Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Practical Boat Owner

with the editor To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, sign up on our website: www.pbo.co.uk By the time this magazine thumps your doormat or adorns the shelf of your local newsagent, Christmas will be over and 2016 will be fast upon us. Faced with the prospect of January and February the natural instinct is to hibernate, but such behaviour, never popular in Protestant northern Europe, has been made utterly unacceptable by the work-hard-play-hard culture thrust upon us by our friends across the pond. They’re right, of course. If we fail to work hard now, play will be delayed come the spring as the boat languishes, awaiting antifouling and the annual sucking of teeth which results in half the jobs planned for the winter being struck off in favour of…

Email pbo@timeinc.com or write to us at the address on page 5. Photos are appreciated, letters may be edited. www.twitter.com/p_b_o www.facebook.com/practicalboatownermag THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT OF TETHERING Keeping an MOB in a known place Re ‘Is it safe to use a tether?’ (on the PBO website at www.pbo.co.uk/seamanship/is-it-safe-touse-a-tether-25125), I have never understood that the point of tethering is a rescue. For us, tethering is about keeping an MOB in a known place. Our procedure is as follows: 1. A tethered person goes overboard. You know where he is. 2. Crew spots the MOB in distress. They throw the lifebelt, danbuoy and so on overboard. 3. They cut the MOB loose (cutting someone loose is a brave thing). You still know where he is: he is beside the safety kit in…

Monthly musings Yacht surveyor and designer Andrew Simpson cruises with his wife Chele in his own-design 11.9m (39ft) yacht Shindig. Read his blog at www.offshore-sailor.com A wise old bird, long departed to that celestial anchorage in the sky, once told me: ‘Cruising under sail isn’t just about sailing. Travelling, certainly, but sailing no’. Naturally I didn’t really believe him. In my late teens I believed it was an inviolable truth that sailing was the ultimate thrill, and those days spent lying inertly to anchor, tethered to a mooring or rafted with other boats to a harbour wall, were essentially wasteful interludes. Not anymore. I’m completely sold on the notion that a cruising sailboat should, at heart, be a vehicle whose primary purpose is to carry its crew from one agreeable…

ENGINE WATER PUMP As engine water pumps age, seals and metal components can wear, especially in silty water, and begin to drip. You can isolate this by placing a bucket or container under the water pump, or try observing it with the engine running. Fixing it is a case of stripping the water pump down and replacing the seals. ENGINE HOSES Most diesel engines have a large water pump which shifts a lot of water around the engine at pressure. A hole in a hose, or a fractured spigot, can make it look like you’ve developed a hull leak when in fact it’s the engine, so it’s important to ascertain whether the leak is still there when the engine isn’t running. DRIPPING STERN GLAND Another common cause of leaks is…

I was as nervous as the next man when it came to leaving upholstery, cushions and curtains aboard Keppel during long, damp UK winters. But then during Keppel’s 10 years wintering in various mainland European locations, I had no alternative but to do so. And when that edgy moment arrived each spring, as the washboards were unlocked after seven long winter months, we were always relieved to find her dry as a bone within. From the first night onwards we slept well in dry sleeping bags on dry berth cushions. But that was ‘there’, then. What about ‘here’, now? Would it be the same after a UK winter? Would ventilation be enough to keep interior furnishings and electrics damp and mould-free? Ventilation alone had always kept my former boat sweet.…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR After 20 years as a yacht broker, Nick Burnham embarked on a marine media career, quickly rising to the position of boat test editor for Motor Boats Monthly. Nick is now a freelance writer and photographer covering all things nautical. To really get under the skin of Finnish boats you need to visit Finland. Largely flat, more undulating than actually hilly, and featureless in a very pretty, rolling field and pine forest kind of way, for miles and miles the only signs of habitation are the occasional attractive wooden house or barn. Traffic is light, but with barely a sign of conurbation it’s hard to know where anyone’s going at all… What is apparent, however, is how many of those houses have a boat in the barn…

