30th April 2026
Reading time: Two minutes
Nerdiness quotient: 7/10
Technology has rather got the better of me. My boat laptop is still at home while much cleverer people than me attempt to link it to my sat phone. It is no easy task as you need to prevent Microsoft sending updates. We are hoping Linux is the way forward.
The laptop that I have here has no functioning battery and needs 240v to work. As I am stealth camping in the camper van, that doesn’t work. Any attempts at setting up a mobile hotspot are thwarted because my data allowance expired a week ago. My “Tough” phone camera has also broken so I can only produce low res, mirror image, selfies (with me out of shot). Things will improve before we sail north, at least I hope they will.
In the meantime, ignoring boring technical hiccups, I have been busy with the annual maintenance on Sumara, actually I have been very busy. Since my last post, the weather up here has been truly glorious. At 19:00 yesterday I had to find some shade as it was simply too hot in the sun! The boat got moved into the shed last Friday and although working outside would have been pleasant, the dust caused by the boat movements would have made it far too dusty to varnish. Even in the shed, dust is the big enemy, but all the staff have been very considerate and we make things work so that I avoid varnishing during dusty operations. In any case, perfection is too high a bar, protection is what Sumara needs most.
I am celebrating this evening as I have managed to get my new diabolically powerful bilge pump hose to marry with an awkwardly placed skin fitting which is 2 mm wider than the hose. A borrowed heat gun, a 30 mm diameter socket and extension bar with some Fairy Liquid did the trick. Two 316 SS worm drive clips finally fastened it in place.
To celebrate, I am peacefully enjoying the warm evening on the terrace of the Wide Mouthed Frog. Yes, this is April in Scotland! All is good.
Sent from Outlook for Android
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