Category: Gear and Provisions
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I went into the chandlers to buy a toothbrush and…
…I ended up with an Avon Dinghy! It wasn’t totally spontaneous because I had been looking for one for about three years but my eBay searches only led to a few leads and then we were outbid. Such is the demand for simple old fashioned quality. So when I saw this little beast leaning up…
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Choosing Camera Equipment for the Boat
2nd August 2021 It is not as easy as it sounds, in fact it rapidly becomes quite complicated. I’m not in any way a professional photographer but I do have the slight advantage in that this is my second time around at purchasing boat camera equipment. Eleven years ago, I selected the equipment to take…
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Fruit Hammocks
I know some people think fruit hammocks are rubbish but I find them really useful onboard Sumara. They are very gentle on soft fruits and everything can be inspected. I use one to store little evil snacks, one for healthy veg and one for fruit. They normally collect a couple of mobile phones, sunglasses and…
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Kettles!
In the campervan we aim to keep all the cooking paraphernalia in one storage box under the famous back shelf. However, the kettle that we owned simply swallowed up all the space. I’ve been watching Rodger Barnes’ excellent videos about dinghy cruising. If you haven’t watched them, then I can highly recommend trying a few…
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The Annual Maintenance 2021
Part 1 I’m now half-way through my allotted time in Scotland to carry out the annual chores, or maybe joys, depending on how things are working out. Firstly, I must admit, it is a bit of a pain having the boat 500 miles from home. You can’t just decide “Oh it looks like a nice…
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I’ve just turned the fridge off!
The campervan fridge is set at 3 degrees and is working fine but, despite it being May, it is actually slightly colder outside! So, the beers will sit out there this evening while I bask under the Eberspacher heater to warm up. Yes, it is varnishing time in Scotland and it will pose the usual…
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Mending things is in vogue! The Sailrite LZ1 sewing machine in action
South Dock 4th May 2021 A couple of years ago I bought a Sailrite sewing machine. After an initial burst of enthusiasm it ended up in the garage. If you don’t know these machines, they are seriously tough but they are also very heavy, so when a little mending job cropped up it was too…
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Sumara of Weymouth has a ReFit
In 2018 the engineer at Pin Mill told me that he felt the life of Sumara’s engine was coming to an end and it could conk out at any time. He had replaced the inboard shaft bearing but it continued to spray some oil. Maybe the pressure was building up? Then my friend Philip told…
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Scottish Islands Peaks Race
Oh dear, here we go again. This time I am joining the crew of the Good Ship Brimble, a 27ft Twister. There will be more space onboard than Sumara but still pretty cosy with five runners and all the kit. I’ve been a bit disorganised this year struggling to find the time to sort out…
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Getting Sumara ready for the sailing season
The Arthur Beale project has been zapping up all my spare time so some things are being neglected. Most of all I’m not getting to see all my buddies so that certainly needs to be rectified soon! But I realised the Good Ship wasn’t going to get all the love that she would normally get…