For those of you hoping to go sailing during these first weekends of Autumn this Notice to Mariners might be of interest. If you are moored in London there is also the planned annual closure of the Thames Barrier taking place on Sunday so don't get caught out by it! Many dinghy sailors make use of the lack of tide caused by the Barrier Closure to enjoy some pleasant racing in still water held by Greenwich Yacht Club.

N OTICE TO MARINERS No.17 of 2015 - 21 September 2015 - Port of...

I'm not quite sure why, but we were invited to contribute the the Greenwich Yacht Club Art Show. Maybe they thought we might have some budding artists amongst our staff. Alas that's not the case, although Steve is a marvellous poet!

We came up with this very ropey exhibit. Arthur Beale has a tradition of supplying ropes for well over 400 years. On the display is a vitrine with a selection of ropes made by Buckingham Bros - which was the old name for Arthur Beale. There is...

You've missed it! We had a great time at St Katharines over the weekend with our stripey Arthur Beale stand. The forecast was a bit dodgy so we didn't take too much gear in case we had to have a mad scramble to get it all covered up during the rain showers but there weren't any rain showers and it was positively sunny on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a bit nippy and so we managed to sell some of our koselig Norwegian jumpers to shivering visitors in their tee shirts. We also had...

As a small independent business based in the heart of London we can't afford big flashy newspaper adverts so we need to be really nice to the customers we have in the hope they will spread the word and come back again. It would also be a great boost to us if you can nominate Arthur Beale in the Time Out Love London Awards. If you can spare a minute to go to

timeout.com/lovelondon

and nominate Arthur Beale it could get us through to the final stage!

We would...

The 12 Clipper Race boats are gathered in St Katharine's Dock prior to the start of their Round the World Race on Sunday 30th August. I feel a little sorry for the local boats who have presumably been shunted into the outer basins but nevertheless it is a grand display of ocean racing yachts. By the time the fleet arrives in London they are all kitted out with all the gear after their training sessions on the South Coast. Nevertheless there's always a few bits and bobs they need and...

Why are they all such charming people? It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are professional or amateur, or young or old, or from up North or down South or across the water, they are all really pleasant people.

If there has been a delay with a bronze fairlead or a length of chain, instead of flying off their winch handle they just cheerily say “Oh dear, not to worry, send it on as soon as it arrives”. We even received a bottle of 10 year old Bushmills from a boat builder in...

Yes Arthur Beale’s actually have an on-line buying website which is getting bigger and better every week. It has taken us 400 years and we still have lots of gear to upload but it's all happening and “soon” you will be able to buy everything on-line. We have pretty much finished uploading all our Nautical Books and Charts. So if you haven’t got the time to come in and admire our fantastic bookshelves you can browse the huge range on your smart phone. Don’t forget the shop is open...

It was late and dark when I managed to run my little yacht hard onto an East Coast mud bank. It was suprisingly sticky mud and despite lots of rocking from side to side and the engine kicking up stink in reverse there was to be no shifting her. As there was a stiff breeze blowing us further onto the bank I decided to pump up the Avon and row out into deep water with my trusty kedge anchor. I use an aluminium Fortress Anchor with a long warp and it is a joy to handle. With the Fortress in...

Great News from the Twister - Pouncer! I got a bit worried when I heard that Charlotte may have to seek shelter from a gale to avoid entering Archangel before her visa had started but she decided to press on and instead of being reprimanded was given a rapturous reception and all the Russians were wonderfully helpful. She has been joined by Svarte and Hugo and should be well ensconced into the canal to St Petersburg. I am hoping we can twist her arm into giving us a Arthur Beale talk when...