John Simpson grew
up in Leigh-on-sea
and was taught to
sail by his father on
a Lowestoft smack.
As a teenager he
raced dinghies and
bigger boats offshore, then moved on
to professional delivery, racing, RYA
coaching and examining.
CRUISING NOTES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Croatia has overtaken Greece as the most
popular destination for European charter
sailors, according to booking website
PlainSailing.com. Croatian bases make up
four of the top five sailing destinations for
summer 2019, according to its figures.
“It seems that years of heavy investment
in the marinas and boat fleets in Croatia
have started to pay off,” says a
spokesman for the company. “In 2018
41% of all our clients chose Croatia and
46% Greece (the rest went to one of the
dozen other locations we offer). The trend
over the last few years has shown Croatia
rising and Greece falling in popularity. This
year the Croatian figure is 2% higher than
the Greek figure, with the space they have
in their new marinas for trendy catamarans
one of the key drivers for their growth.”
Trogir, Dubrovnik, Split and Kastela are
all currently in the top five sailing
destinations on the charter site, pushing
Athens, Lefkas and Corfu, previously the
biggest-hitting Greek bases, down to 3rd,
6th and 7th places on the list.Rhyl RNLI will receive a new state-of-the-
art lifeboat in October, thanks to a
massive community appeal. The
Shannon class (featured on page 34), is
larger, faster, more manoeuvrable and
safer than the Mersey class, which is
currently on station. Fundraising was
kick-started last year when Brendan
O’Carroll, star of hit BBC comedy Mrs
BrownÕs Boys, surprised the audience at
Rhyl’s Pavilion Theatre by announcing
he would donate £10,000 towards the
Shannon-class lifeboat appeal. A
cash-injection of £55,000 followed from
the Steve Morgan Foundation, and since
then donations have poured in from
members of the Rhyl community,including ex-harbourmaster Arthur
Davies, whose circumnavigation of
Wales is featured on page 60. A final
donation from Rhyl schoolgirl Darcey
Payne-Burgoyne closed the £150,000
community appeal in January.Through the eye of a needle: a
narrow, sheltered loch on the east
coast of the isle of Harris along the
remote, scenic Golden RoadCroatia now more
popular than
Greece for sailors
‘Bag a beer’ beach clean campaign
PlainSailing.com has also launched its
‘Bag a beer’ beach-cleaning campaign for
the 2019 season. Customers who fill their
eco-friendly bin bag during a charter
holiday will be rewarded with a bottle of
the cold stuff. The 2018 campaign saw
more than 500 people getting involved in
beach cleans, so this year every charter
boat will be provided with a biodegradable
bin bag to fill with the old rope, beer cans
and any other rubbish they find littering
the beaches, many of which can only be
reached by boat.Provided we dropped the hook clear of
the rocks, a quiet lunch would be in order
while the boat floated off.
Recently someone mentioned to me that
Anne the Princess Royal and her husband
enjoy this anchorage. I agree with them.
Apparently in the past there was a small
factory devoted to weaving Harris Tweed.
This and many other hidden keyholes
are well worth a look, especially along the
‘Golden Road’ route that circles this part
of the coast of Harris.
RNLI/Danielle RushTrogir Croatia is a UNESCO World Heritage
harbour and now the top charter
destination in Europe according to
PlainSailing.comLifeboat appeal
Top 10 plainsailing.com Med areas
1 Trogir (Croatia)
2 Dubrovnik (Croatia)
3 Athens (Greece)
4 Split (Croatia)
5 Kastela (Croatia)
6 Lefkas (Greece)
7 Corfu (Greece)
8 Zadar (Croatia)
9 Kos (Greece)
10 Skiathos (Greece)Darcey Payne-Burgoyne’s donation
marked the successful end of an appeal
to fund a new Rhyl lifeboatIvan Coric/Alamy