Indholdsfortegnelse for Nov-2018 i Practical Boat Owner

Dedicated to the cause The news from the Indian Ocean has been relentless. Two Golden Globe yachts were rolled and dismasted within 48 hours and skipper Abhilash Tomy, who I tipped as a potential winner, appears to have suffered a severe back injury. As we went to press both he and Irish skipper Gregor McGuckin had been rescued. For the full story, see page 6. On a completely different tack, I spent the day sailing with two liveaboards during the Southampton Boat Show – an American and a Haitian, Dan and Kika – who have made themselves famous by releasing weekly videos that they devise, film, edit and post themselves on their YouTube channel Sailing Uma (Uma is the name of their boat). The couple bought their 1972 Pearson 36…

Just months after being bought out of administration, Henri Lloyd has announced it will launch a new collection next year. The Aligro Group, which acquired the sailing brand in June, said the 25 new styles for men and women would focus on the needs of dinghy, one-design and superyacht sailors in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The Swedish firm also said it would be ‘significantly’ reducing the number of retailers selling Henri Lloyd products to reflect changes in the market.…

■ Blackwater Marina boat auction, 7 October, at Blackwater Marina, Essex. No reserve auction, three months free storage/berthing included with every boat sold. info@blackwatermarina.co.uk ■ Solent Boat Jumble, 7 October, at Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, Southampton. boat-jumbles.co.uk ■ Scotland’s Boat Show 2018, 12-14 October, at Kip Marina, Inverkip. scotlandsboatshow.co.uk ■ Laser Open 2018, 13 October, at Chichester Yacht Club. cyc.co.uk ■ Weymouth Speed Week, from 13 October. weymouthspeedweek.com ■ Kent Boat Jumble, 14 October, at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, entry £4. boat-jumbles.co.uk ■ Banbury Canal Day, 14 October, at Oxford Canal/Grand Union Canal in Banbury. banbury.gov.uk ■ Suffolk Boat Jumble, 21 October, at Trinity Park Show Ground, Ipswich. For more information call Rota Marine on 0207 394 7646 or 07780 800 257 ■ Suffolk section of the…

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 The East Coast is not like the South Coast, which is just one of the reasons that charts of the East Coast aren’t much use on the South Coast. South Coast charts aren’t much help on the South Coast either. What’s needed is local knowledge. For example, on the South Coast the main hazards to navigation are sea-school boats practising man overboard in harbour entrances, but you won’t find these on charts. Buoyage is different too. On the East Coast a red and white striped safe water buoy has a very specific meaning. If it’s on land, it indicates where water used to be. If…

Water conducts electrical current, which enables different metals in close proximity to create a circuit. On a typical leisure vessel the area under the stern features a prop shaft, a propeller, a rudder post and perhaps metal through-hull components all within a small area and linked electrically through the medium of sea water. It’s the equivalent to a low-power battery, which would be unremarkable apart from the fact that the electric charge gradually and almost imperceptibly corrodes the various terminals – ie your boat’s expensive metal fittings. The solution lies in applied chemistry: install a sacrificial chunk of the correct metal (an anode) wired to the vulnerable metallic items and the circuit will corrode the anode, leaving the more valuable bronze and stainless steel items unaffected.…

I’d always prided myself on a well-run yacht and a review like this is really helpful. I think it’s important to get a second opinion because it’s so easy for an owner to become precious about their boat and think nothing needs changing. Our inspection not only identified areas that had previously been missed, but also made sure that, in the event of an emergency and particularly at night, the relevant equipment was in the right place and easy to access. As with most things, the work took longer than expected. I’d say we spent about 12 hours, but it was time well spent. The next time we sailed, the regular crew were given a safety briefing on the changes and everyone agreed the new set-up was logical. We’ve also done some…

