Peter Fish May 25, 2021Updated: May 25, 2021, 7:42 pm
Pete Mulvihill and Bonnie Tsui in Tomales Bay. Photo: Craig Popelars
It’s 5,300 miles from San Francisco’s South End Rowing Club to Suffolk, England. But it was at the Rowing Club that Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of San Francisco’s Green Apple Books and intrepid open-water swimmer, first heard about Suffolk author Roger Deakin’s cult aquatic classic, “Waterlog.”
“I went online and bought a copy from a British dealer,” recalls Mulvihill, “because it had never been published here.” He read “Waterlog.” He liked it. A few weeks later he was on a phone call with Craig Popelars, publisher at Tin House books in Portland, Ore., and a fellow swimmer. Read “Waterlog,” Mulvihill advised. Popelars did. He passed the book on to others at Tin House. “And,” Popelars says, “we just fell in love with it.”
Aberdeen
How about a city with two medieval colleges and castles, two picturesque rivers and miles of sandy beach?
On a sunny day, Aberdeen’s granite buildings sparkle as the light glints off specks of mica in the stone. Walk or cycle beside the city’s long sands from the old fishing village of Footdee to the basking seals at Donmouth nature reserve. There are several places to hire bikes and 150 miles of Aberdeenshire coastline.
Aberdeen Art Gallery reopened after refurbishment in 2019. Photograph: Iain Masterton/Alamy
Of the county’s 263 castles, ruined Dunnottar on its craggy peninsula in the North Sea is one of the most dramatic (adult £8, child £4). The best way to get there is to walk a couple of miles along the cliffs from the market town of Stonehaven, 20 minutes by train from Aberdeen. You can walk back to Stonehaven through Dunnottar Woods, past an old shell house and aristocratic bathing place. Afterwards, dodge the gulls as you eat award-winning fish and chips
Environment Agency launches new Anglian Pass for boaters
Boaters now have the option to purchase an Anglian Pass which allows them to navigate unrestricted across neighbouring navigations.
From:
14 May 2021 The pass allows boaters to move between different waterways without having to pay multiple registration fees.
The Environment Agency, the Conservators of the River Cam, and the Middle Level Commissioners worked together to develop the new pass. The pass covers the River Nene, the Great Ouse system, the Middle Level Navigation and the River Cam.
The new annual pass went live on April 1 to mark the start of the boating season. It allows boaters to move easily between different waterways without having to pay multiple registration fees.