These pages will be updated on an almost daily, certainly on a weekly basis, from all the mail and information coming in to us.

from Jan 2010

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Click here to read the 2009 News Pages

Scroll down slightly for the latest Stoppress news.....

2010.  Discount Marclear antifouling For Sale.

Members prices........ Still at  last years prices... for now....

 I have again been  offered a great deal  on Marclear, for High Strength Work Boat Red Antifouling.  The same price as last year...  Bear in mind this is 45% copper and the price of copper  rose  300%!  I think we have a bargain especially as the stuff really works!  Prices for 2010 are at the moment the same, but there is a chance the price may rise, so if interested, get in quick....

I hope to be able to sell it at £55.00 again for 2.5 litres, instead of the R.R.P. of £107.00!  This will include a donation of £2.50 to the EOG for every can!  

The  other colours are available but are dearer at £75.00 with the same £2.50 in that to the EOG.  (These brighter colours are OK but the copper strength is  very slightly less than the Workboat Red, which is why that is so good!)

There is now also a white available at £80.00 for 2.5 litres.

(The colours cost more because the pigment needed to change the colour from the natural copper to whichever colour you chose...)

Thinners for wiping down, cleaning up or thinning 10% if it is really warm, (wish), £5.50  for a litre can.

There is also a primer in 2.5 litre cans, for covering old antifouling that may be flaking, unstable or not copper-based.  £40.00

Also will have to be picked up from me in Essex, or carriage free if you want to order  4 cans, ( over £200 worth)  to be sent to you up country!   (Get together with a mate!)

For more details contact me on 01621 778859 

 This year I will again be accepting payment

via the  SOS PayPal account.

Contact me via this site  enquiries@eventides.org.uk and I will send details.

 John

Marclear have a web site up and running now, click here,  Marclear  to see the other colours.

Sunday 7th March 2010.

After a warm sunny day yesterday the easterlies have dropped the temp here today.  It is barely 2 degrees with the wind-chill making it minus 5 Celsius!  I  was going out boating, in the lad's new powerboat, a 27ft Jeanneau, but it is just too cold, till he gets the heater fitted! NE 4 or 5 in the forecast not good.  That will have most east coast sailors battening hatches and stoking up the bogey stoves!

Spoke to Blackwater Plastics yesterday who seem to think it will be no problem to shorten my battery box!  That is good, for at the end of this year I have to have a survey, and battery boxes and hold down straps are required these days!  Am also re rigging with all 6mm wire, OK a bit overkill, 5mm will do, but the 6mm came in at the right price and in fact most of F.G.'s standing rigging has been 6mm for  19 years and on being checked every year, looks as good as day one!  The secret here is to store the mast  and rigging down for the  winter, thus reducing the fatiguing caused by winter gales and vibration.

No more joiners in the last 3 days, which is unusual, but john the database manager has seen 4 Eventides for sale on boats and outboards.  The sad 'Figaro' now for £200 and the 'repaired' 'Galliard' in Suffolk , not for the ridiculous 25k anymore, but swap for canal boat...  'Misty' looks great and is for sale at the same price as before, just under 5k, maybe a trifle high, who knows...  The last a 26 in Essex, looks strangely familiar, could it be 'Marianne'?.    Guess this must be a sign of Spring!

Had a mail from the new owner of 'Ramiollies' who is coming down to Essex to sail her for a week starting 21st March.  We are hoping he will drop in on the annual Meeting....

2 Weeks to Annual Meeting, I will send a mail out to regulars this week as a reminder, but anyone wanting to know more, contact us at the mail address, or on 01621 778859.

I have just had my insurance renewal through from Craft Insure, see the foot of the home page.... 

To my surprise the premium was lower again, £120 for £20k cover.  Not bad, you should try them!  OK so I am a Yachtmaster and keep her in a safe place, but I bet others have similar circumstances.

Which reminds me, we have a seamanship trophy, the 'Barry Sturrock  Seamanship Award' and I have not had any suggestions for recipient this year...  know anyone who has exhibited good seamanship?   Would be nice to be able to present the prize.

I have just added a price reduction to the 'for Sale' page for the the Eventide Nik'su, she is in Canada.

Enough for now, off down to run up the motors on the 'MV Karená' and have a jar in the club at Bradwell!

John

Wednesday 4th March 2010.

Well it is certainly getting warmer, by day anyway!   Down to 1 degree above now, just after dark...  I have spent a few hours on board 'Fiddler's Green' and am trying to fit the new batteries I bought recently.  I sized the batteries on the available space, but forgot to allow for the battery boxes...  Duhh...  As a result I am considering cutting one box in half to shorten it, or hoping I can, will see if Blackwater Plastics can glue this sort of plastic, or do I have to make a new battery box!  My engine start battery will not fit at any price, but, just aft of it is an empty space, behind a bulkhead.  I have been wondering what to put in there for 20 years!!   OK, it is now being converted to new 'start battery' space.  Isn't it amazing how one little job leads to seven more!

Sold the first cans of antifouling yesterday, reminder if you want some, get in touch, £2.50 from every can goes to funds....

In the last week we have welcomed three more to our group, David Bewick in Devon about to build a Senior, Trevor Smith in Queensland contemplating the purchase of a MG there, and David Frewin from Colchester with the Eventide 24 'Jacey' ashore and being worked on in Walton on Naze..  Welcome all.