Richard Williamson writes: To my shame it never occurred to me to change the bolt holding the anode to the bilge of my Etap 26. Change the anode, yes, but the bolt? When I came to change the anode recently the bolt sheared with relatively little pressure. A trip to Herm Seaway Marine Ltd in St Peter Port left me wiser: ‘Change the bolt every five years and keep the receipt for the insurers,’ was their advice. I also made a new hardwood backing plate to go inside the bilge. Use polyurethane sealant above the square plate welded to the bolt and between the anode and the hull (even if a foam backing pad is provided). Use sealant on top of the interior backing pad for the washer to sit…

It can happen to the saltiest of us. Our boat-trained children marry, move away, and before you know it you have non-sailing grandchildren. My family spent every summer at Loch Hourn, on the west mainland of Scotland, when we were children; we were in our rowing boat before we could walk. When we weren’t doing family expeditions throughout the loch, we’d mess about in a blow-up kayak, or swim in the sea. In short, we grew up around water; we respected it, but we also took it for granted. Flash forward 45 years, and the kind owners of ‘our’ cottage gave us the chance to return. I met my daughter and her children in Inverness – Maxwell, now nine, and Ava, aged six. We drove out westwards, with the children’s…

Injured Golden Globe Race skipper, Abhilash Tomy, has been successfully rescued from the Indian Ocean after waiting three days for rescue. The 39-year-old was evacuated from his dismasted yacht, Thuriya, some 1,900 miles south-west of Perth, Australia, by the crew of the French fisheries patrol vessel Osiris at 05.30UTC on 24 September 2018. They boarded Thuriya using inflatable Zodiac boats and administered immediate first aid to Tomy before transferring him via stretcher to Osiris, which has medical facilities on board. The Indian Navy Commander had been confined to his bunk after sustaining a back injury when his yacht was rolled 360° in a storm on 21 September. This meant he was unable to cut away the rigging, which fortuitously acted as a sea anchor in the stormy conditions, which saw…

A fire which destroyed an engineering workshop at Anglesey’s Holyhead Marina was caused by faulty electrical equipment, an investigation by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has concluded. It took firefighters three hours to bring the blaze under control on 23 August 2018. No one was injured and no boats were affected. The adjacent Holyhead RNLI building suffered heat damage, and volunteers had to act quickly to move both the inshore and all-weather lifeboats to safety The workshop, a listed building formerly the Trinity House Buoy Maintenance Depot, was left a shell. Tools and equipment were also destroyed. Holyhead Marina’s Geoff Garrod said the building would be restored and would be part of the development plans for the facility. The fire comes just six months after Storm Emma ripped through…

Sam Llewellyn writes nautical thrillers and edits The Marine Quarterly. His 30ft ketch, now launched and cruising, will (like all boats) always be a project There I was the other night, lying awake in the boatyard. The wind was howling in the rigging like a pack of banshees, it was 4am and I could hardly hear myself think over the shriek of the gale and the clang of unfrapped halyards. Shocking nuisance, noise, I thought. Not always, though. Take lighthouses. There they stand, proud monuments to a busier sea and navigators who did their own work instead of relying on signals nicked from the US military. Pretty soon, if Trinity House has its way, they will disappear as surplus to the requirements of modern shipping. Already their sound signals are…

If you are thinking of bringing your own boat to windermere, you are permitted to stay at anchor overnight. South Lakes District Council also maintains 16 holiday moorings dotted around the lake. There are three bookable overnight berths at Ferry nab, or you can apply to any of the privately owned marinas for overnight berths. Public jetties are limited to two-hour stays, apart from Ferry nab, which is four hours. All boats with auxiliary engines (even electric ones) need to register to launch and anything over 5hp must launch at Ferry nab. Anything without an engine can be launched from one of the public areas of the shore.…

Everyone has their own experiences and theories about what type of battery is best for use in the marine environment. Traditionally, it was big and heavy open flooded lead-acid (FLA) batteries, and many still swear by this simple technology. Benefits are that you can top them up with distilled water easily and test the capacity of each cell using a hydrometer. Heavy weight meant many built their service bank from 6V batteries, which are easier to manhandle. This also means there’s less to lose if one cell fails. The next stage up is sealed lead-acid batteries (SLA), which many prefer for their ‘no maintenance’ and non-spill qualities, although they can’t be charged as vigorously as an open-cell battery due to their ability to only release excess gas pressure in an…

