job by Royal Navy Bomb Disposal team this afternoon. The bomb has now been dropped safely on …
: A pleasant afternoon stroll past Sunny Corner to Malpas and then on towards St Clement. Hard to …
: Lt Cdr Ben Brown, CO of the Royal Navy’s Bravo Squadron bomb disposal team, said the bomb is “on the …
: Falmouth UXB update: They’re planning to move the ‘bomb’ out into the Bay this afternoon. The land …
: The Autumn Equinox today. I can’t help but feel sadness for the fading light of summer and the ever …
: After evaluation the Royal Navy experts are planning to deal with the unexploded WWII American bomb …
: On this day last year it touched freezing overnight. Last night the temperature didn’t drop below …
: Apparently the UXB is American. A 250kg missile from WWII. Notice to mariners issued but I wouldn’t …
: Eighty one years on, and the bombs dropped on Falmouth Docks during WWII can still affect daily …
: Why I’m here - Instead of “building an audience,” build a world. A world that doesn’t need likes, …
: Gyllingvase beach Falmouth Cornwall looking none too shabby for late September
: Perfect afternoon for a charity motorcycle run
: Good to spend some time on my unavoidably neglected boat this afternoon. The outboard leg had gained …
: A pleasant afternoon on Falmouth seafront
: Mornin! Overnight rain on banana plant leaf
: Awake 06:15 after 8 hours solid kip. Unusual for me to sleep through without dreams or needing to …
: Spent an hour dismantling and moving a heavy adjustable bed this afternoon. Hard not to be …
: Fun fact: Elon Musk is worth around $900 billion. He could spend a million dollars a day for 2,645 …
: I’ve just finished reading ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams. It’s the story of her years …
: The words are flowing. I’m in the zone. And I’ve got to go out 🤬
: A Question Answered? This question has been rattling round my brain for a while now: “Is there somewhere I can write, own …
: A little video from my walk by the river Kennall. I’m not intending to upload many videos and when I …
: A Common Darter dragonfly snapped on my walk by the river this afternoon.
: The seasons are changing and so is my relationship with writing online. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve …