Once a week, the boat ‘Miss Baudet‘ becomes home to the world’s smallest book club – with 2 permanent members; my publisher David Roberts and me. BOATS

But now ANYONE can join, simply by going to our YouTube channel, The Muddy Water Book Club

Soon after moving to Wivenhoe, an old dilapidated boat was offered to me for free. All I had to do was to have it transported from 80 miles away, and find somewhere to keep it.

It needed plenty of work doing, but I thought “why not? I could grow plants on it and it can be our garden.”

I kept a blog ‘A Boat For My Potplants‘, and as soon as I began it, all sorts of positivity followed.

Extracts were published in Essex Life Magazine, and before long I was offered nautical goodies for my renovation project – including the canopy, tools, a solar panel, window seals, and paint.

I spent every possible day over at the boat sheds, injecting new life into the formerly-named Kingfisher. I discovered beneath the paint was the boat’s previous name Solace. I renamed it Los Amigos. Whoever said it’s unlucky to change a boat’s name was clearly wrong!

The boat was towed to its new mooring position outside the pub in Wivenhoe where we were met by well-wishers lining the Quay, many of whom walked the plank with gifts of potted geraniums and pansies.

Nothing was lacking – except a motor, so I wrote to Suzuki in the hope I they could provide me with an ex-demo outboard.

They replied “We’re sure we can do something,” and a few months later, a brand new 9.9hp motor was fitted.

The boat was now fully river-worthy and I could captain my boat, all thanks to a few words written on the Internet, lots of positive energy and the goodwill of the people I met along the way.

I then had an idea, and I invited my DJ friend Mark Wesley to repeat our previous radio experience (see HERE), this time aboard my boat.

A few weeks later we broadcast The Barnacle Bill Show from THE WORLD’S SMALLEST PIRATE RADIO STATION, using a small transmitter and the worldwide internet.

Hundreds of people gathered on the quayside to tune in on their portable radios, and requests also came from afar, such as Paul in Spain asking for a Billy Idol song, and Kate in Minneapolis requesting The Who.

But the magic of A Boat For My Potplants didn’t stop there…

…Every year Wivenhoe gardeners open their horticultural spaces to the public, and funds are raised for local good causes. I was invited to include my boat as one of the ‘gardens’, and someone suggested me having a gorilla on top.

“That sounds perfectly reasonable,” I thought.

I changed the boat’s name AGAIN, to Miss Baudet, and now, since becoming a writer (how did that happen?), I’ve been hosting my weekly ‘MUDDY WATER BOOK CLUB’ consisting just two members – David Roberts (author of, among others, Rock Atlas) and me.

Ex-Guinness Publishing editor David knows a thing or two about books, and he’s he’s been mentoring, editing, collaborating, designing and publishing with me since 2014.

The truth is I’m not a natural seafarer, and I prefer being aboard with my laptop, just bashing out words and playing the on-board record player.

Anything can happen with Miss Baudet, and quite often it does.

Four Blokes on Bikes

… how four dads met in the pub every Wednesday and cycled the world (well, not quite the whole world, but some of it)…

I’d always quite liked cycling, having gone on my own across France in 1979, and then across the USA two years later.

Back in 1999, my mates Paul, Mike, Martin and I used to take time out from our busy schedules of being new fathers, and we’d meet weekly with a bunch of other local dads in a north London pub, where any mention of nappies was banned. Only ‘men’ topics like cars, computers, music, football… and cycling were allowed.

One evening we hatched a plan to make a trip from Hammersmith Bridge to the source of the Thames by bike.

Ever since then we’ve done a cycle ride over 4 or 5 days, usually via a cheap Ryanair flight. Back then we could take our own bikes for free, but nowadays that’s prohibitively expensive, so we hire bikes on arrival instead.

Now that we’re all in our 60’s and 70’s, we get e-bikes. Some say it’s cheating. I disagree – we still have to pedal, but now we can go further and quicker.