Popped in to see a local marine engineer today on my travels and it reminded me to sort out all the parts I need for my service...  filters, oil and the engine anode...

I like to warm the motor up before I change my oil, I now have a special poly 5 gallon Jerry can, with a hose fitting in the bottom and hose from there to the inlet cock.  The can has a hole cut in the side near the top and it hangs on the transom so the exhaust water spurts back into the can...  I can run the motor for 30 minutes before the water in the can gets too warm.  Then I can change the oil, (including the 1/3rd pint in the Hurth box).  Fit all new  filters and oils, then refill with cold to run the motor up again. 

First job is to get the batteries back on board though!

Another reminder that the  Annual Meeting is coming up, just over 2 weeks on the 21st at Bradwell.

Sending out another CD of drawings and a burgee tomorrow to the new owner of 'Athaena'.  Had another couple of enquires for CD's, so expect them through soon.

I am totting up the CD's to see what we have sold, bet the Senior comes out top this year.. all will be revealed at Bradwell.....

This year has been one of the busiest for my Seagull business  for some time, so apologise if I do not instantly respond to mails, not enough hours in the day..

Time top go and put my feet up for the evening, if the phone will stop ringing!

Cheers,

John

Sunday 28th February 2010.

Last day of February..  St. David's day tomorrow!  Signs of spring in the garden..  Catkins are out and we have had a white flourish of snowdrops for over a fortnight now and the first narcissi are showing..  With all the rain we have had over the past couple of days they need good roots to prevent them being washed away!

At least it is warmer.  I managed to get down to F.G. and take the first of the new batteries on board. One new battery box fits a treat, the other is an inch too long, rats.  The auxiliary battery fits very nicely without the extra box though.. Might try an get a rough open topped box made locally, same chap who made our new water tank for up forward...  I have refitted that, just need to secure the bunk base down over it, new, longer screws needed.  Sent my newly acquired X-Alt alternator controller off to the makers for a check out and up date.  Nice to speak to a company that know what they are about and can deal with the public!  I will be buying a new 3 way splitter, an X-Split, from them to replace the diode splitter that has been in use till now.  Still works fine, actually it is 2 x 2 way splitters so 4 way in all.  But unless you have an alternator controller that can cope with the 0.8 volt drop, it is no use, as the voltage drop will not allow batteries to fast charge to full.  doubtless there will be someone who can use them....

I have to glue a new bit of wood into the cockpit locker drain system, so a little warmer please, just for the epoxy to set!

Brendan has been busy with me guiding me through ways of doing things on the site, to make it easier. he is a clever chap.

Don't forget, if you are looking for an item and want to search eBay, use the link page from the home page of our site and just alter the default 'Maurice Griffiths' to whatever you want. 

New eBay Search page!

Click here to go to it....

I found a pair of new stainless bolts for my bobstay fitting, (above the waterline so OK to use s/s).  So cheap it was silly.  I could not find them at any chandlers the length I needed..  a lot of stem post, 150mm thick!  Also bought a new mic for the computer, £3.00 inc P&P!  Add to that eBay donate our webmaster a few pence as well..  what a great way of saying thank you for all he does, for free!

Ken in South Africa has just sent a donation for the building drawings of the Eventide, although he was thinking of building in steel, he is a carpenter and has all the machinery to help him build a conventional ply eventide, so think that is the way he will do, will let you all know when we hear he is up to his knees in shavings!

Had an update from Owain in Wales, he has sailed 'Jua' round to her new berth in Wales, Port Dinorwig.  Hope to hear more from him with logs of the trip and pics....

Heard today from Alberto in Spain, restoring an Eventide 26.  bit of a language barrier here, but 'Babelfish' helps!

Christian who has bought 'Athaena',  has been in touch, he is after a CD of Eventide drawings and a burgee, so we expect the cheque soon.

Just sent a burgee out to one member for a birthday present, expect to hear back from them soon...

Brian tells me he has almost done the accounts, and we have made a very slight profit, even after paying out for the website and the uninterruptible computer power supply.  so that is good.  We will hear more at the Annual Meeting. 21st March at Bradwell don't forget!

Have to let Brian know we need a royalty cheque for Colin Faggetter!  Sold a set of drawings for one of his designs this year....

Lastly we had an enquiry about drawings for the Nick Skeet's 'Wylo' design.  I passed him on to P.B.O., but does anyone out there have an idea where you could get hold of these?

All for now, will be busy from now on.  Fitting out time always comes with a rush doesn't it!

John

Thursday 25th February 2010.

At Danbury last night, 11 attended and tested the new 'Bistro' facilities of the Bell.  While the food was good, it took a long time to get to us, groups may be a problem, so we voted to return to the more casual surroundings of the bar downstairs for next time!  We were pleased to welcome 3 new faces, Hilary, Phil and Jackie, with the Eventide 'Serenity'...  Turns out they are quite intrepid sailors, chartering larger boats as well as having owned larger ones.  The conversation round the table was interesting and diverse, hope to maybe see them at meetings later and on the water...

