Category: Boat Maintenance
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It’s a total cover up!
Probably the best investment I ever made for Sumara was her heavy canvas cover. It was Coombes Boatyard in Bosham who organised my first one which was basically a rectangle of heavy tarpaulin canvas with eyelets around the edges. It lasted over 20 years. My new one is marginally shaped at the bow but overwise…
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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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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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South Dock Marina Boat Yard Update October 2016
On 19th September we were invited to another “consultation” regarding the proposed development on the South Dock Marina Boat Yard site. The proposal has once again changed and now the height of the tallest tower has increased to 28 floors and the percentage of “affordable” housing has dropped even further. They are clearly getting tight…
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South Dock Boatyard Update – Destroying London’s Industry
July 2016 – South Dock Yesterday morning a “Headline Report” about South Dock Boat Yard landed on our doormat. It shows how after “consultation” with the local people Southwark Council have decided to make the tower blocks even taller. They are still claiming an increased boat yard space despite plonking 213 flats on top of it! As Southwark…
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Help to save London’s last working boatyard
It looks like Southwark Council are going to submit a planning application to build two tower blocks on top of South Dock Marina’s Boat Yard any minute now. Being fully aware that they would not gain planning consent if it meant the boat yard would need to close down they have come up with a…
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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…
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South Dock Marina Boatyard – Southwark Council’s Vision
Once upon a time Southwark Council had a vision of a balanced community but sadly it has vanished now. What happened to all those jobs? Where did the 3/4 million square feet of industrial estates go with the 15,000 jobs? Now they want to build on one of the last remaining pieces of light industrial land…
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South Dock Marina Boatyard – a disaster about to happen
7th February 2016I didn’t attend the latest “consultation” about the plans to build two tower blocks on top of the South Dock Marina Boat Yard. Southwark Council still don’t appear to have my name on their mailing list. Actually they only seem to have three of the houses in Dockmaster’s Quay out of about eighteen so…