johnalison's latest activity

Yeah, you can unscrew the pump plunger thingy without flooding if the joker is intact, if it isn't (inverted? common problem) there will...

Gawd almighty. How many do you want in there?

It occurs to me that every innovation, or to be modern, new innovation, looks ugly when it first appears. Jib furlers, sugar-scoop...

It seems they haven't learned their lesson since they tried to charge me a percentage of the sale fee for using an external broker. They...

Hanked on sails have the advantage of staying attached to the forestay when dropped. (e.g when using the spinnaker) Luff taped sails...

Furler here too, just too old to be bothered with hanks, yet deep down I hate it. The whole shabang is clumpy, ugly and in a strange way...

The staff at Dover are amazing, and you will be pleased to hear that Sharp & Enright are still great as well :)

A headsail will furl easily if you turn off the wind to put it into the lee of the main. Even when sailing to windward it is usually...

Changed from hanked genoa, working and storm jib to just a furling genoa after my partner passed away and it has revolutionised my...

Is there not a joker valve in the outlet? Even if it isn’t fully functional it should stop the boat from sinking for a few days.

Yes - and bomb ketches, while admirably suited to ice navigation because of their strong scantlings to withstand the recoil of the...

I don’t do strictly in any sense of the word. I can’t easily get away from thinking of roller reefing as applying only to mainsails for...

Other than a jammed halyard, there is nothing to go wrong hanked sails. It is also possible to have a second sail hanked on below the...

Talking or writing about it won’t make it any better. You’re going to have to take it apart if it has been established that ingress and...