With the weather warming up slightly for a few days thoughts of summer cruises are forefront in the minds of several of us as we prepare boats for the forthcoming trips.  Hope  you are finding time to get all the jobs done, I am till claiming someone has pinched a few hours out of every day!

Off to the workshop now,  I have a Seagull to build for shipping to Bermuda for the annual round the island race!  Talking Seagulls I am also organising a 'Flocking of Seagulls' on 15th May at North Fambridge, midday, for a 2 hour trip up to Battlesbridge and back..  You will be able to trace our progress by the plume of blue smoke!  Fancy joining in?  All good, clean (ish) nostalgic fun!

Just added another 2 friends to the membership, welcome to Neville in Swindon building a 19ft Yawl, with a view to building something larger from your stable later maybe!  And to Ken in south Africa who was impressed by the Steel Eventide 'Java Moon' and is interested in building in steel himself. Welcome both!

John

Would you like to take part in a liveaboard study!

Click the pdf file below to see the form.

we have been asked by a student in Belgium, who is making a social study...

Study about the personality.pdf (420Kb)

Monday 22nd February 2010.

Hello snow, you're back again then!  Wonder when this weather is going to relent....  Just too darned cold to work on boats outside...  Even my one, though under a lean-to cover is not appealing as a work place at the moment!  Just keep gathering spares and parts ready for the day, next Thursday I'm told!

Reminder.......  This Wednesday at Danbury.  We will be trying the new upstairs Bistro so we definitely need you to phone in and book if you are coming....   01621 778859.

We had a request for one of our burgees from a 'burgee collector'  this was a little out of the ordinary but the steering group decided that if he would like to join up as a friend we could send him one.  I am delighted to welcome Wim from Belgium then, he sails a dinghy at the moment, but would love to build his own cruiser later.  His burgee is on it's way.

Had a nice mail in from a chap in Australia who was scouring the web looking for a steel eventide, after seeing 'Java Moon' some time back. He liked the no nonsense approach of the design and the strength of steel no doubt.  He was pleased to find the CD of drawings was so readily available...

Have not heard from anyone as yet who has tried the prop sizing calculator.....?

Is there anyone out there with an Atlantic clipper or Barbican who can answer queries?  We have had Dave with 'Louan' request information, but as yet have found no one to respond....

The Forum..  when was the last time you had a look?  Forum.htm  Seems there are a few of you using it, but there appears to be be a few owners looking for information and advice, that are waiting a long time for a response.   I know, if they have a real problem the quick way if to mail us direct or look on the advisors page, but I was surprised to see threads months old with no response.  sadly I do not have the time to look every day, and though Chris in Holland seems to answer a lot, there are few others chipping in, is it to difficult to get on or something?  Please let us know.

Time to go out and brave the elements, parcels to post!

John

Thursday 18th February 2010

Propeller Calculation Tables!

We are often asked about figuring out prop sizes for our boats and though there were tables published in various magazines and books they are not readily to hand.

However Brian Daramain in Malta has found this.

prop size calculator

Click on this to get the download.

You need to down load this little program, suggest you save it to your desktop, then run it.  It will create a program in your Program folders called  'PropCalc.  I made a shortcut and pasted it onto my desktop for convienience...

Running the little program you simply open the prop calculator then enter the waterline length, the approx weight of your boat and the engine hp speed reduction ratio etc. It  calculates what size  prop you need and figures out what speed you will attain too.

(With props if you need to  add an inch to the  diameter you have to take  an inch off the pitch and vice versa.)

Very clever.

Thanks to Brian in Malta for this.  works for me, I ran it to see if the prop I have is correct, it is, and what speed it thought I could do, spot on 6 knots!

Welcome to another new member, Guus in the Netherlands with a very smart steel Eventide, a Kesteloo by the looks of her.  pics to go on the Gallery soon, just awaiting the boats name....

All for now,

John

Wednesday 17th February 2010.

Quick reminder that it is time to update charts.  I have just gone to our links page and the Admiralty link there, for chart corrections and downloaded 40 pages of chart corrections for the two folios I carry for the Essex coast and Thames Estuary.   (5607 and 5606).  I tend to ignore depth changes were the depth varies from say 7.4 to 6.9 metres and any depth changed over 10m, but in amongst the many pages I have down loaded there are many easy 'paste on' overlays, makes chart correction so easy.  A tip for those who have not done this before, start with the most recent notice alteration, that way you won't get caught out when they have moved a buoy 5 times before....!  Been there, makes a real mess of the chart!

Here is a direct link to the Admiralty page, pic the chart series you have and the folio number and download the pdf file.  could not be easier. 

http://www.admiraltyleisure.co.uk/

Full marks to the Admiralty for this service.

John

Tuesday 16th February 2010.

Well the weather has not got a lot better has it!  Cold and wet with more to come..  Well I'm still collecting bits and preparing them for installation.

Sad news today, Mailspeed Marine down in Burnham on Crouch has shut...  Do not know if the company has stopped trading on line as well.  Great place to get a bargain I found..  This now leaves one tiny chandlery and the larger 'Maldon Chandlery' chain...  At least I know the manageress there and she is prepared to haggle!  Times are hard you know!

I thought we were beginning to climb out of this depression, certainly my little Seagull business has been very busy, but when you hear of big companies like Mailspeed having trouble, allied to the stories from around the boatyards of people abandoning wooden boats, it does not bode well....  I wonder if the day of the DIY boat is going to make a return....

