Very Nearly About Sailing Archive – Page 2

Well, that's got February out of the way. February in the UK is a cold horrible month. Nevertheless, voyaging plans continue. I'm starting to get Serenity ready. How many tin cans of food can I store on board? - A lot it turns out. Also, I have finally j...

March at last. Nearly feels like Spring. I have now given up work, so sorting out my Finances becomes a very real item on the agenda. There are still (quite) a few things to sort out on Serenity before I set sail. Plus - 'How do I get out of this place' ...

Second March Video - a couple of days late. I thought I'd do a boat tour and also have a look at my efforts to reduce the power consumption by replacing some more lights with LEDs.

At last, we have a bit of a break in the weather for at least a week. I intend to try and post a bit more often to keep up to date with the voyage as much as possible. The aim is to take several weeks to sail from Watchet, round Land's End and on to Kent...

Oxwich Bay is lovely. So I spent a couple of days there and even left Serenity anchored on her own for the first time. Then, after wind from the wrong direction on the first leg, I was then forced to do a bit of motor-sailing when the wind dropped complet...

It was a shame not to be able to spend more time at Lundy Island - I didn't even manage to go ashore. However the weather for the trip to Padstow (or at least the anchorage just round the corner at Port Quin Bay) looked to be perfect. But things don't al...

The fourth video in quick succession. Probably best to start from pt1 if you have stumbled on this one first. Doom Bar stretches across the Camel Estuary and must be crossed to get to Padstow Harbour in Cornwall, England. It has a fearsome reputation and...

I spent over a week in Padstow. I can recommend this harbour 100%. WHat a lovely friendly place to stay - and loads to do. Anyway, I had to leave at some point. The next leg was to St Ives which is a known place to rest up until the tides are right to g...

Goodness. This is the 6th video this month. My aim is still to do one per month, but at the same time I like to be as 'real-time' as possible so I will try and keep up with the journey as it happens. This episode covers a major milestone - getting out of...

Sad to say goodbye to Newlyn, but looking forward to Falmouth. And we even manage to find some wind in this episode.

Two legs in this episode. Falmouth to Cawsand - a lovely anchorage in Plymouth Sound. A good night's sleep and a long lie in. Then a planned night sail aiming for Portland - just over 70 miles. And the wind? From the ridiculous to the ridiculous.

I'm starting to run out of cameras. This small mini-series might finish as a series of pencil sketches. Anyway, my daughter visited in Portland and said the 'R' world - then what happened. Also, a surprising amount of water in the boat - no sailor likes...

Arrived in the Isle of Wight through the North Needles Channel. Then on to Brighton. We are now in the final stages of this journey. Time is flying.

Wow. Part 11. I originally thought I would do about 4 to cover the entire journey. Anyway, here is why the berthing manoeuvre into Brighton went so badly wrong, a look at the biggest marina in the UK, then off to Eastbourne. And a big plug for Eurotek ...

When the tide ebbs one side of Dungeness, the stream sets in one direction. When the tide floods on the other side of Dungeness, the stream sets in the same direction. No, I don't understand it either. The effect of this is to give me a lovely 10 hours o...

All good things come to an end. This is the final part of the journey from Watchet in Somerset to Faversham in Kent. It was a wonderful extended slow (7 week, 550 mile) shakedown cruise. So now onto the next phase - getting Serenity ready for the Mediterra...

A quick review of the shake down journey round to Faversham from Watchet. A quick look at some of the jobs ahead, and some confusion as to what to do next. Plus a look at Faversham and some lovely old Thames Barges. And if you want to see what they look...

It's taken me 18 months to get round to doing a channel trailer. This is just a few short clips of previous videos for new viewers. If you don't like this video - then you certainly won't like the rest. I think this trailer disappears if you subscribe; th...

Wow half way through Summer and not a lot done. This strange landlubber business is not what it is cracked up to be at all. Give me the sea any day. Oh, link to Mr D's Thermal Cooker Website below: http://mrdscookware.co.uk/

It's been a bit of a struggle to keep to the plan. Things keep breaking - but sometimes they can be fixed. And after being introduced to racing, I am finally brave enough to get the Spinnaker out of the bag. - One day I might even store it on the boat. ...

Slightly longer video than usual. But I wanted to try and get the whole thing into one episode. I needed to remove two redundant thru-hulls, both either on or under the waterline, and then fill the resulting holes. So important to get it right. I tried fo...

I am still slightly in shock at the moment to be honest. There was a very big fire at the boatyard which destroyed 8 boats plus a couple of sheds and a workshop. Very sad state of affairs indeed. Plus I have a measure up and a think about how to install...

Fingers crossed. I saw a great holding tank from Tek Tanks that might just fit into some 'spare' space in the heads compartment. I made up a cardboard mock-up to test the fit. Also, I wanted t check out the rudder to see what might need refurbishing. One ...

Still slow progress, but gradually speeding up a bit. Definitely one step forward and one step backwards here. There is a good solution for the saloon portlights as long as I can find the bits, but the rudder needs some significant work. By the way, her...

Things are still moving forward, although the year has shown less progress than I would have liked since the haul out. Still, as long as the progress is in the right direction, that's OK by me - and my enthusiasm for the longer term remains unabated. And ...

OK, so not on my list of things to do soon at all. But a cheap, brand new sprayhood appeared on ebay. Forget that it wasn't made for my boat, was not the right colour, and may not fit - a bargain is a bargain. This is part one...there isn't a part two y...

So here we go. Part 2 of this mini-series. The next step is to get the stainless steel bows made up, and try and get the frame and acrylic canvas to fit each other. A couple of links. The value for money tool for punching holes in the canvas was from: ht...

Can you remember as a child looking forward to those Christmas Specials on TV? Only to find that they were simply clips of things you'd already seen plus a supposedly 'funny' song from people who really couldn't sing and should have known better. Well, I'm...

Just to be absolutely clear; this video is not being sponsored by Sunseeker Yachts, Bentley Cars, or Moet & Chandon - although I might be open to offers. I am having a look at a few of the products at the London Boat Show I will be installing in the e...

Not a job I really wanted to do, but it has to be done. As with all my DIY videos - I am not claiming that this is the way you should do something. It is simply the way I did it. If you disagree, of have a better idea, then please leave a comment below,...

This is quite literally the 'middle' video. It's all about the stuff that is going into the middle of the rudder. As Expanding Epoxy Foam is new to me, I felt I wanted to do some experiments and get to know it as a material. Doing this has also helped m...

The rudder marathon continues. But will three episodes be enough? Final test to make sure that the expanding epoxy foam will work. Fabricating a new leading edge. Sticking the new stock in. And then...well, you just have to watch. No one ever reads these...

Yep. It is actually finished. Normal caveat; this is not an instructional video, just a record of what I actually did. Please comment below if you have any questions or observations. I will have a short review in the next video (which I will do in the ne...

A bit wordy this one; sorry about that. But I wanted to get in a 'review and plans' video before I start the windows (Portlights) - I am really excited about that particular project. Hopefully there will be a windows video towards the end of May. Have a...

Yep, a second one in May. Having received a lovely big box from Seaglaze just after I finished the rudder, and with good weather forecast for the long Bank Holiday weekend, I couldn't resist getting started. Only one problem - the windows are rounded and ...

Although the weather looks perfect in this video - it was a complete pain trying to get a few days in a row when I could do the epoxy work and then the painting. Still, I got there in the end. Paining is not my strong point - I already new that. Putting ...