Category: Boat Maintenance
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South Dock Marina Boat Yard Update
Southwark Council held their “consultation” meeting on the 7th and 8th of October. In their wisdom they decided to have a maximum of twenty people in each 30 minute session. The first day sold out quickly so they introduced another day. It was all pretty pointless as by the time the officials had said their…
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The End of the Sailing Season for Sumara
I’d arranged to have Sumara hauled out at the end of September. Of course it was sod’s law that the first few weekends in October have been warm and sunny with a gentle sailing breeze. At least the sails were packed away nice and dry. She will winter in Harry Kings Yard at Pin Mill.…
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South Dock Marina Boat Yard Under Threat
2nd September 2015 It seems that something fishy is going on. It looks like it will threaten the operation of the Boat Yard at South Dock Marina. Southwark Council held a “consultation” meeting at Canada Water Library at the end of July. The problem was that they omitted to tell us about the “consultation” meeting. They…
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Sumara gets some TLC
I seem to be more pushed for time than ever, not helped by the fact that we have entered the very hilly Stroud Marathon on 10th May. Nevertheless, Sumara needs looking after and anything to save time is going to be a big help this year. I can actually varnish the hull up to the…
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Teak Decks
20th July 2014 South Dock, London Sumara’s teak decks are, like the good ship, 24 years old. In general I would say they are doing pretty well but they were beginning to look a little sad and dried out. Each year I replace quite a few plugs with new ones held in with resorcinol glue.…
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Arthur Beale Yacht Chandler Shaftesbury Avenue
194 Shaftesbury Avenue, London 11th May 2014 I haven’t updated the Sumara blog for a while because I have been rather busy. Well it is always busy getting Sumara ready to go back in the water but this year something has made it double busy. Gerry and I seem to have bought Arthur Beale Ltd,…
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Sumara’s Maintenance
South Dock 19th January 2014 There were a few jobs that I wanted to get out of the way before Sumara is lifted into the yard. My poor Eberspacher had conked out after the Jan Mayen trip so I sent it off for servicing. Easier said than done because it is mounted in a totally…
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Preparing Sumara – Stripping the Mast
26th December 2013 South Dock Rotherhithe Sumara’s mast is now 23 years old and the varnish has never been stripped off. Despite a trip to the Caribbean and various trips to colder places the varnish actually looks pretty good. However each year there are two or three blisters which need repairing. When I prepare the…
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I’m a Professional Semaphore Operator
20th April Chichester Marina. At last, a sunny weekend to get on with the much delayed maintenance on Sumara. There is ice on the deck but that should burn off soon. Yesterday I got on with “opening up the wounds” by sanding back all the little areas of damage to the varnish so that the…
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Cutty Sark Sadolin Ultra Varnish Failure
9th February 2013 Greenwich I was shocked at the poor condition of the varnish on the newly restored Cutty Sark. These pictures are now about a month old (January 2013) but I have noticed the varnish has got even worse since. The ship only opened in the summer and there is varnish failure on almost every…