Can you guess where we've been ?

This is one of those fascinating  places where you could loose yourself for hours. Where else could you find a choice of propellers ?
Do you know where it is ? Why not take a guess!

Talking about squalking !

The publisher of the web site Sailingonline, Dawn Smith, is both an accomplished sailor and raconteur, with whom it's always a pleasure to spend time, especially at sea.
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Over the last few months she has been building content for the website and kindly asked me if there was anything I would like to contribute. It so happened I had recently upgraded my VHF radio installation, so the outcome was my article on modern VHF radio.
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Go on, follow the link !
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Dawn has now schooled me more fully on the meaning of 'max 1500 words', so future contributions will come in a single installment. I hope it's of use ot you, or a least food for thought.

Comments please !

Wow we're getting more and more hits and their coming from all around the world. 
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 We'd love to hear from you - so from today any one with a Google account can post a comment - and we promise to moderate it within the day (unless we're at sea...)

Arthur Beale

Its very hard to pass through central London without spending some time at Arthur Beale's yacht chandlers on  Shaftsbury Avenue.

I was introduced to AB''s over 20 years ago when I worked nearby, and its refreshing to still find an independent shop in Covent Garden that hasn't been forced out by global trainer outlet or coffee chain.
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(Quite) a few years ago I innocently asked the chap behind the counter how they managed to find enough trade, being so far from the coast. He gave me a kind of look and pointed out that they may be quite far from the coast, but they were right in the middle of about 5 million people, some of whom must have boats.
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 You can usually rely on AB's having top quality gear and as usual I spent more than I meant-to, but it's balm for the soul as well as good for the boat. Long may they prosper
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You don't usually look in chandlerys for metaphors, but the significance of the life belt in the window just dawned on me !

Its the end of the season!

Just one more sailable weekend before Annabella comes out of the water !

Thorpeness - in Suffolk.

This last week or so saw the weather turn really wintery - and I woke up in the forepeak last Sunday morning  really quite cold.  We had a few days off in Suffolk (without the boat). Look at those cloud formations - brrrgh.
It has been a long summer and a good season. In some ways not all our objectives have been met - but we're reacxhing the end better sailors and with a better boat, and we've had some good times, so well satisfied.
We've reached some conclusions about how to improve the boat - so watch out for our posts over the winter!

Dolphin Encounter

Brilliant dolphin encounter on Sunday 21st - a pod of around half a dozen grown ups on passage from Barmotuth top Pwllheli. Clearly something more interesting than Annabella to diving for !
It's always good to see dolphins and great to have a late season encounter.

Clearly something more interesting than Annabella to go diving for !
It's always good to see dolphins and great to have a late season encounter.

Apologeis for for low definition + shakey video, but wer'e only just getting the hang of this!
** more apologies - video not working on ios !**

Freiberger Drum Sextant:

Excited joy on Friday as the new split horizon mirror and shades arrived from Frieberger.

As can be seen they are a slightly different shade of grey (!!)
The careful removal of the old and installation of the new took about 20 minutes and was very striaght forward, possibly because of the construction of the Freiberger itself.
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I acquired the sextant nearly two years ago, as I wanted one with big mirrors to use on a small yacht in motion. It came with a full horizon glass, with which I never felt completley happy, but it took me about 6 months to extract the parts for a split horizon from the manufacturer. They insisted on a new set of shades also, but these looked to be the same size and shape as the originals, but heh-ho!
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So first thing this morning, I drove up to some high ground with a good, distant horizon to adjust the new mirror. I couldn't resist taking a quick sight of the sun and pulling it down to the horizon - brilliantly easy!

Drying out against a wall:

There's an art to drying out a fin keel yacht against a wall.
The wall just by the old harbour masters office is quite a popular location, and you often see it used for this purpose. 
This chap was trying his hand at it over the weekend.

Although the ground is quite solid, it is more level a bit further along...
However a timely reminder before we get too full of ourselves: check out the ground before trying drying!

New fridge kit

What's more, a new isotherm fridge kit installed in cool box, tested and working.

A cool beer anyone....

Celebration

I am pleased to note that the replacement sanitary pump has been successfully installed and tested. A short opening ceremony will be held shortly.

A mercifully easy job for once.