This is our log:

1999 London / Cirencester, UK

2000 Nice / Cannes, France

2001 Nice / Cannes, France

2002 Lake Garda, Italy

2003 Bilbao, Basque

2004 Tavira, Portugal

2005 Naples / Ischia, Italy

2006 Trieste, Italy /Kobarid, Slovenia

2007 Normandy, France

2008 Marrakesh / Atlas Mountains, Morocco

2009 Cork / Kinsale, Ireland

2010 Istanbul, Turkey

2011 Tallin, Estonia

2012 Tenerife, Spain

2013 Brussels / Ypres, Belgium

2014 Valletta, Malta

2015 Budapest, Hungary

2016 Kotor, Montenegro

2017 Leiden / Delft, Holland

2018 Berlin, Germany

2019 Pula / Rovinj, Croatia

2020 Walberswick, UK (COVID)

2021 Walberswick, UK (COVID)

2022 Curonian Spit, Lithuania

2023 Lostwithiel, Cornwall, UK

2024 Ibiza, Spain

2025 Agistri, Greece

Cannes, France 2000 Only Martin and me this time, arriving at Nice airport with our own bikes, and heading to Antibes along the coast- road and then north to Valbonne where we had accommodation. From there we did a day trip to Cannes and back, and then home to Stansted.

Côte d’Azure, France 2001 A return trip to Nice, this time the four of us bringing own bikes – which was economically viable back then. We stayed in Opio, near Valbonne, then rode to Cannes and returned to Nice along the coast. 66 miles covered.

Lake Garda, Italy, 2002 Mike’s bike failed to arrive with us on the plane, so we had to wait for it to be sent on the following day. We were staying at Sirmione and cycled anti-clockwise around half the lake’s shore, then caught a boat back to base. I suffered a cracked rib after attempting to cycle down steps. Stupid irriot me! 55 miles covered.

Bilbao and the Basque region, 2003 This year there were five of us. Jay, another mate from Friern Barnet, joined us, but his and Mike’s bikes got lost by the airline. To cycle to the coastal town of Lekeitio, Paul, Martin and myself had to first ascend an extremely long hill. The scenery was very green and the ride down to the coast was a wonderfully long and fast freewheel. But the ride up nearly caused me to expire permanently.

Tavira, Portugal, 2004 Joined by Lawrence this time instead of Jay, we flew to Faro on the south coast and headed east to Tavira. Partially inland, partially coast. 70 miles total. The best lunch ever – sardines and boiled potatoes in a roadside café in the middle of nowhere. That was the only menu choice, but it was superb.

Ischia, Italy, 2005 Still taking our own bikes on Ryanair, but becoming more expensive. This year we flew to Naples and cycled through the city to the coastal port where we got the ferry to the small volcanic island. Injury to my back due to attempting cycling down very steep woodland hillside instead of sticking to the road.

Kobarid, Slovenia, 2006 Flying into Trieste with our bikes and getting a minibus to take us up the Soča Valley, where we then cycled along the mountain ridge and back down to Italy. It was cold.

Normandy, France, 2007 This time we got the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe and cycled along the Normandy coast to stay at the pretty seaside town of St Valery-en-Caux. And we got lost and ended up going through a field.

Tizi ‘nTest, Morocco, 2008 We wanted to go somewhere special for our 10th bike ride so we spent the first night in Marrakesh then headed towards the Atlas mountains. I thought it would be a good idea to hire a van to take us to the top of a mountain and leave us there to ride back down. It was great, but it certainly wasn’t all downhill.

Kinsale, Ireland, 2009. After flying into Cork airport, we headed 20kms south to the coastal town that’s home to around 30 pubs. We stayed at my mum’s house and cycled around the local countryside and to the beach.

Istanbul, Turkey, 2010 This was the last time we took our own bikes. I wrote and asked for permission to ride around the Turkish Grand Prix circuit, and amazingly they said yes. After that we headed to the island of Buyukada where no cars are allowed, where we stayed 3 nights and then went into the city where I got the worst case of food poisoning from a dodgy chicken curry. I thought I was going to die, and was bedridden for a week after returning home.

