Category: Scotland
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What’s Bubbling for 2021 and 2022
It has been a longstanding ambition of mine to sail Sumara to Scoresby Sund. Scoresby Sund is the longest fjord in the world and is situated in the high Arctic on the Eastern seaboard of Greenland. We made a half-hearted attempt to get there after climbing Beerenberg on Jan Mayen in 2011, but in reality,…
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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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South Dock towards Ullapool 2019
I had decided, after a wobbly moment, that it was time that Sumara had a refit. I had become increasingly nervous about the engine after an engineer told me it was on its last legs and my teak decks were beginning to look a bit shabby. Even the varnish was now rather patchy. For convenience,…
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Whoops rather a long gap between posts!
I’m still alive and really looking forward to 2019. The reason for the long pause was that something had to give way. The Arthur Beale project has proved surprisingly exhausting especially on top of the stress of running my other company so I had to let things go. It got so bad that I almost…
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New Vertue Spotted Cilix V210
23rd May 2016 Just after we arrived in Troon Harbour a nice varnished boat arrived. It was a Vertue called Cilix. She was built in Holland in 1993 from green oak frames and iroko planking. Alan was the owner and he had sailed from her base on the River Fal in Cornwall. Alan will be…
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Scottish Islands Peaks Race
Spring 2016 Oban – Troon This is no normal race and it is well to remember that! For sailors it is a demanding race which takes in some tricky tidal areas. Unusually for a race, picking up the crew or dropping the anchor, has to take place under sail. Equally it is a demanding race for…
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Watch the Race Live
You can track the Scottish Island Peaks Race below: Browser not compatible. Click here for Full Screen Viewing
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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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Troon to St Mary’s – Isle of Man
It’s Monday mid-day and we have Ailsa Craig ahead on our starboard bow. It is a lovely island. The stone from Ailsa Craig is almost unique in that it does not absorb any water. That is why it is the choice of stone for curling. A set of blue granite curling stones from Ailsa Craig will…
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The Final Leg – Arran to Troon
Poor Sumara was about a day behind the rest of the fleet but we were determined to finish. We had heard that about 13 yachts had retired and three did not start so although we were definitely going to be last at least we were going to finish! We had all booked tickets on the…