Tom Cunliffe

“So long as we kept on pumping, it was unlikely to sink us, but it was nonetheless disconcerting”

By the time this edition of Sailing Today lands on the doormat, Easter will be upon us. Brexit may have affected the hassle-free option of an early trip to France for South-Coast boats, but sending in customs forms isn’t the end of the world. It’s true that in recent years we’ve enjoyed a period of seamless travel, but the good old days of bottles of rum tucked away in pillow cases and packets of fags stashed in the anchor locker are still within living memory. In a way, the formalities that are back with us add to the sense of occasion. We’ve really ‘been foreign’ now, rather than just nipping over to a nearby ‘member state’.

Easter has always been busy for the cruising sailor.