White clouds are scudding across a bright blue sky outside my window as I write this.

Seagulls wheel above the budding trees, animated by the blustery westerly breeze.

The sense of excited restlessness this sparks makes it almost impossible to stay sitting at my desk, just as it did as a schoolboy looking out of the classroom window on windy days.

Does anyone else recognise that feeling?

When I walk down to the marina later, the wind will be whistling in the masts, sunlight bouncing off tumbling waves further out.

On a day like today, I’m itching to get out on the water.

This is the first spring in a while, however, that I’m not fretting about antifouling and lift-in dates, having sold our boat over the winter to make way for child number two.

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Instead, I’ll be pottering in a little clinker dinghy teaching my son to sail, and finding other ways to get on the water in friends’ boats, or perhaps a charter holiday.

Bigger adventures will have to wait for the time being.

Andy du Port’s advice on crossing the English Channel does nothing to reassure me that selling up was the right decision; the passage is little more than a day sail from Portsmouth to Poole, he reminds us (p32).

A hop and skip and we’d be in Brittany…

The question of what the next boat will be promises to fill many happy hours of daydreaming.

Cruising ambitions, moorings and budget will all play a role, but the 20-year-old Maxi 1000 that Graham Snook has reviewed for us this month could be a great option (p72).

Whatever it is, I know it won’t be long until there’s a cruising boat in the family again.

Enjoyed reading Sailing by any means: Editor’s Letter June 2022?

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