50ft

Chilled glass of rosé in hand, I’m cruising along the Adriatic Sea at seven nautical knots an hour on my own private yacht.On the boat’s bow, the captain is unfurling the sails so we can glide neatly towards his ‘secret swimming spots’.…

 On September 5, 1856, Mary Ann Patten, 19 and pregnant, climbed onto the deck of her husband’s clipper ship and addressed the crew in a quavering voice.Neptune’s Car was in dire straits, stranded near Cape Horn, in the most dangerous…