Anyone who has been involved with sailing will know that owning a yacht or just sailing as a pastime can be a hard taskmaster at times so I have written this account to highlight the joy and surprises the experience can also bring. From learning how to sail a flat bottomed dinghy from the beach at Criccieth North Wales during WW2, when I was evacuated, to when I was in the army for National Service and sailing on the Blue Nile in the Sudan. I recount my time buying and sailing a Mirror Dinghy to racing a Vivacity 20 between Hoylake on the Wirral to the Menai Straits. Then, a change of yacht to an Achilles 24 for another year of racing and some adventures with St. Elmo's Fire and the Midnight Race from Liverpool to the I.O.M. Then a lovely trip from Plymouth across Biscay and round Spain to Portugal. Delivering a yacht from Lisbon Portugal to Eastern Spain and returning it to Lisbon. Taking our Tomahawk 25 through the French canals. Three cruises with the Penguin Sailing Club round the South West coast of Ireland. Sailing the Aland Islands in the Bothnia Sea at the top of the Baltic, and enjoying Winter Sun on a trip to the British Virgin Islands. Finally I made it to the Solent during Cowes Week to sail with my son Peter on his Sadler 29. Altogether, a wonderful and varied life of sailing.