Heard from the ex owner of a GH the other day, he found the site by surfing and was impressed.  He hopes to send us pictures and details of his GH, as he recalls it was actually longer than the normal 31...  Look forward to see details of her.  'Gruinard' was her name!  where is she now?

Another GH owner, Brian in Malta, has identified one of the GH's on the page that was marked as U/K.  thanks Brian.  He has also been busy with his GH 'Cricket',  installed a 38HP Lomatech engine which he bought from China. So if you know of someone who needs a two cylinder Lister 21HP complete with gearbox let him know.  He has added a bathing platform, she is getting a new livery.  He has discarded the old paraffin stove and replaced it with a modern one with four burners and an oven.  Also replaced the old manual anchor winch with a friendlier electric winch. She has been completely rewired and all interior lighting upgraded.  Installed an inverter (300 watts) and a portable 2KVA generator.  Put in a battery isolating diode so that both batteries can be charged from the alternator.  The final stage is to get the interior sanded down and re-varnished. Busy Bee!

Couple of reminders..  We are at Danbury next week, 24th and will be sampling the new Bistro upstairs, we already have a possible 11 attending but will need to have definite numbers before the day....  01621 778859. 

The Annual Meeting comes up  in a months time,

Sunday  March 21st at 12 noon.

Bradwell Marina Bar dining room.

No need to book for this one, we have the dining room and the full bar menu for lunches, the bar will be open too.  See the  events page for more.  This is the chance for members to have their say.  anyone wishing to put themselves forward as steering group members, now is your chance.....  Hear about the accounts from our Fund Manager Brian, about the Data base from John Stevens and the Website from Brendan.  We will try to answer any queries.  If you cannot attend but have a question, send it in and it will be read out.

Time to get the charts out and go through the notices to Mariners, there is a new wind farm I can see from my window here, that does not appear on mine!  Got to get all ready for the trip to Kent, all 6 crew signed up for that one, what about sailing in company with us,  Monday May 3rd from the Blackwater to the Swale and return by Thursday, we hope..  Bet that will be polling day too!

John

Wednesday 10th February 2010.

Well the snow is back, albeit a thin layer and it is melting...  but all thoughts of nipping down the boat to do a quick job have evaporated!  Too darn cold!

Instead I have turned my attention to the website again.  I have been made aware of a couple of pics not working on the Barbican/Atlantic Clipper page, and am searching for the original pics to repair the page.  If you see a link or picture not working please let us know...  We care, that is what sets us apart!

Welcome to another new member, a 'Friend' for now, Kyle from Holyhead is contemplating purchase of one of our designs.

John Stevens has found a steel 'Eventide' for sale on the net, I will add a pic.  I put it in inverted commas, for, as well as being 28ft, (OK I am guilty of making boats longer!), she does not have the standard 'raised topsides' profile of an Eventide, so it is hard to see she is one.  Certainly the underwater lines look familiar, but I am always always amazed at the alterations some make to the design, yet still want to call it that design??  To me she looks like a Waterwitch that shrank!  What do you think?

We have been contacted by an Atlantic Clipper owner, who is trying to contact other owners, we are trying to unearth owners mail addresses to pass on this request.  however we are having problems.

Have you changed your mail provider?  If you have Please fill in the enrolment form again with a note about the changes....

We have been contacted by Simon in the Cardiff area, he says there are 4 Eventides there and wonders about a get together!  Why not?  I opened an old navigators rough book and turned up details of a meet I organised 20 years ago.  18 boats were listed as attending!  Wow they were the heydays.  Sadly I cannot see that sort of number attending again, but then there are certainly that number and more as members on the Essex coast....

I am trying to organise a trip to Kent this spring, with the Brian fund manager in his boat. As crew John the database manager and Brendan the webmaster.  The aim, to recover John Steven's newly acquired Eventide, 'Glasstide' to Essex.  'Glasstide' is an unusual Eventide 26, she is GRP.  Made as one of a pair in Leigh on Sea, then the mould was either lost or sold, not sure which.  certainly I have never found another, and there should be at least one other out there, anyone know it?

Well the sun has come out and I am off to the village, on foot, but the radio has just warned of 4" of snow on the way for Kent and East Sussex..  Which will probably get to Essex.  What fun!  Get the snow boots out again!

John

Friday 5th February 2010.

Heard from the new owners of 'Serenity' last night, they will be coming along to Danbury at the end of the month...  waiting for the enrolment form to come through. 

Our Webmaster Brendan has spent hours checking on the EOG machine, from a distance....  we use a program called 'Crossloop', with that and with Skype on at the same time he can talk me through things and take over and do extremely clever stuff as well!

As the sun was seen, briefly, the other day I have started to try and organise more fittings and fixtures to put back aboard.  Spent an hour or so rummaging my bits box to come up with the correct water tank fittings to match my existing plumbing with the new 1/2" BSP tank fittings, that was lucky...  Will take it down and make sure it fits!

Thought I had found a new replacement VDO log head, but what I thought was a 3 figure product code was claimed as the price, no thanks I'll wait another year and fit Nasa!  They are down to £99 for log and same for echo sounder....be giving them away with corn flakes by next year.. john the eternal optimist!

