Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i Practical Boat Owner

A 15m (49.2ft) trimaran, which is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and solar, has been launched in Plymouth. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) is undergoing sea trials ahead of a transatlantic crossing next spring. It will follow a similar route as the 1620 Mayflower, which made the same crossing 400 years ago with the Pilgrim Fathers. MAS is controlled by an AI Captain, built by the nonprofit research firm ProMare and IBM developers. It has the ability to sense, think and make decisions at sea with no human captain or onboard crew. MAS has over 30 sensors and six AI cameras on board, and a solar-driven hybrid electric engine delivers a maximum speed of 10 knots. It has taken two years to design, build and train the AI models used…

Murlo Primrose, the wife of yacht designer Angus Primrose, has died aged 83. A firm part of the Solent sailing scene, Murlo started sailing in Antigua in the late 1950s. She cruised back and forth across the Atlantic on numerous boats before settling in the UK, where she met and married Angus. At one point she worked for PBO’s sister publication, Yachting Monthly, in the accounts department. Angus designed the lifting keel Seal 22, which was launched in 1968. The couple sailed the yacht’s prototype, Seal for decades, and could often be spotted in Cowes. After her husband’s death in 1980, Murlo continued sailing Seal, sometimes solo, across to Cowes and around the Solent, always returning to Bursledon’s The Elephant Boatyard. Up until last year she’d frequently sailed the boat…

The Environment Agency (EA) has said it will compensate boat owners whose vessels sunk when a sluice gate on the River Avon failed. Water levels dropped by about 1.8m (5.9ft) between Weston Lock and Bath Bottom after the fault at Twerton sluice gate. The waterway is managed by the Canal & River Trust, but the sluice gate is controlled by the EA. Around 50 boats were left stranded in the mud; five vessels which had sunk were eventually refloated. The EA also undertook hull surveys for boat owners. The incident happened on 15 September. IRELAND’S FIRST FEMALE COXSWAIN Denise Lynch, a volunteer crewmember with Fenit RNLI in Kerry, has been passed out as coxswain. She is currently the only woman to hold the senior position on an operational lifeboat crew…

Email pbo@futurenet.com or write to us at the address on page 5. Photos are appreciated, letters may be edited. Vessels afloat While on holiday in South Devon in August my family and I were astonished to see one of Her Majesty’s Ships apparently flying above the horizon. Here is the untouched photograph I took of this event. Is this proof that our Royal Navy has discovered the ultimate torpedo avoidance system? By raising boats above the water, torpedoes would simply pass by underneath. It appears to be so effective that it can raise other small vessels at the same time such as the motorboat you can see here. Chris Mardon, by email Past blast I wonder when was the last time anyone saw this cover? I’m pretty sure this issue…

Living with the sea Marsali Taylor sails an Offshore 8M, Karima S. She’s a dinghy instructor and author of The Shetland Sailing Mysteries starring liveaboard sleuth, Cass Lynch. No house-proud woman would put up with it. I mean the domestic chaos involved in putting the boat to bed for the winter. As if the prospect of mast down isn’t enough to strike dismay into the stoutest sailor’s heart, there’s also dealing with all the rigging, and emptying the cabin of all that would get damp over winter – and it all has to come home, boxes of it. To be fair, it didn’t stay all over the living room sofa and floor long. It took only an hour or so to sort out into component parts, and then, well, it…

One hundred years ago, before affordable internal combustion engines and improved road networks rendered them obsolete in the 1920s, sailing barges filled the Pool of London, transporting goods with minimal noise pollution and no carbon emissions other than those of a solid fuel stove in winter. Above London Bridge goods were moved using engineless lighters, propelled with nothing more than giant oars and favourable currents. These techniques are kept alive today thanks to the annual Thames Barge Driving Race. Teams of three to six people propel 30-tonne 20-25m (66-80ft) barges using only oars, plus a sweep for steering, on a seven-mile course from Greenwich to Westminster Bridge. If you’re in London on the day of the match, standing on a bridge gives a grandstand view and is highly recommended. Many…

The startline The start was manic – nearly 200 boats jostling for position… not that it really matters on a 2,700 mile course but I admired the principle and gleefully joined in the pointless battle of skill, nerve, and who had packed the least baked beans. The watch system Such was the importance of the watch system that great debate ensured as to how we should organise ourselves. A number of ideas were put forward: • Royal Navy Short Watch System – 3-hour watches plus a nominated ‘Mother’ each day, who would cook meals and keep everyone in check • Socialist Watch System – do a watch when you feel like it, let others pick up the other watches • Capitalist Watch System – pay people to do the night…

When my wife, Avery, and I took ownership of our Ericson 38-200, Walden in August 2018, we placed her in the yard to undergo an extensive refit (see PBOs May and June 2020). She’d been struck by lightning and needed all new instruments. Being 32 years old, she also needed new standing rigging, a complete bottom job, and many additions such as a windlass, solar array, and inverter to make life on board comfortable. For a modest monthly storage rate of $290 (£220), placing Walden in a yard in nearby Placida, Florida made sense. We expected the adventure to begin when we finally set sail, but in reality it started the day we moved in to the boatyard, and met all the fascinating residents. Those that get-up and go While…

