Recent content by Lyulph Hesling

"I fail to understand why people do not realise just how serious a crime this is in the eyes of the law.... on conviction you can get 10 years...." Would the correct punishment not be flogging and/or keel hauling?

Go to a flat roofing company, they stock the pitch, and have all the tools you need. This amounts to a large enamelled water jug, some sort of pot with long handles (in my case a bit of old water main) and a gas burner. I put some in last year, scary, but actually quite easy. If they will not...

Oh yes, old chisels are by far the best scrapers I have found, though the Bahco is very good on large flat areas. You can get a lot of pressureon a chisel. Trouble is my best half inch one (now half its new length) has vanished, must be somewhere, but where? Quarter inch and three quarter inch...

I redid the varnish on my Sunbeam last year. I used Blakes Classic inside the hull, and it has worked very well, bright and clear, and no damage. I did the covering boards and coaming with 4 coats of International Clear Wood Sealer (a two pack epoxy) covered with 8 coats of Blakes Classic...

I used paint stripper, which worked well, eventually (three of four treatments), but it is costly. You are still left with residual varnish in the grain, but it is weakened and less cloggy, especially if you start at a 40 grit. I used standard Nitromors and, inside, their new low odour gel...

It so happens that I worked out my Sunbeam cost about £5 per mile last year. I did a lot of miles, and all my own mantenance too, and it does NOT include the bar bills!

The old saying about yachts sums it up: "If you need to ask the price; you can't afford it"! Even more so if you want someone else to paint, varnish and antifoul.

UK swimming pool sellers have a two pack underwater sealant, as described from Oz above. It works well, and I used to carry some for "emergencies". Cannot recall name, but something like epoxy putty.

I assume you are painting the hull, and that you are not talking about stopping between the planks, just hiding small blemishes. If you need to fair the hull all over, Reactive Resins of Bodmin make several grades of "Easy Fair" epoxy two pack, which is soft and easy to finish. You will...

Join a bowls club and get some old bowls!

Consider using a flat frame inside the boat, and bolting through the coach roof with interscrews. These are small set screws which screw into a "nut" that looks like a screw head. Available in SS in several sizes, and the thread is standard fine metric, so you can buy any available length of...

Treize is in 1970 Lloyd's Register, Aux. sloop Owner: J H C Hill, London Port: Lymington 1.97t disp., 3.39t gross, 4t Thames Builder: A Lockhart Marine Ltd., Brentford, 1939 Designer: T Harrison Butler MD Engine: 8hp petrol Stuart Turner 2 cylinder, 1964 Forgot to note length etc! If this...

Bianca made nice, conventional, yachts. The yard (in Rudkobing on Langeland) is still going, doing repairs, so why not talk to the owner, who speaks good English. I kept my Contessa there one winter.

Quite a few boats have chromed their fittings (I don't think anyone has used nickel), and the newest ones (three built in the last decade) have had them made from SS. I actually prefer the green to either of those. It is very useful sharing a shed with 8 other Sunbeams, to see how to do things!

Spent all day removing gunmetal fittings from my 1926 Sunbeam (a 26 foot racing yacht), which are all green. It is no use using varnish or lacquer to protect them, but I have heard that you can epoxy them. Does anyone have a proven method of keeping them shiny? MAAS polish is fantastic...