We have had a nice donation from Jonathon and Jane Snodgrass, for selling their trailer, many thanks!

Enough for now,

John

Wednesday 3rd February 2010.

Good news and bad news this week. 

Bad news first.  the WW 'Dougaljo' has again been damaged in Bradwell Marina.  This time the marina staff have put their hands up to the damage, claiming the launch got a fouled screw as 'Dougaljo' was being moved back to her berth, but by all accounts the damage is identical to that sustained when on the top of the tide she caught up on the pole in her berth.... strange it was an extra high tide today as well.... However the damage was done it means she will be out of action for part of the season, which is ironic as Doug had kept her afloat to have an early start after last years lay up....   We will miss him and hope the marina are embarrassed enough to get the repairs done in very short order....

The good news...  we had a donation for a CD of the Senior drawings today from Alan Stacey, on behalf of the new owner of 'Piskie'. They picked her up from Tollesbury last week.

'Piskie' belonged to John Stevens and to his father before that, but after a prolonged lay up she was needing more TLC than John had time to give her, so she has gone to a good home.  Hope to have updates on the restoration and see her on the Blackwater soon!  John of course has bought the GRP Eventide 26 'Glasstide' and after fitting out she will join the fleet on the Blackwater! 

Taken away piggy backed on another trailer, the new owner will soon have all the drawings on CD to browse as he restores her.  In the post in the morning Alan!

Now john has just to sell or pass on his other Eventide, the wooden 26ft 'Seawitch' needing a loving home, also at Tollesbury at present...   any offers?  See the For Sale page....

Other good news, another enrolment, the Good Hope Class boat, 'John Barleycorn', love the name!  In the folk tradition!  She hails from Western Australia but the owner may well have plans to bring her back to the UK!  Watch this space.  I will be adding some great pics to the MG designs page shortly!

Today more good news, the sun shone!  Time to start sorting out those job lists and rolling the sleeves up....

John

Sunday 31st January 2010.

Date for Annual Meeting!

Sunday  March 21st at 12 noon.

Bradwell Marina Bar dining room.

hot meals/sandwiches etc available, and Bar open.

I thought this was going to be the equinox, but by a trick of the calendars the Spring equinox is the day before this year!  Anyway we have the dining room area of the Bradwell Marina Club again, courtesy of Mick and Anita.  As ever the full menu is on.  As usual the meeting will be kept as short as possible. 

Anyone with any news of members who may have undertaken a Seaman-like task afloat over the past year who you think may be eligible for the Seamanship trophy please contact us via the normal e-mail.

I will hope to Have Harwich and Ramsgate guides available as normal too.  Hope to visit both this year! 

Quiet on the enrolment front for the past few days, but I did hear from one member today that he has sold his trailer as a result of the advert page and is sending a donation, thank you Jonathon!

With the cold weather back again, and other reminder to check those covers and be careful getting on board!

John

Friday 29th January 2010.

An apology, ignore date for annual meeting, new date will be confirmed shortly, but will not be the 27th..  I am informed I am being taken to see 'River Dance'! I will pop into see Mike at the Bradwell Marina at the weekend and have a new date up on the Events page and here shortly.  We did try to keep it late in March or early in April, to miss any chance of bad weather.....  As it is snowing again today... a wise move.   OK we also have to miss Easter....  Will see what we can do.

Danbury this month had just 6 attending, but, we were able to see the new 'Bistro' upstairs and very nice it is too, so February we will give that a try!   The Bell is really coming up market.

I have spent some time today updating another page of the latest Newsletter.  I added a section about the summer sailing some of us did.  If you read it and recognise the Eventide and crew I spoke to, and know them please apologise, I have mislaid the bit of paper with their details on and have forgotten the name of the boat and crew!  Most unlike me.  they are members.... Opps.

The Senior 'Piskie' has gone to a new home, hope the new owner enrols, the database manager has his details of course, it's just that I don't, yet.  John is pulling out the stops to catch up with the database and when he does Brendan and I will add a whole new chapter to the Map of members, it is so out of date.

I have added a boat to the 'for Sale' page, the Eventide 26 Dido.  Looks a nice prospect for some new owner...  Look also at Seawitch, she is looking for anew home, quickly.  I suspect if a home has not been found for her in the next month or two the digger bucket and chainsaw will be out!  Now that would be a shame.

At Danbury Wednesday I mentioned the snippet I had written about battery charging. Brian and Doug both had redundant alternator controllers, so I think I am off to Frinton to see Brian and Mavis and pick one up!

I have also been sorting through piles of paperwork and have a host of articles to scan and save for the next newsletter, and a log has come in!  Well done!  I do like editing the Newsletter this way, you can add a page or edit it at any time, so just because I publish it does not mean it will not be added to later...  so go back and see if I have added a bit to a page you were reading....

24th January 2010.

Well it is 8 years since events caused the EOG to form, and we are still attracting new members, to the tune of 900 odd now.  Long may it continue!

This last week has been a little quiet on the enrolment front, after the two Raymond's...  I have had a couple of telephone calls however.  Seems that Piskie the Senior offered on the site is going to a new home.  A dinghy cruising man, in the wake of the Wayfarer couple, the Dyers, is having her, seems an open boat is not great for over nighting in the rain!  A little Senior will be far better.  we look forward to hearing from the new owner shortly, with pics of the rebuild... 

