Sumara of Weymouth

22nd December 2024

When I sailed into Salcombe during the summer I had the pleasure of meeting up with Roger Robinson who runs the Vertue Yachts website.

It is a great resource for anyone interested in Vertue yachts or indeed any closely related small boats. While we were nattering Roger suggested that it would be a good idea to start a feature called “Me and My Vertue”. You can probably guess where this is going. It can be found here with some of Roger’s interior photos. Because I haven’t posted much on Sumara’s website, I have posted a version below:

Me and My Vertue
Roger asked whether I could do a little piece entitled “Me and my Vertue”. It is hoped that it could become a regular feature about other Vertues. I asked whether there was a format that I could follow, but Roger was reluctant to make it too formulaic and said I could do whatever I wanted.
You might think having that freedom would make things easier but quite the contrary. I have owned Sumara since 1991 and rather a lot has happened over those 33 years!

The first yacht I owned was a clinker-built Guy Thompson offshore racer. I renovated it and installed a new engine, rubbing strake and hatches. In those days I had a swinging mooring just downstream of Tower Bridge and a scenery building workshop in Chambers Wharf overlooking the boat. I could row out to the boat after work! I got into all sorts of trouble in that yacht with no VHF or GPS, just a compass and trail log. It also gave me a good understanding of what is involved owning a wooden yacht.
After I sold it, I sailed on lots of other yachts including one called Danegeld, a varnished wooden boat, on which I crossed the Biscay several times.
Eventually I decided the time was right to buy myself another boat. It had to be the smallest seaworthy vessel capable of ocean crossings but, most of all, it had to be varnished wood!
I contemplated Twisters and Folkboats, but the Vertue was top of the list. I didn’t want a bundle of trouble, and I knew how and where wooden boats can start to rot if not properly cared for, so when Sumara came on the market at just 1 year old it was the perfect boat for me. I was slightly suspicious why anyone would sell such a beautiful boat having just spent eight years building it! The only criticism my surveyor came up with was that it might need some quadrant around the Sampson post to stop leaks. Terry, the builder, got a bit irritated and assured me it didn’t need any quadrant and indeed after 33 years the Sampson post has never leaked.

So, in 1991 I became the proud owner of a beautifully built varnished Vertue made from one log of iroko on oak frames and with an elm/lead keel.

Terry Newman, the builder, really knew what he was doing and put a great deal of thought into building Sumara. It has a keel stepped mast made from Douglas fir and is cutter rigged with a hanked-on Yankee and staysail. The decks were teak on ply screwed and plugged but I had the teak replaced by Johnson and Loftus boatyard in Ullapool in 2020. The new teak is just glued down and caulked with TDS which the boatbuilders recommended.

Down below there is a galley to port and a large chart table to starboard. When I bought Sumara, it was fitted with a Decca receiver and a radio direction finder, which was very hi-tech for me and took away some of the worry of relying on my dead reckoning and dodgy sextant sights.
The chart table folds up against the instrument panel and reveals a snug quarter berth. For those new to sailing, a chart table could be a mysterious thing as it is often missing on modern yachts. It is the table where charts made from real paper are laid out and drawn on with the help of a soft pencil, parallel rules and dividers – yes, some of us still prefer the old ways!
There are two very fine sea berths positioned mid-ships so that they hardly move, even in rough weather. A panelled door leads to the forepeak which has a Baby Blake toilet centrally mounted with a sink to starboard.

The sink is actually a large cooking pot which is emptied via the Baby Blake to keep things simple. The forepeak also houses deep bins for storage plus a pressurised paraffin tank to feed the Taylors cooker. There is also a large aluminium paraffin storage tank with a tap over the “sink” for filling the oil lamps. The 60 m length of grade 7 x 8 mm anchor chain is stored in a bin forward of the toilet. A hatch can conveniently be opened to give unlimited headroom and a beautiful view around the anchorage whilst cleaning your teeth.
I find life below very civilised. Sumara doesn’t have a fridge but the two stainless steel water tanks under the berths provide a cool surface when they are full, otherwise the bilge chills beers nicely without needing any power. As I often sail north, I have fitted an Eberspacher D2 heater, partly to warm the boat as a treat for the crew, but mainly as a means of drying wet gear which can make watches pretty unpleasant. The heater is mounted in a really awkward position on the inside face of the transom. I dread servicing it.
I uploaded a rather over-long video of life below on Sumara here:

On deck I carry a rather heavy Rocna 15 kg anchor, and below I have an aluminium Fortress as a ketch and a folding fisherman’s anchor just in case. I have a Windpilot Self Steering gear which works wonderfully, and a little Autohelm Auto Pilot which is still working after 15 years. A little canvas dodger covers the companionway hatch but provides no shelter to the crew who have to brave the elements in the cockpit.
The original hand marinized 12 hp Kubota engine was replaced in 2020 by a more powerful 16 hp Beta engine. The new propellor was cast in aluminium bronze to help withstand contact with ice.

