Eigg grocery store then and now
In the top photograph, my wife and editor of all my books, Ann. Imagine the grief I got for omitting this information from this post! Continue reading Eigg grocery store then and now
In the top photograph, my wife and editor of all my books, Ann. Imagine the grief I got for omitting this information from this post! Continue reading Eigg grocery store then and now
An island 10 miles off the west coast of Scotland, Eigg was hosting their annual Highland Games, and the fictional crew of the Emerald took part in the events of the ‘games’, including Tossing the Caber, Hammer throwing, the 100 yard sprint and the 400 yard relay race. For some fun stories surrounding this event, see chapter 32 and 33 of A storm in any port. Continue reading Eigg Highland Games
With Christmas fast approaching, and a lot of uncertainty about how the pandemic is going to affect our Postal services, why not consider purchasing one or more of the books as a gift for someone here or abroad? A Storm in Any Port – Have a read of the Prologue – Click here Set principally in Scotland’s beautiful Western Isles with side trips to Hong Kong, the Lake District and the Balearic Islands, the narrative is an expose of an ambitious, accident prone Scot with a sailing bug who leads his scallywag crew and breathes life, fun and nostalgia into … Continue reading Gift idea for Christmas
2nd Book of the Zander Trilogy is out now!! Here the mischief takes place in and around the towns, harbours and marinas of the East and West Coasts of Scotland and Zander even gets to Algeria. Travelling on a number of yachts, inflatables, rowing boats and a cruise liner, Zander and his gang of miscreants rub shoulders with; Kamikaze seagulls, head hunters, paratroopers, a dead fisherman, the Loch Ness Monster, ships’ pipers, terrorists, Oil Sheiks, a Clan chief, a Spanish Armada Galleon, Japanese tourists and a North African President. They also meet up with night club bouncers, ferocious dogs, pickpockets, … Continue reading More Ports More Storms – On sale now
Plockton Village from the Emerald Continue reading Plockton
Next day their wives tried to press-gang the boys into going on a family day out to the GCHQ Club at Chum Hong Kok, a small resort on the south side of Victoria Island. Here in its spacious grounds the traditional colonial club atmosphere still survived. The members could, swim in an open air pool, play tennis on well kept courts, eat in a fine restaurant or just have a picnic. In this comfortable home from home environment, the families of the British civilian and armed forces community were able to relax, or just top up their tans. However, … Continue reading Deep Water – Chum Hong Kok
In his early thirties, Zander was posted to the Crown Colony of Hong Kong as the Senior Ranking Engineering Civil Servant attached to the naval dockyard there, HMS Tamar. His workload left him with a fair amount of leisure time, with the salary to enjoy it. At last he had all the ingredients in place to follow his dreams; for the first time in his life Zander would be able to do some serious sailing. Not long after taking up residence with his wife, Jane and their young family in the plush Government flat allocated to them, the former acting … Continue reading Sailing the South China Seas – Hong Kong
Original drawings for my books, by my eldest son, Paul Jones using freehand drawings. Comments welcome. Continue reading Zander’s Crew – freehand drawings
Excerpt from A Storm in Any Port – Chapter 15 The shipping forecast had just started and everyone listened intently as the un-modulated voice of the announcer went through the sea areas; “Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, German Bight, Humber.” When he got to, “Rockall, Mallin, Hebrides”, the guests’ ears pricked up. “South westerly gales, seven to nine, occasional force ten, showers increasing to persistent heavy rain, visibility poor.” The announcer went on to give barometric highs and lows, but by then the guests were looking apprehensively at Zander for his interpretation. Their spokesman … Continue reading Tayvallich No More
Hi everyone Just thought I could share some positive news around, as all we have been subjected to recently in the media, has been quite depressing. It has been difficult to switch off from the TV news, as we hoped a vaccine would be found and this virus would have been eliminated by now. Being stuck indoors has had it’s positive though, as I have been working hard editing, and preparing my second book, More Ports More Storms, for release. Continue reading The positives of Lockdown!
On a fine, if lightly clouded, blue-skied day, the puffer was tied up to the stone jetty outside the western basin of the Crinan Canal, ready to fulfil a charter. To the west of her, the sea spread away over the Sound of Jura towards the shimmering outline of the blue-grey mountains that marked the islands of Jura and Scarba. On board, the crew was awaiting the arrival of the client, top man of a well-known international corporation. He and the last of his guests were driving over by car from Edinburgh. As soon as they arrived, the puffer would … Continue reading The Worm Turns – Crinan
Watch this space…… Continue reading Exciting News!