The evenings are staying lighter now but it is still cold out there.  Fitting out time will come round quickly so I, like everyone else I suspect, am trying to get all the bits I need early so as soon as it is warm enough, I can get on.

Have not had the load of logs and pics from you Antipodean sailors?  Why not?  Can't believe you are shy.  Understood the summer has been a good one in the south, so where are all the pics?

Brendan stayed with me 5 days last week to restore my SOS machine and 'service' the EOG one.  The EOG machine is working like a dream, doing the back ups and saves automatically again.  Well done Brendan. Reminder to anyone using or contemplating using eBay to buy anything, use our page,  Click here to go there  Brendan will get a little thank you if you do.

Whilst Brendan was with me he helped me fit the other new wheel and jockey wheel etc I bought using this page, to the trailer I am rebuilding.  All fits like a glove!  Devon here we come. Got to get my daughters boat into storage for a year.  she and hubby Dave are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as I type, taking groups of climbers on charity walks.  They have several climbs back to back, then they are off across the Sahara.  Because of all this, and the rest of the treks they are doing in 2010 they are too busy this year to use her, so a lay up is in order. Shame, I liked to sail her when we visited Brixham!  Still it will provide opportunity to do a few little jobs on her, if they can find time...

Dropped in to visit friend Doug last week, as he was with me, Brendan managed to fix a few computer problems there too.  Got a chance to see Doug's workshop, wow, there are many professional carpenters who are not as well equipped.  No wonder he turns out such good quality work!

Did you go to the Boat Show?  I did not bother and I only know of one close friend who was going to.  Has this show lost it's appeal to normal cruising boat owners?  Sadly I came to that conclusion many years ago.  If you went and found it of interest would be interested to know.  Over the years we have picked up on various things in the boating world that have sparked interest, and that many of us have bought and found to work, the 'Stripper' rope cutter, the 'Speedseal' pump cover etc.

I sadly had a bad experience with Sterling alternator controller's owner when I bought  a new Sterling alternator controller, had to take it back to my supplier as the installation information was terrible, all the wrong information and drawings on the instructions, it was near impossible to get sense out of the company.  No customer support.  Since heard from others the same story..  so still looking for a good alternator controller. 

Have you got an X-Alt or a Kestrel?  Would like to hear.  Had an 'Adverc' years ago, 'failed dangerous' and boiled my batteries...  not good. Any such device should always 'fail safe'...  Bet the Sterling product is good, but if no sensible support it's not worth a biscuit, what you you do to charge batteries faster?

I have investigated this problem for years and found various solutions.  The solar panel on my spray hood seems to work well, but when on board I would like to be able to rapidly recharge... We tend to do a little motoring sometimes, but most times want to sail.. Suggestions?  LED lights maybe?

OK enough rambling for now,

Happy 8th birthday EOG

John

20th January 2010.

Had all sorts of fun here over the last week.  Our Webmaster, Brendan, has been here with us servicing the EOG machine and repairing my SOS one.  The EOG machine, I am pleased to say, is performing well, doing all we ask of it and more.  The data is stored in a special way to protect it and backed up as well.  In addition the website is saved on  other machines and periodically to DVD, belts braces bits of string, and then some.  Thanks Brendan.

Yesterday we had the first indication of how much the new eBay page may make, over the 2 months since we started, over £50.00, which I am donating to Brendan as a small token of gratitude for all the expert work he does.

If you have not already tried the eBay page, take 3 minutes to look.  Click here to go there  The query line can be altered to anything you wish, we just put  'Maurice Griffiths' on there as a starter.   Last week I entered 'trailer wheel', and bought a pair of stunning new wheels and tyres for a trailer I am building for my daughter.   I fitted them yesterday, they arrived in 2 days!  Cost was half I had been quoted elsewhere and these are 8 ply instead of the more normal 4 ply tyres.  Cost £90.00. Bonus was £4.50 donated back by eBay to our webmasters fund!!  So it costs the buyer not a penny and our webmaster gets a thank you.  Great deal I say! 

We are just waiting for the person who is going to buy the £5,000 boat now, using the page!

Welcome this week to 2 more members, Raymond in Australia as a 'Friend' and to Reimond in Belgium with the GH 26, 'Billy Can'! 

Picked up my swish new water tank this week, now waiting to find time to get down and fit it and connect all the plumbing back up!

Enough for now,

Back soon.

John

15th January 2010.

At last the cold snap has released us and the white stuff has all but gone...  OK nice to have a real winter and prove the cottage is well insulated and warm, but time for a little bit of warmer stuff.

Today I picked up my new water tank, one of three on board, (total 25 gallons), made to replace the bow tank that has had an annoying pin hole leak for some time.  When I'm sure I have no more need of it I will offer it to anyone who wants it for a £5.00 donation to the site.  If you think you can seal it well, it fits under the forward bunk of our boat, just aft of the samson post and it  boat shaped for an Eventide, to fit right across and neatly into that area.  Very odd shape!

