Squiffy is already a fully-qualified, super-shiny day-skipper; allowing her to sail pretty-much anything, including big yachts. I, on the other hand, am nothing more than Incompetent Crew. To level the playing-field, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to learn the basics of sailing as our round-the-world transit will undoubtedly involve a bit of sailing.

I’m starting off my learning in a dinghy as a) they’re a great way to learn the technicalities of sailing, b) they have a certain sense of urgency about them and the quick-thinking-and-reactions that I’ll have to learn will be useful as I move up to bigger, slower boats and c) nobody from the local sailing club would let me helm their yacht…