Category: Boat Maintenance
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Rudders, Tillers and Self-Steering Gear – Part Two
7th February 2023 Trim Tab Self-Steering Last week I had intended to just post a short piece about the repair I have just made to my rudder hangings. Then I got a bit carried away and went on (and on) about rudders in general. That spurred Bruce Morley to drop me a line about his…
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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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A West Country Jaunt – South West Coast Path Mylor Harbour to The Lizard
21st October – 31st October 2022 We took our campervan down to Cornwall. Originally, we were just planing to visit Jo, Sim and Lotte who are currently living on their boat in Mylor. We hadn’t seen them for a while, so we were keen to catch up with their news. Their boat had been hauled…
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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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Bleeding Engines – Gosh I could do with a breather!
3rd May 2022 – Dunstaffnage 40 Days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition starts Warning: This is a very boring technical post It was raining so I decided to work on the engine. I had changed the oil at the end of last season but I decided to leave changing all the filters and…
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Sumara is afloat! (2022)
30th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage 42 days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition starts! That was certainly a very good move to ask for my planned launch to be brought forward by a few days. I was really lucky that the yard staff were up for it as they get pretty busy at this…
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I’m ahead of schedule!
28th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage 44 days to go before the Scoresby Sund Expedition starts! I’m ahead of schedule..and you don’t hear that often in boatyards! It has been an up and down week. The downside has been that I have been suffering excruciating toothache for the last week. This was eventually cured by a…
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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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Everything I know about antifouling!
17th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage. Updated April 2025 Compared to the complexities of varnishing, antifouling is a simple and manageable task. Nevertheless, there is plenty of scope to cock it up. So here are a few random musings which may be of some minor help to those who may be new to boat ownership and…
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The Preparation Continues
12th April 2022 – Dunstaffnage It’s day two of the annual maintenance. I’ve allowed a whole month this year to do all the painting and varnishing and have the boat launched. Maybe I can squeeze in a wee test sail too. Last year was pretty stressful trying to get everything complete in just three weeks.…