Recent content by dancrane

I had a Skipper 12, twenty years ago. Sadly it was in London and I never had a chance to launch it. I did spend long enough fixing cracks and scratches to feel I knew the boat quite well. I expect that used as a tender under oars or outboard, you could be lucky with four average-size adults...

The whole business of confined spaces makes me windy. I only had to lie on the foredeck and reach far forward into the 24" deep anchor locker to reinforce (in fact, rebuild) the out-of-sight forestay tang, but it was fairly horrible. I think I would have tried a lot of duct-tape...

May 1st. You were quite right, Mike. 8.31kg has dropped to 6.08kg. I find that pretty astonishing for just 30 days' drying time. .

Very alarming. It may be fuel for a joke or two, but let's all stay wide awake and make sure it's not us, next time. I think my phone is invariably with me so I'd like to believe rescue would be within range. Getting trapped in a secure locker is a horrid thought. I suppose one could batter...

I thought Torqeedo motors were 100% waterproof? I read on these pages that in an incident where the driven boat sank or became entirely immersed, its Torqeedo continued running long after, either hampering or helping recovery.

Yeah you may be right Dunedin, I really didn't like other kids or teenagers even when I was one, and making friends wasn't why I had a boat. Nor did I have any time for racing, even then - I really should have had a Mirror or Heron or Gull, with oars, anchor, boom-tent and British Seagull. But...

The lad won't thank you if you buy him a Topper. I had one at 13. I wasn't tall or bulky for my age, but it was a bit of a joke even then, 40 years ago. Not sure why everyone keeps suggesting it, robustness is its only virtue. A Byte CII is much better to sail - like a Laser, but smaller. Funny...

Actually I was so mortified by the low score the fellow gave my Bosch grinder, I can't remember the rest. Go to 16 minutes 55 seconds for one reason I may look at powertools not made by Bosch in future. It's almost at the end of the vid (where he gives his conclusion, too).

The brief is definitely branching out. Initially I was thinking Laser 2, rather than two Lasers... ...the Laser 2 was a reasonably popular and fairly thrilling ride, meant for two crew but ineradicably fixed in my mind by this instructional manual cover-picture of a chap singlehanding one...

If the lad is very junior, the 4.7m sail will tame the Laser. Unless he's really young, like Optimist-age. An Optimist cockpit is roomier than a Laser's cockpit. It might fit two crew. :unsure:

It used to be a tenner to overnight on the beach, just inside Bembridge on the east of the entrance. Is that still an option for those that can take the ground?

I had a Topper as a teenager, and was deeply ashamed of it because I wanted a Laser...the Topper was like a badge of immaturity and the bright colours were like a pre-school playpen. 😩 That was a long time ago, but now that the Laser hull can be fitted with a Topper-size 4.7 square-metre sail...

It was foul and it felt freezing. So everyone was at home staring glumly out of the window, wishing they owned a boat they could steer from inside, especially since as you say, motorsailing dominates most people's use (not that any of them will admit it 😄).

I'm not proud to say that having been deftly snagged by Bosch's battery-loyalty bait in 2017, my cordless tool kit isn't as great as the reputation of the name. My first Bosch drill, the professional grade (dark blue) 18v brushed, bought for £99 with a 4Ah battery, was and still is excellent...

Funny, how trade and amateur craftsmen rave about this or that brand - usually they favour whichever they began buying the batteries for... ...I wonder how many people know how similar a lot of the kit is. .