Recent content by oldharry

Agree, anchoring off is a no-no even in a calm. I'm not sure you can blame Lyme Regus for the headlice though? Horrid things, but it takes a few days for it to develop? Been there many times and never an itch....

Ithink we can agree on that. Cheap diy store paint is generally pretty rubbish, and more recently DIY store Weathershield has been pretty useless. But Trade quality paints in my experience match up pretty well to marine paint

I would dispute that: I painted a boat using Dulux weathershield about the same time as another boat was being done with 'proper' marine paint. I happened to see the two boats alongside each other nine years later. It was generally agreed that mu [paintwork was brighter and less faded than...

I thought it was safer to take a point 6 miles off when going outside, but I was lucky never to have to do it in any serious weather. In the film 'Cruel Sea' about a wartime Corvette, many of the heavy weather sequences were filmed in the race. Worth watching to get some idea of what you...

The longer it stays down the more likely it is that the structure will break up if anyone tries to move it, turning simple recovery into a major clear-up operation? Its not surprising the owner is keeping his head well down....

Agree with Muddy 32, the inshore passage is absolutely fine as long as you follow the timings in anything up to a F4. Last time I did it east bound in a F5 and had a fairly rough ride, but nothing serious. But timing is essential. The first time I did it, many years ago westbound from...

Pretend teak will look great for about 5 minutes.. also highly questionable whether it will give adequate grip when its wet. Acrylic masonry paints are far and away the best bet IMHO for deck paint. They can be applied direct over ordinary paint as long as its sound

Capacitors leak and fail in old unused equipment, usually killing them stone dead. In anything at all complex, finding out which one has died can be a nightmare.

Done this many times with old boats to tidy them up. Always always go for Trade paint whatever make you go for. Weathershield as sold in the local DIY store is nothing like as good as the Trade version. I have had Trade Weathershield that has lasted every bit as long as the International...

The Studland debate iitially centered on the claimed destruction of seahorse habitat by anchors. However the emphasis shifted over the ensuing years to the preservation of the seagrass beds along with the wide range of species habitats it provides. The carbon seqestration argument came in...

All very well, but a properly designed mooring sinker may well have a concave surface underneath to provide greater suction. By no means all do, but those that do can require a great deal more lift to break the suction, possibly in order of tons more than the actual weight of the gear.

Are you Insured? Simple answer: No. Whatever you paid, whatever is in writing, the Inusrers have now refused cover. The argument is not whether you are insured but why they signed you up and took your money for a contract that could not/ would not be fulfilled. Sounds to me its the broker...

50 years ago an old ships anchor was causing something of a hazard in Aberdovey Estuary after it became partially exposed. They tied it to a 30ft ships lifeboat at LW after digging out round it as much as possible. Then everyone went off to await the rise of the tide. Unfortunately, the...

Probably not. I remember seeing them in numbers off the Western Welsh coast as a boy in the 1940's /50's. But nobody bothered too much. They were fun, but that's all, nobody bothered to record or.report them. There's a lot more people out at sea now, and a great deal more interest in...

Clearly one of the issues is there was/is no marine equivalent of 'Brace, brace, brace'. Fewer injuries if the passengers and crew had been warned? Who Knows... Ships ramming docks seems to be a regular occurence - look it up on You Tube! and they dont have the excuse of a steam engine...