Coastlines
A West-Facing Coast and an East-Facing Coast Are Two Different Trips
Which way a shoreline points decides its swell, its afternoon wind and the hour its light is worth walking in.
Farida Contractor
Contributing writer, Travel Near Sea
Farida writes about islands and the timetables that govern them.
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21 articles
Coastlines
Fetch Explains the Waves Better Than the Wind You Can Feel
The distance of open water upwind of a beach does more to decide the surf than the breeze on your face.
Coastlines
Why One Beach Is Sand and the Next Bay Is Shingle
Wave energy sorts material by size, so the stones on a beach are a readout of how hard the sea works there.
Coastlines
How to Read a Coastline Off a Map Before You Ever See It
Contours, symbols and the placement of roads describe a shoreline accurately enough to plan a trip around.
Islands
The Last Boat Off Is the Only Fixed Point in an Island Day
Plan an island visit backwards from the departure you cannot miss, and everything else falls into place.
Islands
Reading a Ferry Timetable Before You Trust It
The sailings are the easy part; the footnotes, day codes and seasonal columns are where the actual information lives.
Islands
Out of Season the Timetable Collapses and So Does the Island
Fewer sailings is only the first effect; the shops, the buses and the one place that serves food follow the boat.
Islands
Tidal Causeways Run on the Moon, Not on the Clock
A road that floods twice a day is a perfectly reliable road, provided you read the right table and add margin at both ends.
Islands
Fresh Water Is the Real Limit on a Small Island
Rainfall catchment, boreholes and desalination all have ceilings, and visitor numbers in August are what test them.
Islands
Island Prices Are Freight Prices, Not Tourist Prices
Almost everything on a small island arrived on a boat with limited space, and the invoice reflects that before anything else.
Islands
Island Hopping Rarely Works the Way the Map Suggests
Routes usually radiate from the mainland rather than linking neighbours, so two adjacent islands can be a day apart.
Islands
What Actually Happens When an Island Keeps You Longer Than Planned
Being stuck is a logistics problem with a short list of correct first moves, and most of them are about beds and phone calls.
Islands
Medical Care on a Small Island Is a Transfer Plan
The relevant question is not whether there is a doctor but how long it takes to reach a hospital when the weather is poor.
Coastlines
Fjord and Sea Loch Coasts Put Deep Water Beside the Footpath
A drowned glacial valley has hundreds of metres of water within a stone's throw of the road, and almost no beach anywhere along it.
Coastlines
Volcanic Coasts Drop Away Fast and the Rock Explains Why
Dark sand, sudden depth and a shoreline that was made recently rather than worn down slowly over millions of years.
Islands
A Small Island Airstrip Runs on Visibility and Crosswind
Where the sea is too rough or too far for a daily boat, the link is a light aircraft with weather limits that cancel it often.
Islands
Landing Where There Is No Pier: Tenders, Slipways and Swell
Plenty of islands have no harbour at all, so getting ashore depends on a small boat, a rock step and the state of the swell.
Islands
Why Island Housing Empties Out for Half the Year
A local wage set against a national or international property market produces empty winter streets, and the mechanism is the same…
Coastlines
Where a Desert Reaches the Sea, the Coast Runs on Fog
Almost no rain, a cold ocean, a fog bank that arrives most nights and a shoreline where the only reliable water comes out of the…
Islands
Island Electricity Is Either a Cable or a Fuel Bill
Small grids are expensive, exposed and surprisingly complicated, and an outage on an island stops more things than it does on the…
Islands
An Island Night Is Darker and a Great Deal Noisier Than Expected
No street lighting, a sky most people never see, and a seabird colony that only comes ashore after dark and does not do it quietly.