Tallin, Estonia, 2011. The first trip to one of the Baltic countries, where we went to the old town of Tallinn and then to the coast. Being intrepid, we decided to venture back to our accommodation off-track through the woods that then became the thickest forest we’d ever encountered. It was a wonder we got out alive and not eaten by native bears that apparently do in fact live there.

Tenerife, Spain, 2012 What could be better than being taken on a guided tour in a van up to the top of the volcano, and left to cycle all the way back to the costal town where we were staying? Well, it would have been better if the brakes on my hire-bike hadn’t broken.

Brussels, Belgium, 2013 This year we went by Eurostar to Brussels, able to take our own bikes again. We headed to Ypres for a bit of serious culture, experiencing the memorial ceremony at the Menin Gate that’s taken place every single day since the end of the war.

Valletta, Malta, 2014 From the airport we headed to the capital. Then we went north to the classic car museum at St Paul’s Bay, which was surprisingly very good. The weather was kind to us the whole trip.

Budapest, Hungary, 2015 The idea was to cycle alongside the Danube to a luxury hotel perched high up a steep hill. The riverside track was mostly gravel, and very tiring, and we took full advantage of the hotel’s sauna. Budapest itself was an amazing city.

Kotor, Montenegro, 2016 The most spectacular scenery was encountered as we circumnavigated Kotor Bay (crossing the sea inlet by ferry). On one day we climbed (by foot) to the fortress high up in the hill overlooking the town.

Leiden, Holland, 2017 Instead of flying, this year we drove to Holland, via the ferry from Harwich, and we went in style – in Mike’s classic Vanden Plas Princess. Hiring bikes in the town of Leiden we cycled to Delft alongside the many canals. Everywhere was flat, and cyclists had full priority over other road users.

Berlin, Germany, 2018 We had not been to Germany before, and Berlin had been recommended for its culture, history and interesting places to visit. As well as the more obvious tourist places, we also wanted to go off the beaten track, and we hired a guide, George, who accompanied us on one of the days and took us to places we would never have otherwise found – like a riverside sandy beach.

Walberswick, 2020 There was no international travel for us in 2020 or 2021 due to them being ‘The Covid Years’. Our planned trip to Lithuania was put on hold, and instead, we went to Walberswick in Suffolk. No bike riding, just walking.

Walberswick, 2021 Once again, Covid prevented us from travelling afar, so we opted for Walberswick. The weather wasn’t kind to us, but it didn’t stop us having fun. But no bike riding.

Lithuania, 2022 We were back in the saddle – but this time we went with assistance. We were by now all getting on a bit, so e-bikes were hired and it was a revelation. We almost cancelled this destination yet again, because of the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and our destination bordered the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. We got the ferry to the Curonian Spit from Klaipeda which was famous for its huge sand dunes. But when we reached our hotel there was no one there – they’d forgotten we were coming.

Cornwall, 2023 We let the train take the strain and we met at Paddington for the journey to Lostwithiel where we stayed in a house belonging to a friend. The e-bikes were delivered to us and we thanked the Lord that we’d remained electric – the hills in every direction were so steep. We cycled alongside the River Fowey to the coastal town of the same name. Coming back we went along muddy tracks and needed to clean the bikes off to ensure our deposits were returned.

Ibiza, 2024 The island is relatively small, so we went around the whole of it (on e-bikes again), anticlockwise, staying at a different location each of the 5 nights. After collecting our bikes on the east coast, we had a guide who rode with us for the 1st day. The whole trip went like clockwork and was one of the best. Great landscape, beaches, food, accommodation. Couldn’t have been better.

Agistri, Greece, 2025 For the first time since 2000, one of us didn’t make it… Paul forgot the dates and made other plans by mistake. After flying to Athens we headed for the port of Pireaus and got the ferry to the very small island. Surprisingly cold for the first 2 days, no matter. Beautiful views around the coast and criss-crossing across the gravel paths from one side of the island to the other.