Find a print, a gift or a guide.
Gifts for sailors, choosing a boat photograph, sizes and frames, and the stories behind the water.
104 results
- Ashore, for a moment.Stories for a life drawn to the water. Useful advice for bringing a little of it home.
- Beaufort scale converterType a wind speed and see its Beaufort force, from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force), with the waves the Met Office says to expect in the open sea.
- Boat names: 150 ideas, from classic to funnyA boat's name is the first thing anyone learns about her. This page has ideas to start from, the rules if you register, and the superstition about changing one.
- Coastal bedroom ideas: colour, art and calmA coastal bedroom should feel like a still morning by the sea, not a beach-themed hotel. These ideas keep it calm and grown-up.
- Famous sea paintings and the artists behind themBritain has looked at the sea through its painters for centuries. These are a few famous pictures you can see in public collections, and the artists behind them.
- Get her good side.A motorboat portrait lives in the line of the hull, the shape of the windows and the space around the bow. Start with those details.
- J-Class yachts: the great racing yachtsThe J Class yachts were built to race for the America's Cup in the 1930s. This is what made them special, and which of the original boats survive.
- Knots to mph converterOne knot is a little more than one mile an hour: about 1.15 mph. Type any speed in knots, mph, km/h or metres per second and see it in the other three.
- Lighthouse light characteristics, explainedEvery lighthouse flashes its own pattern, and charts write it in a short code beside the light. Type the code and see it in plain words, then watch it flash.
- Make a good picture of it.Start with the photograph, choose the finish and keep the details that matter.
- Morse code translatorType words to get Morse code, or paste dots and dashes to get the words back. Then press play to hear it and watch the lamp flash it out.
- Nautical terms: an A-Z of sailing wordsThe words sailors use, what they mean and where some of them come from. Every definition links to the dictionary, museum, body or law it comes from, and there's an A to Z list at the end.
- Parts of a boat: a labelled guideTwo simple diagrams, a sailing boat and a motorboat, then the parts explained in plain words. Useful before a first trip, or before you buy a print for someone who'll spot a wrongly named part.
- Portsmouth Yardstick calculatorMixed fleet, one race. Type each boat's Portsmouth Number and elapsed time, and get corrected times and places in one table you can share.
- Print sizes UK: A4, A3, A2 and 50x70 cm explainedEvery size we print, in millimetres, with what each one looks like on a wall. Start with the space, then pick the size.
- Round the Island Race: a spectator's guideA whole fleet races around the Isle of Wight in a single day. The guide covers the 2027 date, the course and the organisers' suggested viewing spots.
- Rule of twelfths calculatorType the times and heights of low and high water from your tide table. The tool works out roughly how high the tide will be at any time between them.
- Sailing knots, step by stepEight knots used on sailing boats, what each one is for, how to tie it and how to undo it, with a card to print for the chart table.
- Sailing time calculatorHow long will it take? Type each leg of the trip, its distance and the speed you expect, and see when you will arrive.
- Ship or boat: the difference explainedA ship is big and goes to sea. A boat is smaller. Collins's dictionary gives the neatest test: a boat is small enough to be carried aboard a larger vessel, and a ship isn't.
- Shipping forecast areas, and what the words meanViking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties... Pick an area to see where it sits on our map and in the list, then paste its forecast to have every word explained.
- Signal flag name generatorType a name, a boat's name or a word and see it spelled in the flags ships use, one flag for each letter. Print it on A4 for a card, a cabin door or a party.
- Tall ships: famous ships and where to see themA tall ship, in Collins's definition, is any square-rigged sailing ship. Several famous ones are preserved in the UK, and you can walk their decks.
- Thames sailing barges: red sails and where to sail on oneFlat-bottomed, red-sailed working boats with a crew of two men and a dog. This is what made the sailing barge different, and how you can sail on one today.
- The photo is already on your phone.You don't need a dramatic sea or an expensive camera. You need a clear photograph of the right boat, with enough room around her to make a good picture.
- The shape of a wakeSometimes the boat is only the beginning of the picture. The line it leaves behind does the rest.
- Types of boats: an illustrated guide to 30 boatsFrom a dinghy to a tall ship, the names can be confusing. These are 30 types of boat you'll see around the British coast and rivers, grouped by kind. Each has a picture or a simple line drawing.
- UK lighthouses you can visitExplore 31 selected UK lighthouse sites, from tower tours to visitor centres and coastal walks. Each map entry links to its operator so you can check opening dates, bookings and access before travelling.…
- Where to see puffins in the UK, and whenPuffins spend the winter at sea and come back to UK cliffs in spring. These are the best places to see them, with the months given by the people who look after each site.
- Why we keep portraits of our boatsA boat portrait is part likeness, part record of a life spent aboard.