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May 17, 2025
Very Nearly About Sailing – Page 4
Just About Sailing September 2020 – Random bits of preparation work – Mast, Handrail, Engine, Rudder
This one covers some preparation work for some of the next key jobs. I am saving progress on the Windlass Part 2 video and the galley work one until I can devote an entire episode to each. Meanwhile, I am exhausted after all that digging. Time for a cup of...
Just About Sailing October 2020 – Installing the Windlass – Pt 2 Anchor Locker Drain
This is the second part of installing a new Lofrans electric windlass. There is a link to the first video below. This video is solely about putting in the new 'floor' in the anchor locker and sorting out the drain. Somewhat over-engineered I know. But hope...
Just About Sailing November 2020 – The Dinghy – fitting wheels, puncture repair and outboard start
My dingy has been hidden away neglected in storage for a few years. In this video I fit some wheels to make it much easier to pull it up the beach. But I also discovered a couple of punctures that needed fixing. And would the outboard start? Spoiler alert...
Just About Sailing December 2020 – New windlass install, Pt 3 – Deck modification and strengthening
This one is all about the modifications I needed to make to the deck for the new windlass. Serenity's foredeck is not cored and although the fibreglass layup is quite strong, it still needed a plate on the top (to raise the windlass) as well as a plywood c...
Just About Sailing December 2 2020 – Installing the Windlass – Pt 4 Wiring it up and trying it out
This is the (comparatively) simple part of doing the physical installation and connecting the wires - plus two tests to see how long it takes to haul in 60 metres of chain. This is a temporary installation as I still need to finish the anchor locker and re...
Just About Sailing Christmas Musical Extravaganza 2020 – Live and Unplugged
My musical homage to a year spent with everyone doing sketchy Zoom and Skype calls. What could possibly go wrong? The rules: Live (of course), One take only (no second chances), plus try two new skills at once for the first time before mastering either (s...
Just About Sailing January 2021 – Plans for the year ahead
Goodbye and good riddance to 2020. This video is just a calm and peaceful look at progress to date and the slowly diminishing number of projects tasks left to do. It is all about Serenity.
Just About Sailing February 2021 – Zoom F2 recorder. Any good for wind noise? Yes it is, and more
Not a lot of boat work going on in January and February. But I've been looking for a solution to some video sound recording problems, and I think I've found an answer that suits me. This video is all about doing some 'real life' tests on the recently launc...
Just About Sailing March 2021 – Fabricating new wooden handrails and finishing the interior sanding
After a bit of a pause with other things getting in the way of boat projects. I have finally managed to get a couple of woodworking projects finished. And when I say "I", what I really mean is "my daughter" since she did most of the work. But she does it f...
Just About Sailing April 2021- Finally, the Galley work starts. Starting with a Formica option test.
After doing a complete mock-up of the Galley ages ago, it's finally time to actually get round to doing it for real. I decided to test out using Formica rather than something like Corian. Only problem is, I hate contact adhesive and have never had any luck...
Just About Sailing May 2021 – More Galley work, the ‘final’ bit of Formica gets glued on
Actually, there are a couple more bits of Formica to do. But I think we will all have had enough of that, so this is the final Formica video showing the tricky 'L' shaped bit that I was dreading. There is a short book review in this video for Patrick Lain...
Just About Sailing June 2021 – Varnishing, varnishing and more varnishing – oh, and a bit of sanding
The clue is in the title - lots of varnishing in this one. I am going to have a go at doing a one-off Q&A video shortly. So if you want to ask a question on anything - this video, previous videos, future videos, plans, mistakes, average airspeed veloci...
Just About Sailing July 2021 – Finishing the Galley (almost) and Fitting the Handrail (sort of)
This month's video was supposed to be about painting over the repair to the hull I did ages ago. I tried a colour matching experiment... and it didn't work. But, I think I now have a solution. So, more of that next month. And I will show the video of the ...
Just About Sailing August 2021 – Watching paint dry, aka 50 shades of blue
This one is all about trying to match the blue colour of Serenity's hull and finish the repair of the crack in the side by doing the paintwork. I bashed into a dock way back and did a substantial epoxy and fibreglass patch - that was the easy bit... The vi...
Just About Sailing September 2021 – Engines woes, de-oxidising the paintwork and windlass removal
Not much happened in September. Mostly due to my stupidity. However, there was some progress with getting Serenity spruced up to look her best, along with some work on finishing off the anchor locker.
Just About Sailing October 2021 – HDPE welding the water tank, making blueberry muffins in an Omnia
Two things happen in this one. Firstly, I am eventually going to re-try making the complete HDPE water tank that I started before. But I'm not totally happy that my welding skills are up to it yet. So in the meantime, I got out the plastic welding gear ag...
Just About Sailing November 2021 – Finishing the paintwork and a quandary on the cockpit drain
Yes, I know I'm releasing this on 6th December and it is supposed to be the December video. Sorry about that, but it is explained in the video. Not a huge amount going on. But Lucy has finished both sides of the boat - sorting out the paintwork. And earned...
