Dear Joan,

As a fairly new boy, I hesitate to put in my two penn’orth, but for what it’s worth I think that the format of the newsletter is just about right, and I personally would rather see more pages than a flashier cover. A further thought on content, there must be dozens of good practical and cruise articles from some years ago which many newer members have never seen, perhaps one or two could be reprinted in each issue.

I started dinghy sailing again five years ago after a twenty year break and worked my way through an Enterprise, Solo, Scow, and Adventuress before getting my present boat, a Cormorant. DCA member Peter Tillbury took me for a sail in his Cormorant in 1991 — thanks Peter — and I bought my boat, no.20, second-hand last year enjoying a trauma-free season sailing and pottering. Incidentally Peter wrote a good article for his club magazine on the virtues of the Cormorant, which I am sure would he of interest to any prospective owners if you can twist his arm to send it in!

Despite a few creaking joints, I would like to try to spend a night on the boat next season. I wonder if any member has a Cormorant camping cover they would be prepared to hire or loan to me for a week or so next season. If all goes well I will probably buy one. My phone number is 0243 512193.

Finally a technical query. One of the upper strakes of my boat has been hand painted, presumably to cover blemishes, and not very well. Can someone advise me what to use (stripper?) to remove the paint and the best material and technique to use to repaint and hopefully do a better job. The hull is GRP moulded in a wide clinker style. Peter Clifton

Technical Advisor comments: The old paint should be removed using a special stripper devised for GRP. I have used this myself but try a tiny inconspicuous patch first. You may find when exposed that there is little or nothing wrong, and then proprietary gel coat cleaning and polishing compounds are all that are required. Minor damage to the gel coat — scratches, abrasions — can be repaired using materials made by International Paints for example. However the manufacturer of the boat supplies kits for such repairs including instructions. Make sure you quote the colour of the boat when ordering. If you decide to paint the boat, worth avoiding it possible, International Paints give excellent advice based on using their two-part polyurethane paints. If the latter has been used for the bodged job, instead of stripping (ask International) you may have to sand down to a smooth surface before repainting using fine wet and dry paper — be careful not to cut through the gel coat however which is very thin.