I have had some interesting e mails over the last month or two from a Swin owner in Australia.  Wayne had send details of his boat, 'Moonraker' in and I have added it to the Newsletter.  Imagine my surprise to receive another enquiry from a member we had lost touch with, Bruce Micklewright.  His Swin has been under restoration for some time.  He had tried in vain to obtain information from 'other' sources, but not only could I tell him a little but put Bruce and Wayne in contact.  Pleased to be able to do that.  'Corridon' the Swin in the Netherlands also came up in conversation, and I have a few nice pics of her to add now..  all we need it the owner.

Not many realise that this design was a collaboration between M.G. and Alan Buchanan.  The result is the pretty Swin design.  Oh how I wish we still had the drawings of her! Talking of drawings we are trying to obtain the drawings of yet another MG boat, and out of the blue I had a set of Alan Buchanan drawings appear too.  More on those later, a 25ft round bilge boat.

We are still having people join us, and one this week is the owners of a very well travelled GH 31, Brian and Joyce.  Brian has offered to send in a few edited logs, with some pictures, for forthcoming Newsletters.  'Tusk' the GH 31 has circumnavigated the UK, a trip I would sorely like to make.. there is still time!  Now cruising in Greek waters, lucky them!  Hope to see pics on the Gallery soon.

I am at the moment searching for parts for a trailer I am doing up, a 2 wheel, 30cwt job that I'm taking down to the west Country this spring for my daughter's 18ft boat, the 'Foxcub'. Whilst weighing slightly less at 15 cwt, the trailer is ideal.  however it needed a few bits and I am amazed how easily and cheaply I have acquired the parts needed, using our eBay link.  Give it a try if you need anything....  Don't forget eBay will also donate a penny or two to our hard working webmaster!

Talking of Brendan, I am hopefully off to pick him up tomorrow morning.  I say hopefully, as the boss is out in the car and the fog has come down, she may, sensibly, opt to stay put at her daughters if it is thick..  Brendan is coming over to do some maintenance on both my home/work PC and the EOG PC.  We are really lucky to have him on board.

This web site has become the focal point for so many hundreds of owners now, well done Brendan!

Back to the note books to figure out what other jobs I can do prior to fitting out! More power to the elbow all of you like me, fitting out.

John

13th January 2010.

Braved the elements and visited the marina last night..  waited till later as the tide would be up and the brow (walkway) would not be as such a steep angle, as it was below freezing.  Marina had treated the paths so it was not too bad.  Still an inch of frozen snow laid on all the boats.  Checked a few mooring lines and made sure boats were secure and floating OK.  No attempts made to clamber over them though, too dicey!  Checked yours out?  Salt water is good for melting snow on deck!

I have to pop down to mine in the barn and blow the dust off!

Spent some time yesterday updating the Newsletter, that is the joy of an on line one, you can add to it!  With a paper edition once it has gone out, that's it.  Not here!  Going to add a few more sailing pics from last season to it as well. Still room for your log or pics.....

Also managed to rectify the font problem on this page, we are now back to the normal uniform one we use...

We are trying to trace other MG drawings that otherwise may be lost forever. If you have a set or part of a set of old MG or Buchanon  drawings that we can scan and preserve electronically, do get in touch, we can always send the drawings back.  Over the years we have saved a few sets from loss and have sent copies to the maritime museums so they will always be available. Sad to lose them, not that many are likely to be building, but some may be restoring...

I have used the new eBay pages a lot recently, not just to buy MG books, which I have, but when searching for other items.  recently I needed some magnetic burglar alarm contacts, a camping stove, pipe and clips, pair of rowlocks, captive ones, camera case, camera filter, Carbon Monoxide alarm, pond pump, even collar tags for the kittens, (engraved).  I have found them all via our page and cheaper than anywhere else, delivered to my door.

I hope others will take advantage of this, as for every item purchased, eBay donate a few pence, or in the case of the camping stove I bought over £1.00, to our webmasters boating fund!  And it costs us not a penny!  You just have to remember to search using our page, alter the query from 'Maurice Griffiths' to whatever you are looking for.

I have just heard that airports across the south and west have once again ground to a halt with the snow, and the roads in London have had snow settle for the first time this winter?  I thought parts of London got a dowsing a week back, many out lying parts did.  Maybe they just mean the city.   And we have run out of salt in parts of the country,  offices and schools closed yet again, what a shambles.

It's a good job Eventiders are made of stronger stuff, we do not give in so easily at the first hurdle.  If we did many of us would never have got afloat!

Roll on spring,

John

Below is a mail from our group insurers, Craftinsure.

Good advice for free here!

John

11th January 2010.

Today I have welcomed yet another prospective builder, maybe Brendan from Germany will be applying for a CD shortly.

The snow has at last begun to melt and I must get over to pick up my new water tank.  Our lane has been cleared of snow, amazingly we had a snow plough, followed by 2 gritter lorries 30 minutes apart.  We have never ever seen one before...  As we are at the back of nowhere, and even the council could not think what to put on the fingerpost at the end of our lane and opted for 'to the marshes' as there is nowhere else it goes, we are gob smacked to get such lavish attention.   So if your council runs out of grit it's all down our lane!

Spent some time today editing the Links page and adding  a couple of new ones.  also edited out any that no longer worked, but there are a couple that go to sites under maintenance..  I have left them just in case.