I now sail alone after my wife died and have devised ways of getting round the need to do several things at once, such as casting off the bow and stern lines at the same time when moving away from a pontoon. My solution was to delete the bow and stern lines in favour of one midships mooring line that could be remotely released from a pontoon-mounted cleat. Or more accurately, after starting the engine, I rig the single line before casting off the springs, bow and stern lines. This is because while the boat may be held against the pontoon, it is not the best way to moor any boat by a single line for a period of time. The obvious problem of how to detach the temporary mooring…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris Binks has been a keen sailor since Scouting showed him the joy of the water. He has taught sailing in Craobh Haven, the Scillies and Windermere. He sold Impulse when a Hurley 22 came up at a silly price on eBay. Send us your real-life experience – and win a painting of your boat!* This was potentially a dream coming true. I had been looking for a cheap dinghy, but what I had found was so much more exciting. In a poorly-written and badlyphotographed eBay post was a functional mini yacht with anchor, engine, mooring, tender and sails, going for what I was ready to spend on an old Wayfarer. If I entered the right bid within the next two minutes I could end up with…

SEND US YOUR STORIES Email news editor Laura Hodgetts at newspbo@timeinc.com, tel: 01202 440825 News and current affairs from the world of boating Marine police are concerned that privately-owned boats leaving Cherbourg are being targeted by illegal immigrants seeking passage over to the UK. Daily reports indicate that Cherbourg is now being targeted by people seeking passage over to the UK. This follows increased security at Calais, which has prompted many people to look elsewhere in their attempt to cross the Channel. Officers behind Project Kraken say: ‘What is of growing concern to UK interests is the manner in which asylum seekers are being assisted in their passage to our shores.’ Sergeant Damon Kennard from Hampshire Constabulary’s Marine Unit is a keen sailor, and while cruising in the summer visited…

Mad about the boat Dave Selby is the proud owner of a 5.48m (18ft) Sailfish, which he keeps on a swinging mooring on the picturesque Blackwater estuary in Essex I never really understood narrowboaters until I overheard a coven meeting in my local sailing club and discovered that, like us ‘normal’ cruising sailors, they are never so enthusiastic and gleeful as when regaling each other with anecdotes of the mortal dangers of their pastime. Indeed, it’s clear that narrowboating is an extremely hazardous pursuit, not least for the damage it does to your dress sense; basically a composite breathable threelayer permutation of celebrity steam-fiend Fred Dibnah, a poacher from a DH Lawrence novel and a morris dancer. Actually, that apart, we’re frighteningly alike, ‘cos cruising sailors also aspire to look…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Peter K Poland crossed the Atlantic in a 7.6m (25ft) Wind Elf in 1968 and later spent 30 years as co-owner of Hunter Boats. He is now a freelance journalist. I first met Ed Dubois in Southend-on-Sea in 1974. We were both relative nippers and setting forth on new careers – Ed as a boat designer and me as a boatbuilder. He was filling in time working for Yachts and Yachting as a journalist while waiting for a work permit to come through from the USA prior to taking up a job offer at the illustrious Sparkman & Stephens design office. From the word go, Ed aimed for the top. At that time, I was planning a new Hunter model. One option was to go for a…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Electronics engineer Andy Johnson has focused in recent years on teaching RYA courses and own-boat training in navigation, radar, boat electrics and electronic systems. He and wife Sue sail their Moody 31 wherever the weather and time allow. Just about every engine installed in a yacht or power boat has some degree of instrumentation, ranging from the basic rev counter, warning lights and audible alarm (as in this project) to a full suite of dials and displays. Modern chart plotters and marine instruments, in addition to displaying the chart, radar and many other functions, also offer a comprehensive set of data pages to display information for one or more engines, transmissions and electrical systems. Here, we take a Moody 31 and its Volvo Penta 2003 engine and…

Readers’ cruising destinations, near and far We pay for your published cruising stories and harbour updates. Email pbo@timeinc.com or write to the address at the top of page 5 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Phil Johnson is a former BBC and ITV producer/reporter who, with his wife Fiona, spends as much time as he can on their HR34 in the Ionian. They also sail the Broads, and Phil is now an author. It’s hot, and you’ve only got a few weeks to enjoy your boat in the beautiful Greek islands. You’ve been to the shops, unpacked your clothes, planned your route… and, just as a smile fills your face, the engine won’t start, the toilet is blocked or the depth sounder refuses to read. You’ve got just one question… ‘So how quickly…

