Category: Sailing in General
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Varnishing – with traditional yacht varnish
Reading time: 20 minutes The most common comment that I receive when people walk past the fully varnished Sumara is: “Looks great but, wow, what a lot of work!” It does indeed involve a lot of work to keep a varnished yacht looking nice and shiny, but probably not nearly as much as many people…
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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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A Road Trip to the River Fal!
Jo, Sim and their daughter Lotte had been living on board their Inchcape Motor Sailer in South Dock Marina, London, for a year or so when they decided it was time for a change. While they were there we became good friends, with Jo and Lotte often helping helping out in Arthur Beale’s chandlery when…
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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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Scoresby Sund – or not?
Some people dream of rounding Cape Horn, some people dream of going through Havengore Creek – a far more risky adventure in my opinion. I dream about sailing to Scoresby Sund. We made a half-hearted attempt in 2011 after sailing Sumara to Jan Mayen but we were stupidly early and the ice was fast all…
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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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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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Southwark Council Plan to Destroy More of our Marine Heritage
The Red Scotch Derrick Crane in Odessa Street is now under threat from developers seemingly working with Southwark Council’s support. This old docklands crane is the last one remaining in Rotherhithe and was left standing as part of the London Docklands Development Corperation’s commitment to preserving some of the dockland heritage of the area. Rotherhithe was…