Recent content by tobermoryphil

Iain died percefully in Broadford Hospital, Skye, yesterday. He designed some beautiful small boats, and was very helpful to those of us who built them. Quite a legacy of designs- he will be greatly missed.

Ben there; met him- nice guy. Will be missed.

or PreWarCar...

Looks more like Rummy is sinking! :)

I see that one of the ships that has been waiting in the Great Bitter Lake for the last week is a livestock transporter. I just hope it was empty.....

Just seen that my first boat, a Caprice 19, is now ashore minus one of her bilge keels, thanks to corroded keel bolts. The cost of fixing her will be a lot more than she will be worth, so the outlook does not look good. Had some happy times with her when she was in better nick, so a sad sight.

Drilled two holes at base; no water emerging, but water still emerging around the bolt hole near the top. The GRP flexes a bit there over a small area, so I will strip a small patch off on one side and investigate. Radiator ready and waiting!

Just been anti-fouling the rudder for my Swift 18, and noticed water dripping from a bolt hole where there is a shackle for the rudder raising line. The rudder is hardwood, cased in GRP, and is obviously wet inside. Advice please; do I need to worry, and if so, what to do?

I see the news has now reached YBW.

Remember the bit in YBW news about a search being called off for NZ yachtsman Alan Langdon and his daughter? They have turned up safe and well in New South Wales, after having problems with one of the two rudders on their cat. Come on, YBW update, please!

'Yacht Man Metal'? Real sailors will need 'Yacht Man Larch on Oak'..... PS: Really real sailors do not shave.

After 34 years, the outer hull still seems ok!

I would need to grind the stainless screw heads off, plus I don't know how much compression the foam core would take. However, I have a 25mm hole cutter for the inner skin, and have sourced some 30/25 mm white hole plugs, so I think I have sussed the neatest way out. It will need a bit of...

I have just noticed that the rudder pivot brackets on my Swift 18 are a bit loose. They are fixed with cheese head machine screws; tightening or loosening these has no effect, as the nuts the other side turn with the screws. The problem is the double skinning means there is no access to the nuts...

Storm Angus? No wind at all up here, and blue skies all day. Got the boat out of the water at last. Freezing though- we can't have everything!