Category: Sailing in General
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Notes from the East Coast – London to Wrabness
After a hectic year it was with some relief that we were able to slip out of South Dock on a late Sunday afternoon tide with two weeks of sailing ahead. There were no exciting voyages planned just a bit of gentle sailing around the muddy waters of the Thames Estuary. The tide kicked in…
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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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St Katharine Docks Classic Boat Festival
13th and 14th September 2014 I’m rather ashamed to admit that I have never been to this event before. I can only assume that any weekend that I had free I would whizz off to the coast to sail the Good Ship Sumara. This year the Arthur Beale Yacht Chandler project has rather taken over…
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Brightlingsea isn’t in Norway
3rd August 2014 Brightlingsea Best laid plans and all that. Eventually I had to pull out of the sail to Lofoten in Norway because of the time I needed to devote to the Arthur Beale Project. Beale’s is hard work. With so much going on it involves working long hours for six days a week.…
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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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Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 Sewing Machine
South Dock 16th February 2014 Proud as Punch having made my first thing using the new Sailrite LSZ 1 Sewing Machine. Not only that, but the bobbin ran out and I managed to re-wind and re-thread it too!The machine has a lovely heavy feel about it, a bit like a paddle steamer engine. It looks…
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More Vertue News! V61 and Vertue 11 V14
2nd February 2014 One day I’ll learn to use this WordPress program properly and then I’ll try to organise all the information regarding Vertues in a nice list with all the sail numbers. In the meantime I’m afraid its all a bit random. Last week I got a nice email from Ben Deveson in Holland who has…
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Vertue Engine and Alternator Sizes
2014 As there seem to be a few Vertue Owners logging in I thought it might be useful to describe Sumara’s engine and the charging arrangement and to open up some thoughts as to the ideal horse power for a Vertue. I seem to remember coming across one Vertue with a 20 hp engine and I…
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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…