Send us your local news stories. Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at newspbo@timeinc.com, tel: 01202 440825, or write to the address on page 5 CHANNEL ISLANDS ARC CHANNEL ISLANDS Seventeen places have been snapped up for next summer’s ARC Channel Isles rally – with just 13 remaining. The cruise in company to Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey, and Cherbourg will take place between 20-27 August 2016. It is being run by World Cruising Club (WCC) in association with RYA Active Marina and with the support of Hamble School of Yachting and Practical Boat Owner magazine. Following a welcome supper at Premier Marina in Gosport on 18 August, safety checks and skippers’ briefings, the fleet will set sail for Cherbourg on Saturday 20 August. The rally will include time ashore at all…

Flotsam and jetsam Sam Llewellyn is editor of The Marine Quarterly, www.marinequarterly.com, and author of nautical thrillers. Three years ago he bought a Corribee on eBay The weather is too cold for epoxy to cure, let alone sailing. The mind wandering, I picked up an ancient volume entitled I Sailed with Chinese Pirates. It is set in the 1920s, at a time when the arch-villain Dr Fu Manchu was supposed to be twirling his long moustaches in his lacquer office behind the opium den in the Street of a Thousand Nasal Obstructions. The author, an obvious fantasist, spends plenty of time in fan tan hells and houses of ill fame, trying unsuccessfully to get to know some real pirates. When he does make contact, he finds the quarry nasty, brutish…

If you’re considering an Atlantic crossing, or simply pushing the boundaries of your sailing a bit further next season, you might well be looking for some advice. And while you might strike it lucky in the club bar or on an internet forum, there are few people better placed to advise than those already doing what you hope to achieve. Every November, if you head to Las Palmas you’ll find the largest collection of would-be transatlantic sailors you could ever hope to meet. Some of them are seasoned ocean cruisers; others are crossing the Atlantic for the first time. What they all have in common is that they have decided to do it together as part of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), opting to take advantage of the support…

Cruising Almanac 2016 Compiled by Cruising Association members and edited by John Calver, the CA’s 10th almanac covers the area from the Shetlands in the north round the coasts and islands of Great Britain and Ireland; and on the continent, from Bergen into the approaches to the Baltic and round the coast to Gibraltar. Passage notes are incorporated in the main text. Tide tables for 47 standard ports are included – published in a separate booklet for easier reference. Full tidal details for secondary ports are included in the main almanac. Corrections are published every two months at www.theca.org.uk/almanac/corrections. The almanac costs £25 for Cruising Association members and £35 for non-members, plus £10 postage. However, visitors to the CA stand (B031) at the London Boat Show can avoid postage and…

If there’s one subject guaranteed to divide opinion among cruising sailors, it’s in-mast reefing. Those in favour often wax lyrical about the ease and speed of reefing and un-reefing and how the sail just disappears when you furl it away. There’s no need to leave the cockpit to set sail or to help it down; no flapping Dacron on deck or bundles on the boom. Just release one line and pull another. You have a sail of infinitely variable area that, because it’s rolled from the luff, can quickly be made smaller should the need arise. What’s not to like? Those less enamoured will point out – among other things – that the sail is normally smaller and that the shape is hugely compromised, because an in-mast mainsail has to…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR A recent graduate of geology, 23-year-old Nathaniel Ogden is currently taking time out from university before (possibly) pursuing an MSc in Digital Media. Having raced and instructed in dinghies since his childhood, he is now hoping to take up more ocean sailing. Tired of our usual family summer sailing, my 16-yearold brother Fergus and I had been discussing taking our 1996 Drascombe Lugger Lughnasa on her first proper voyage for some time. An entire circumnavigation of Ireland, however, was a slight escalation of any previous plans. Dad had always insisted on the seaworthiness of our open-decked Lugger, something we rarely put to the test in Baltimore harbour, although we certainly found other uses for her build quality. ‘They’re unsinkable,’ he said as we once packed 11 people…

A. A row of small nuts can be threaded on to a messenger line to form a weight that can be pushed over sheaves. One reader uses the inner part of the cable from an old cable-driven log as a heavy, flexible messenger. B. A bit of bike chain also makes a ‘controllable’ weight to poke through fiddly gaps. But first, lower the weighted messenger line down the outside of the mast, to its intended exit point, and mark off its length. Then lower that amount down inside the mast. Heeling the mast, so the weight runs down one side, can help it clear obstructions. C. My son managed to poke a line through a hanging block from the deck. He used a nail and some weights on a fishing…