News! The cover for Against the Current is finalised, and the typestting is now underway with publication still scheduled for late September. Plus, this week I'm going-live with an Against the Current website to support and promote the book. One of the features of this is an extensive photo section. The cost of including colour images in the book proved prohibitive, so having them available on the website is the next best thing, and actually better in a way beca...

Now that our TV programme has screened, a few people have asked us about it - what was it like filming? How long did we spend in each place? Did we buy any of the properties we were shown? What's Jasmin really like? And so on. The story is that Liz and I were on board Liberty towards the end of 2013, realising that our dream of being in the south of France and cruising through the winter in some degree of warmth was a fallacy. We'd learned from others with more ...

Hi everyone! We just thought it was time we let you know what happened with Liberty, and with us, after we reached Paris and the end of our voyage. After our tootle along the Seine under Paris's bridges, dodging the fly boats and commercial barges, we reluctantly turned south and made our way over the next four or five days to Laroche Migennes, to Simon Evans's boatyard where, sadly, we drifted alongside his quay, switched off the engine, and watched as Simon l...

'Don't forget to wave to the fish!' Sarah said with a smile as we left her bed & breakfast place. Wave to the fish? Oh right - a joke! Ha, of course; we would be taking our van underwater to cross to France, so naturally one would want to wave to the fish. But we needed some light relief. After leaving Liverpool, where we'd spent two weeks trying to furnish our new apartment (with only minor success) we'd only just survived an eight-hour drive to Folkestone....

Trainspotting Hello. My name's Michael and I'm a trainaholic. (Everyone else in the group then goes, "Hello Michael," and nods knowingly, beycause they're all here for the same reason. Er, therapy.) So there you have it. I have now admitted my failing. I have, metaphorically, come out, if. not from the wardrobe then at least the station. I have always loved trains. As a lad my Dad built me a huge train set with multiple lines and sidings, a tunnel, a station, ...