This light can be wired directly to the battery feed terminals because this design has resistors built in to the PCB board to protect it. However when fitting electrical components that have a high current draw and involve a motor, pump or heating element, use additional circuit protection, for example a circuit breaker or an in-line fuse holder with the correctly rated fuse. If any installation involves running wires through bulkheads use grommets to protect the insulation. Avoid running wires through bilges and note that short circuits can be caused by a breakdown to insulation caused by chafing, exposure to UV light or fuel/oil contamination.…

Here’s just a selection of the latest questions from PBO readers. Email or write to the address on page 5 and our experts will answer your queries SEA SAFETY MOB RECOVERY CONCERN Q My wife and I sail a Winner 1010 cruiser-racer. Often, especially when cruising, we sail dual handed reaching/running under our gennaker on a roller furler. Fortunately it has never happened, but every now and then we do discuss what to do with a MOB from that situation. We use the chute up to 15-20 knots true wind. The boat then travels around 7-8 knots, even more with a surf, but the wind feels like a leisurely 8-10 knots over the deck. Nothing to worry about, or is it? We have jackstays and lifelines, VHF is in the cabin,…

When you’ve got lots of chain on a muddy bottom, take it easy and haul it up in stages (A, B and C). This will give the current a chance to clean the muck off. If the wind or tide is too strong to pull the cable in by hand, nudge the engine into ahead to take the load off. Some sea-angling boats have a neat way of weighing anchor. They use a large float (D) attached to a metal ring which they shackle around the anchor cable. Then they motor forward to one side of it… … The ring travels along the chain while the float starts to lift the anchor free of the sea bed. Eventually the anchor comes to the surface (E) where it can be retrieved…

Bavaria Yachts has been bought out of administration by a private equity fund. The yacht builder went into self-administration in April 2018, and has been looking for new backers since then. The move allowed the firm's management to remain operational while new investors were sought. In a statement, Bavaria said the unnamed private equity fund, which is advised by the Berlin-based investment company CMP Capital Management-Partners, has acquired Bavaria Yachts and all of the shares in the French subsidiary Bavaria Catamarans SAS. All 550 employees of Bavaria Yachts in Giebelstadt, and all 250 employees of Bavaria Catamarans in Rochefort, will keep their jobs. The purchase will be completed after merger control clearance by the German Federal Cartel Office, which is expected in a couple of weeks. Both parties have agreed…

Feline fanatics We were interested to see the photograph of Buddy the cat on board Thea (Magic Isles of Scilly, PBO August 2018). Is this the same Buddy who appeared as Seacat of the Month in PBO August 2009? We have actually had a photo of Buddy on our fridge ever since! What a beautiful cat! We are both ex-Royal Navy and we think that Buddy is reminiscent of Nelson in his smart white breeches! Margaret & Matthew Heaton (RNSA) Chobham, Surrey Lorraine Owen responds It is indeed the same Buddy. He is a very statesmanlike ‘Nelson’ now, being 14 years of age, but still a lively lad and still enjoying his time on the water. He must have been about five years old in the original seacat photo. Buddy…

Yacht surveyor and designer Andrew Simpson cruises in his own-design 11.9m (39ft) yacht Shindig. Read his blog at www.offshore-sailor.com I shrink from clogging this column with too many personal details, so I apologise for revealing that I’m what you might call a ‘morning person’ – by which I mean someone who prefers to be astir early, pottering about the ship while the decks still glisten with dew. At no time is this more important to me than when setting out for a new destination. For to weigh anchor and slip seawards into the dawn is, I respectfully submit, one of sailing’s most perfect pleasures. One hand lightly on the tiller, the other wrapped around a cup of tea – what more could you ask for? Unfortunately, I all too often…

