For those dreaming of the joys of owning a yacht, Nick Ridley offers encouragement as well as a look at the harsher reality of financing your dreams

Per Harrtoft shows how much fun you can have on a fast open day boat

My motives for this trip were varied. I was on the committee that vetted applications for the Ocean Cruising Club’s Challenge Grant when Project Manaia had applied for a grant to support their environ

Far from being a lightweight trailer sailer, Nic Compton finds the third version of this modern classic to be a serious little cruising boat capable of handling far more than a little creek crawling

Jeremy Ellwood mixes waterways with fairways on a maiden river cruise with his wife to the wine-making region of Bordeaux in the south-west corner of France

Celebrating 100 years of the BBC Shipping Forecast, Jane Russell takes us on a series of coastal cruises through the forecast sea areas, exploring some of the special places on offer in each of them