Just About Sailing Christmas Big Band Orchestra Trio – Musical Extravaganza Special 2021
Well, if that title didn't put you off, nothing will. There really is nothing like the sound of a Big Band in full swing, and this is nothing like the sound of a Big Band in full swing. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I mentioned the Double Bass DIY...
Just About Sailing January 2022 – Quick update on progress and plans for this year – talking only
This is very much just a talking to camera video. - Feel free to skip it. As I said back in November, there won't be much progress at all on Serenity until the Spring. Nevertheless, I do like to get out a video each month, so here it is. And I find it usef...
Just About Sailing February 2022 – The video editing PC broke. Spoiler Alert – I fixed it
As I said a couple of months back; not much boat DIY stuff happening until Spring. But I was forced to (finally) fix my video editing PC after it finally broke completely.
Just About Sailing March 2022 – April 1st Special – De-mystifying the piano for Bass Players
As a special homage to April 1st (April Fools Day), this is a short public information film about everything a bass player, or anyone else for that matter, might need to know about unwrapping the mysteries surrounding playing the newly invented the Piano-F...
New Channel Trailer 2022 – Plus change of Channel Name
It was time for a new Channel Trailer. The old one is well over 4 years old and there are now over 130 videos uploaded. I also decided to change the name of the channel. The old name, "Just About Sailing" was based on a joke when I sent a video to friends ...
Very Nearly About Sailing April 2022 – Polishing finished, mooring device, dinghy maintenance
Very nearly really did have some sailing this month - but got cancelled at the last moment. So maybe the new channel name is accurate after all.
Very Nearly About Sailing May 2022 – The DIY Holding Tank continues. This must be episode 6 or 7 ?
Just two small projects in this one. Firstly the new thru hull and seacock for the inlet. Then fabricating the bottom of the holding tank - which is also the shelf on which it sits. I was away for part of May, so the rest will have to get finished next mon...
Very Nearly About Sailing June 2022 – Just a brief check-in this month
No boat work at all. I'm doing a few 'experiments'. So just a very quick check in. Hope you are all well. See you next month for a proper video...hopefully.
Very Nearly About Sailing July 2022 – Refitting the rudder. Well, very nearly
Some actual DIY content this month. It was ages ago that I completely re-built the rudder. The job of re-fitting it should have been really easy. But it's never quite that straightforward is it.
Very Nearly About Sailing August 2022 – measuring the spare sail and sanding the keel join
Here is a link to the video I mentioned. Discover what mysterious sea creature Lucy is looking at through her binoculars. By the way, this was an extra project, not her main one. But who's going to say no to a week in an expedition sailing boat? https://ww...
Just About Sailing September 2022 – Just a quick check-in this month
There has been some progress, but not really enough to warrant a full episode. Plus I foolishly lost some video footage when my hard disk failed.
Very Nearly About Sailing October 2022 – Actually Fitting the Rudder and taking bits off the Car
Wow! I've actually managed to get the rudder back on. Smooth as clockwork - no problems at all. This means that, in theory, Serenity is actually seaworthy. Also, a bit more progress on sorting out the Honda Civic. It's only done 190,000 miles. I am determi...
Very Nearly About Sailing November 2022 – Using JB Weld to fix a door handle and a bass guitar
Slightly odd one this month. I wanted to show how fixed a 'rounded' Allen Key socket using JB weld on a Truss Rod on one of my bass guitars. I lost the footage of the important bid. So I used the same principle to fix a loose door handle. Then finished th...
Very Nearly About Sailing Musical Christmas Extravaganza 2022
Here we go again! Yes, it's that time of year. In this one, I introduce a 'boat friendly' mystery musical instrument. Well, how you actually get a tune out of it is still a mystery to me. Plus a full symphony orchestra on a small boat. Yes, really.
Very Nearly About Sailing January 2023 – 10 minutes of talking; updates and some plans for the year
This is just a short check in video. Health is still a problem which means that what used to take me a day, now takes a week (if I'm lucky). So, given that I am effectively running at 15% of normal capacity, I need to rethink what I am trying to do and ach...
Very Nearly About Sailing February 2023 – Attempting to Soda Blast the chain locker – FAIL
So why did it fail? Well, mostly because I didn't do any proper preparation or testing to see what the basic parameters might be. I just plugged it in and had a go. I really need to do a proper test. I didn't actually purchase the air compressor for Soda B...
Very Nearly About Sailing March 2023 – Making something out of wood that isn’t a rudder
This is a slightly odd, one-off, woodwork project. I needed to build something for another bigger project that will feature in a few months. Unfortunately I ran out of both time and epoxy. It will be finished next month. And I will reveal what it is and ho...
Very Nearly About Sailing April 2023 – Making a thing out of wood Pt2. Finishing and Testing
Second and final part of making this mystery object. Have a look at last month's video for part one. All is revealed in this video. People made some very intelligent guesses as to what it might be. There was every possibility that the test might result in ...