If you don’t live near the coast and want a break from weekend travel to sail, an option to consider is winter dinghy racing at a local club. This can offer a different on the water experience that’s fun and rewarding in its own right, while honing skills, all without too much commitment. Today’s clothing stops winter dinghy sailing being as perishingly cold as it could be 30 years ago – you don’t even need to get more than your face and hands wet. You’ll learn, practice things – and refine wind awareness that will be useful in summer on a bigger boat, even if your usual activity is relaxed cruising. Every second weekend between November and March will often find me in an Illusion mini keelboat in Bembridge Harbour.…

The return of powerboat racing The Windermere Motorboat Racing Club moved its racing programme to Ramsden Dock, Barrow in Furness, after the 10-knot speed limit came into force, but there is an allowance in the byelaws for exemptions to the limit. Windermere saw the return of racing for two race days in 2013 and most recently there were three in 2018 and plans afoot to request a fourth. Racing takes place outside the WMBRC clubhouse south of Bowness. Facts about lakes and coastline The deepest lake in England is Wastwater at 74m (243ft) ■ England’s longest lake is Windermere which is 10.5 miles long ■ There is only one official lake - Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others are ‘meres’ or ‘waters’ ■ The National Park includes 26 miles of coastline…

Beyond general purpose PU sealants, there’s a range of more specialised products with slightly different formulations to hone them for specific purposes. Chandlers often only have shelf space for a small range, so these specialist products often need to be specially ordered. In the Sikaflex range, for instance, 292i is maritime construction adhesive with twice the strength of 291i. This gives it a high mechanical load capacity for structural bonding without mechanical fastenings. Sikaflex 298 is a more fluid bedding compound that’s semi-self levelling for gluing down synthetic deck coverings and bedding in or sealing of teak that’s laid on a structural sub-deck. Sikaflex 290DC Pro is for teak deck caulking and can be sanded. It’s quite a fluid formulation – don’t try using it on a vertical surface –…

Checking voltage is one of the most basic useful functions of a multimeter when it comes to making sure the engine will start. Set the meter to the DC symbol and place the red probe on the positive battery terminal and the black on a negative terminal. If you get the terminals the wrong way round on a digital meter you will see a minus sign and on an analogue meter the pointer goes away from the scale. Note a normal battery with a healthy state of charge (say 70%) should read about 12.5V and if it’s barely 12V or less it’s nearly flat. For an accurate test the battery should have been at rest for a couple of hours, i. since the engine was running. When the engine is running…

On our late 1990s Beneteau we have lovely cherry wood veneers with basket work doored lockers. The latches on them are extremely simple and consist of a finger hole in the door with a plastic swinging latch which catches on a dowel in the door jamb. The latch is spring loaded: push it through the hole and it disengages from the dowl and the door swings open. Simple but effective. The weak spot on them is the spring – eventually they break and then the door can swing open at will. Getting Beneteau parts can be an expensive business. The UK dealerships will order the parts for you, but delivery from France is via courier and for small items such as this is uneconomical. I have had a couple of…

SEA SAFETY Keith Colwell is author of the RYA Sea Survival Handbook SEALING AND BONDING Gareth Ross is Sika UK’s Marine Market Field Specialist CRUISING Stuart Carruthers is the RYA Cruising Manager and has sailed extensively SAILS Ian Brown of the International OneSails loft group is an expert on sails MASTS & RIGS Mike Coates worked in the spar and rigging business for many years SURVEY AND CORROSION Colin Brown runs a marine survey and consultancy company, CB Marine Services ELECTRICS Paul Holland is part-chair of the BMEEA and MD of Energy Solutions (UK) ENGINES Stu Davies has a background in engineering in the coal and oil field industries GAS FITTING Peter Spreadborough, of Southampton Calor Gas Centre, has 20 years in the industry PAINT AND ANTIFOULING Richard Jerram is…