Buckie harbour

Unlimited Ordnance

Firstly, welcome to the recent wave of new recruits. I hope you have fun here. Please feel free to comment, question and correct me. I truly appreciate what I learn from all of my new Substack friends. Start writing today.…

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Sharp rocks on the Moray coast

Two by Two.

Well, my friends. I’ve been on board my new ship now for twelve days as Master, and for about six of those I’ve been alone. The first week, I had the previous skipper to give me an induction and show…

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The oldest church in Britain.

Canterbury Assailed

I forget where I read this factoid, but if you make any absurdly unreasonable request of a stranger, like cutting in line at the supermarket, your odds of a successful request increase from 1% to 90%, if you provide a…

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Shipping

Moving On

Well. Where to begin? Tonight, in Vlissingen the Dutch begin to celebrate Carnival. A crazy celebration involving costumes and role reversal, that will last until Ash Wednesday. Carnival celebrations traditionally involve masks, cross-dressing, jesters acting like the king, and lords…

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The Apple

Twits and Titans

Very little of what passes for ‘culture’ today, is anything more than a cult or a sub-culture. The political movements of our time have more in common with a bowel movement than any of the guiding principles they use as…

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Middelburg, NL

Candles and Badgers

Good evening. It’s nine p.m. on a Saturday night, so naturally, I’m sipping a Ribena and reading about IR35 tax reform. I’ve been ashore for a week now, and the kids all have some respiratory infection that has given me…

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The Channels

Davosians, Distribution, Demons and Duty. Greetings Yankee-Jockers. It’s been a while. We ended up so busy, I can’t believe it. Multiple surveys, and five days on the trot, working 15 hour days. A busy shipping area, with lots of narrow…

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Tank you

Your Digital Dozen

Hello, to all. I trust you’re all back into the full swing of things after your Christmas and New Year break? Thank you for your great comments and questions on Substack. I’ve been having a great time so far in…

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Pure Resolve

Charlie Munger has two great quotes that I’ve been mulling over for several weeks: ‘It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy’. And ‘What good is envy? It’s the one sin you can’t have any fun at’. So, are…

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Cold road home

Christmas Canoe

My hire car came early on Monday afternoon, and my flight to Edinburgh from Stansted on Tuesday was looking dicey due to the winter travel disruption around London. Only one thing for it. I finished my jobs in the shipyard…

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Bee

On Manners & Management

I was told a few days before coming to this vessel that my main client had no work for me this month, as previously promised. The client doesn’t have enough business to keep their ‘on-the-books’ staff busy, let alone contractors.…

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