Category: Places
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Boatyards
Dunstaffnage 22nd April 2022 50 days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition Starts! It happened a few days later than planned, but Sumara went smoothly into the shed yesterday afternoon, so I am now busy varnishing. I managed to prep virtually everything whilst she was outside occasionally in the rain so no time has…
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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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Wells-next-the-Sea and the Coastal Exploration Company
Wells-next-the-Sea 25th – 27th March 2022 As a Christmas present for Grit, who decided she didn’t want anymore “stuff”, I purchased a day trip on a Mussel Flat Boat with the Coastal Exploration Company. The slightly devious part was to choose to take up the voucher on the weekend which just happens to be my…
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Deal Half Marathon – 2022
20th February 2022 – Deal, Kent In order to keep on track with at least a moderate level of fitness in preparation for the forthcoming Greenland trip I have been entering the usual half marathons. Deal is the first up for 2022 and serves two very useful functions. Firstly, it is a great excuse to…
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I’ve just built a Classic Wooden Drone!
It will fly at 24 feet above the deck and point in exactly the same direction as the boat. That is because it will be fixed to the upper spreaders! It is typical of a wooden boat owner to solve a technical problem with a piece of wood and six coats of varnish but at…
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Notes from my Expedition Journal – East Greenland 2019 – in the yacht Integrity
Notes from my Expedition Journal These are notes taken directly from my little waterproof notepad. I was invited as crew on Will Stirling’s splendid yacht “Integrity”. We were aiming for Scoresby Sund but for my second time we were thwarted by ice. Any additions or alterations to the original notes I have made in blue,…
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Canterbury in the van
25th – 27th December 2021 For Christmas we thought we would do something a bit unusual and whizz off in the van. It transpires that it wasn’t very unusual at all as the Canterbury Camp Site was fairly well booked up. We pitched up at 15:00 on Christmas Day and set up the awning, laid…
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Velsheda J Class Yacht K7 May 1987
I know the subtitle of this website is “Adventures of a small yacht” but I recently posted a picture on Instagram of the time when I chartered Velsheda for a weekend. I had a request to see more pictures – so here we go. I’m not too sure who actually took the photos but, as…
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Barnard Castle in the Van
18th November 2021 I was up in Oban working on the boat with Tilman – our Parson Russel Terrier – and decided that a 12 hour drive back to London wouldn’t be fair on the dog, or me for that matter. I had managed to break the northbound journey in half by staying with my…
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Scoresby Sund Expedition Update
Dunstaffnage 16th November 2021 A little bit of progress has been made but on lots of fronts. I’m currently up in Scotland carrying out a few little jobs on Sumara, most importantly winterising the engine but also a few domestic improvements like installing the diabolically expensive new sink pump. Running Rigging Back in town, I…