I have added our 59th GH to the Gallery, we are getting more and more GH owners join!  Maybe we  will actually get some meets off the ground as well this year!

As I now can get out of the road easily must get down the marina, but not in my van, far too much salt down our lane!

John

10th January 2010.

The snow is still thick on the ground (well 6" is thick for here!) and our lane is only really passable on foot or by 4x4, so we are staying put!

In the past few days I have parcelled up and posted another 6 CDs!  I have also welcomed more members, Ben  Mundy from Devon who is interested in purchasing a Senior and Robie Robinson in Texas who is contemplating building, welcome both.

I have just heard my new water tank is ready for collection and will be hoping to pick that up from the local 'Blackwater Plastics' next week.  Should cure that blessed wet bilge!

I spent some time last week adding names to the donations page, we had so many I was slipping behind!

Today have had a nice pic of a GH, 'Adriene', that the owner spent some time restoring down in Kent.  The pic was taken last year on the Blackwater, sorry I missed the opportunity to get pics of her under sail!

The owner is looking to transport her to Scotland, I suggested looking art 'Return loads' on the back of a flat bed lorry, and through the mail comes details of a company offering just that, especially for boat owners.  I will add that to the links page!

It is boat show time, but I just cannot raise any enthusiasm for Excel.  Sorry I liked Earls court.  So I will not be bothering to go, again.  If I was in the market for a new 54 ft whatever maybe I would, because it appears that is about the minimum anyone wants to sell there. 

Had you noticed how the glossy magazines are now all talking of the 'best 32ft starter boats'!  What planet are these people on....?  They seem to hype themselves and the market up to such an extent that the firms and the public  believe them.  To the loss of real companies trying to build or repair/restore real boats at the more usual end of the size range, you know the ones people actually go out and sail...  I sometimes wonder if these magazine people only sail at Cowes week, not in the muddy waters of the east coast rivers, the tiny west country creeks or anywhere else come to that, where the normal common folk like us sail...

Never mind, the fewer boats out there the quieter it is for us, it is just the young are not getting out there anymore in rebuilt Mystics and Bradwell 18's, they are being told the minimum size for a boat is beyond their grasp...  shame.  That's where our Senior and Eventide 24 come in, not to forget the WildDuck and the 3 Tonner, affordable boats all.

Affordable?  I have been having an office clear up and have been filing all the books, leaflets, drawings and sketches I made and used during the build of our Eventide.  I was reading through the accounts I kept...  Rather frightening now!  After about 7 years of building when she was launched she has set me back £12,000, add to that the new diesel 3 years later and I could have bought 2 used Westerly Centaurs!  OK I did not skimp, having rebuilt a 24 I know it was worth buying the best wood and fixings, rather than have to redo it 2 years on, but it was interesting to read.  I also wonder how I had the time and energy!  youth was on my side I guess!

To the builders and the restorers out there, keep at it, the joy of that tiller coming alive in your hand is worth every ounce of effort!

John

January 3rd 2010.

Well the sun is shining and I can see sails out on the Blackwater!  A gentle F3 but only 2 degrees Celsius! Some hardy Essex lads out there!  Me?  I'm mucking out the office, in the warm!

Just added this new page to the site and altered all the links for the Stoppress page where ever I see them, if I've missed one, let me know.

3 minutes later and it's snowing!  Well I have done years of all weather boating, but then it was in a police launch and I was being paid to go out and get cold, so I am staying indoors!  Done that, got the Tee shirt and the long service medal!

Here's looking forward to that BBQ summer those lads at the Met office have predicted again!  They do stick their necks out don't they!  After last years wild and wet days early on and the dry and windy ones later you would think they would know better.

I have just sorted out a few books donated to the EOG and added them to the 'bits for sale page'.  worth a look....

I also sorted out a load of paperwork I savaged from going in the skip 10 years ago when I helped sort out the effects of a member.  I salvaged his boat, which was a very special Senior, with deeper bilge keels.  He sailed it everywhere, up every tiny creek, and kept logs with diagrams and pictures in large scrap books.  sadly his family had already ditched them before I arrived to help.  the boat was to be scrapped too, but I salvaged it and passed it on.  sadly the new owner, who got it for a small donation to the old assoc, bastardised it.  He removed the one thing that made it special, the keels. Never mind, there are some that will not be told...  Fortunately I salvaged his piles of paperwork, adverts and flyers, on all sorts of small boats.  When sorting the other day I found original unmarked leaflets with all details etc of the boat I did up for my daughter and her new husband.  an Uffa Fox 'Foxcub'. I also found adverts for the Harwell built Eventide and Waterwitch, so they will be scanned and added to the gallery pages very soon.

I have had a little computer trouble again, some sort of hiccup with my SOS machine, so I am using the EOG machine to pick up my mail at the moment.  I have a spare machine here and will be getting that up and running and will be donating it to Brendan next week, so he can do all the editing and upgrading to not only my SOS site on it, but the huge EOG site as well.  Brendan has run out of space on his PC, so a machine dedicated to our web sites seems a good idea.  I just have to buy some Ram memory for it to make it 100%.

All for now, back to turning out cupboards!

And a really happy and healthy New year to you all, Good Sailing, fair winds and lee going tides, and may your logs be prolific and well illustrated so we can all read and enjoy them!

John