My first boat goes in the water, scrapes her keel, dodges the tide, and drags us out at midnight. Sailing!
Crane day
Dinosaurs on the Promenade
The Jurassic Sprint brings hundreds of inflatable tyrannosaurs to Douglas Promenade, all in a very good cause.
A gift of youth
Aboard Dar Młodzieży, Poland’s national sail training ship, during her weekend call at Douglas.
Grand National day at Aintree
Watching the National from the Lord Daresbury roof, then an unplanned bonus day in Liverpool.
Gotta catch ’em all
Raiding the Pokémon pop-up at the Natural History Museum, then an Island collectors’ fair finishes the job.
Titanic and St Patrick
St Patrick’s Day in Belfast, a warm welcome at Ark Lodge, and two Titanic souvenirs banned from the boat.
Anarchy in the IOM
John Lydon on the Island: my mother reliving her era, my girlfriend none the wiser, and me somewhere between.
Dinner at Mansion House
The International Bankers’ annual banquet beneath the chandeliers of the Egyptian Hall, with toasts, venison, and a carpet guard from HMS Belfast.
Minutes from 1599
From Benidorm to Edinburgh by first class train, for the oldest lodge in the world and a reply to the visitors’ toast.
Benidorm out of season
Mark Masons in the tallest hotel in Europe, port at the secretaries’ table, and lunch in Altea.
