Category: Gear – Yachting and Boating
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Rudders, Tillers and Self-Steering Gear – Part One
2nd February 2023 Reading Time 10 Minutes Rudders and Tillers in general My Rudder Repair I have always regarded Sumara’s rudder as being pretty bullet-proof. It pivots on a strong bronze fitting with a 3/4″ pintle at its base. It has two sets of heavy bronze castings with a long 3/4″ bronze bolt linking them…
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Tanks and Containers
6th January 2023 Reading Time: Twelve Minutes On Sumara I need to carry three liquids in bulk – Water, Diesel and Paraffin. These are stored in fixed tanks which are supplemented with portable containers. Over the 32 years that I have owned Sumara I have learned a few lessons and picked up a few tricks.…
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Technical Problems
Scoresby Sund Expedition 2022 Day 32. 12th July 2022 Position: Moored Torshavn Weather: The wind has dropped from F9 to about F7, not sure whether to call that good or not. It was a fiercely windy night here last night. Jannicke returned from the airport because all the flights were cancelled. She has only just…
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I’ve been sorting through Sumara’s Tools
25th May 2022 – Rotherhithe 17 days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition starts In the past I have used a round canvas ditty bag to hold my splicing and rigging gear, plus a Kuny tool bag for all my other tools, but it was always a struggle to stow both of them into…
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Down Below on a Vertue Yacht
11th May 2022 – Rotherhithe 32 days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition starts I often have people asking me what it is like sailing on such a small yacht. They are intrigued how everything fits in. Yachts seem to have grown in size a bit like cars, just look at the original Mini…
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MOB Scramble Net – Part Three
13th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage It’s the first time I have tried the gizmo on the boat and it definitely needs to have the loops shortened by 6″. I’ll reserve judgement on the rest of it until I can try it out when the boat is in the water in a few weeks. It is…
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The Preparation Begins!
11th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage I’ve arrived at the boat ready for a month’s solid work to get her expedition ready for the big Greenland trip. It was 20:00 by the time I got here after a very pleasant stop over at Ray and Jackie’s farmhouse in Yorkshire. I managed to find just enough space…
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Making a Scramble Net Cum Boarding Ladder – Part Two
I’ve finished the the Scramble Net cum Boarding Ladder! Ok, I haven’t tested it yet, so it could be a totally useless pile of junk but we shall find out in a few weeks when I hope to test it in the chilly London Docks. I was surprised how many things didn’t work. In the…
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Making a Scramble Net Cum Boarding Ladder – Part One
I have been giving some thought to retrieving a MOB and decided to make a boarding ladder that can also be used to parbuckle a casualty onboard. Not sure how this will work out but here is the design concept. I’ll post another video showing the build process and finally I’ll try it out and…
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Storm Proofing Sumara
Friday 18th February 2022 – London With Storm Eunice approaching, I am picking up on a slight sense of panic amongst many boat owners. Will their covers be OK? Will their boats be OK with those wooden props and wedges especially with the mast up. Will their mooring lines chafe through? etc With Sumara currently…