I can’t really understand the desire for boats to be bigger and bigger unless you need room to carry more crew, and you may require more crew simply to handle the larger boat! Large boats introduce so many new safety risks as they often depend on powered winches handling ropes under huge tension, and furling gear which can go horribly wrong at any time. The average length of yachts entering the ARC rally is now 48 foot, quite ridiculous in my opinion.

Talking about crossing the Atlantic, Sumara made the trip in 1996. It was following an off-the-cuff handshake with a friend who had never sailed before but had read all the classic sailing books. I actually wanted to sail to St Petersburg, but Ray insisted on the Atlantic or nothing, so we shook on it and sailed via Cape Verde Islands to Barbados. Ray returned by plane and I sailed Sumara back single-handed but not before entering the Antigua Classic Boat Regatta where I recruited some Norwegian friends to crew for me. They suggested that I should enter the Norwegian Risor Wooden Boat Festival and were somewhat surprised to see me turn up there in 1998!

This started my passion for sailing northwards. I sailed to Risor four times, and it was on one of these trips when my eye caught picture of a polar bear in the last chapter of the Norwegian pilot book. Now that would be a thing!

So, in 2002 I went on a most ridiculous summer holiday cruise. We left South Dock Marina in London and sailed non-stop up the North Sea through the Arctic Circle to the Lofoten Islands, a voyage well in excess of 1,000 nm northwards. From there we ventured further north to Tromso and then on to Bear Island, eventually anchoring in dense fog in Hornsund, Spitsbergen. We cruised the area for a few weeks and did manage to have a very exciting encounter with a polar bear in Tryghamma!

The return journey was direct across the Greenland Sea to the Faroe Islands, not a voyage I would recommend, especially in the days before accurate weather forecasting. After several gale tossed weeks, we eventually spotted the islands through the murk. On arrival in Torshavn the Harbour Master, seeing this tiny jewel of a varnished boat, asked where we had come from – expecting us to say “Scotland”. When we replied “Spitsbergen” he looked very surprised and promptly called us “The Crazy Ones” whereupon the next day we were asked to help crew on their tourist tall ship.
After that adventure I made many more trips northwards to Norway and Iceland before deciding to embark on another big trip, this time one that we could genuinely call an “expedition”. When sailing across the Greenland Sea I was intrigued by a little Arctic Island called Jan Mayen. I bought an antique Bleau map of the island and hung it on my wall. Inevitably I decided to sail there and for some reason attempt to climb Beerenberg, the world’s most northerly volcano. This was going to be the big one!
I gathered the interest of Tim Loftus who was a talented climber and had built a fine wooden yacht called Thembi. To gain permits and to solve various logistics problems we encouraged Siggi from Iceland to join in the fun.
We did succeed in summiting the 2,276 m high volcano and were awarded the RCC Tilman Medal for our efforts. It was our intention to sail onwards to Scoresby Sund on the Northeast Coast of Greenland, but strong winds and ice proved too much. Instead, we headed to Iceland and climbed Snæfellsjökull as compensation, before returning to Scotland.

Scoresby Sund was to prove elusive. In 2019 I tried to sail there in Will Stirling’s yacht, Integrity, but the ice was stubborn to clear so we cruised the coast further south.

In 2022 I decided to attempt to reach the Sund once again. This time in Sumara, but fierce weather held us pinned to the north coast of Iceland and I eventually had to abandon the trip and sail back to Scotland.

Being a stubborn person, I would like to try once again and make a final determined attempt to reach Scoresby Sund in 2026. By then I will have owned Sumara for 35 years. The boat is now so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine ever parting with her. It is interesting to note that of all the boats I met whilst doing the Atlantic Circuit, I was the only person who still owned the same boat three years later. Small boats are often admired in remote areas whilst the “super yachts” are just ignored. Fishermen wander over and make admiring comments, youngsters think that maybe one day they could own a little boat like that. The huge super yachts are simply out of their league. Hopefully I will have the strength to pull the ropes, and haul that anchor, for a good few more years.

Currently the boat is ashore in Titchmarsh Marina awaiting the spring ritual of varnishing. Can’t wait!

…and it’s that time of year “Happy Christmas Everyone!”