When I see a boat with braided eye splices it impresses me more than any amount of brightwork or varnish. A professionally executed reverse-tuck eye splice on modern braided line adds an air of expertise and seamanship. The finished art (and I use that term deliberately) is what everyone notices. What nobody sees is how the actual splice is concocted (and I use that term deliberately as well). Nor do they see you soaking your hands in hot water for 10 minutes afterwards to reduce the pain and swelling from pulling and pushing the strands through each other! The first reverse-tuck splice I ever tried took all day and used up about 10ft of expensive, good quality double-braided line, and even then I didn’t want to show it anybody. With…

Having your own launch and recovery trailer for a 10m boat is really quite a luxury, except when you pull your boat out of the water and the wind’s too high! My trailer has four upright steel pole guides and when we last pulled the boat out she settled hard against one pole. The pressure, combined with a little bit of rot in the strake’s inner section, squashed the rubbing strake. The boat has an overlapping hull/deck joint plus an inner glassfibre bond, so the rubbing strakes are not structural – they’re only there for hull protection. At some stage I’ll need to replace all the rubbing strakes, but not just yet. Letting in a repair section seemed the way to go for now. I carefully cut out the crushed…

My Tiptoe is a small boat. It is technically possible to fit davits on the stern of a 25ft Finnmaster to carry a permanently inflated dinghy, but I don’t fancy that for a variety of reasons: I hardly ever use my dinghy, as my boat is small enough to get into most harbours, and I also have a kayak on the roof which is quick and easy to launch and gets me ashore faster than a dinghy. I launch the kayak from the small swim platform, and if there were davits and a rubber dinghy, that would be impossible. So, no davits. But I’ve got a problem in the shape of a lovely folding Brompton bike, bought on a whim, as I walked past a bike shop in London 10…

Fed up with balancing uncomfortably on the tube of my inflatable when driving the outboard, I designed a removable seat. I cut ply to the width of a comfortable seat and the length equal to the gap between the two sponsons, then chamfered the ends to suit the curve of the sponsons at the desired height. Next I used a clothes hanger to get the approximate curve of the tube and cut the pattern out of some cardboard. Once happy with the shape, I marked out an off-cut of ply and cut the four shaped pieces. I cut the corners of the seat to receive the shaped pieces and then cut the angles (or screw blocks) to length. I drilled the angles, then bolted and screwed it all together. The…

Timothy Long, 15, has become the youngest sailor to sail solo around Britain, beating the record held by 17-year-old Tom Webb. The teenager from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire completed the circumnavigation in 11 weeks aboard his Hunter Impala 28 Alchemy, raising over £10,000 for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust “Ellen MacArthur is my idol and has always been my inspiration,” explained Timothy. “The work the charity does is really magical. My original aim was to raise £2,500 and it has been amazing how much support we’ve had.” Timothy met Dame Ellen after his circumnavigation and the pair shared their experiences of sailing solo around Britain; in 1995 Dame Ellen, then aged 18, sailed her 21ft Corribee Iduna around the UK via the Caledonian Canal, the same route taken by Timothy. Originally…

Original Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and Round Britain and Ireland (RB&I) veteran Mary Falk has died aged 74. She competed in every major UK short-handed long-distance race, including three OSTARs, three Azores and Back Races (AZABs), one Fastnet, six RB&I races and numerous Petit Bateau events. In the 1996 OSTAR Mary took the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing in a 35ft boat after coming first in class aboard her Pocock 35, QII. Her time of 19 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes still stands. Her racing career was halted between 2005-2006 when she underwent treatment for breast cancer. Just months after recovering Mary returned to racing and over four years raised over £100,000 for The Institute for Cancer Research. Her last competitive race was the 2010 Round Britain and…

Scottish Canals has launched a new online booking system to make it easier and safer for boaters to buy digital transit licences for the Caledonian Canal. It follows a successful pilot of the new system on the Crinan Canal in August. Visit scottishcanals.co.uk/YCW2020 Scottish Canals has also unveiled its three-year plan for 2020-23. A key part of the strategy is maintaining the waterways and adapting to climate change, with the commissioning of Glasgow’s Smart Canal. This will see the integration of predictive weather and sensor technology with the historic Forth & Clyde Canal. ISLE OF SKYE YACHTS CLOSES The owners of Isle of Skye Yachts are closing the business due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark and Charmian Entwistle bought the Armdale-based firm in 1998. “The 2m…

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 There’s no doubt the sea is an education, but in my experience it’s not long before you know too much and get thoroughly fed up with learning, and that’s why I’ve set up my own sea school. Ever since I got my Competent Crew qualification at the third resit around 20 years ago I’ve had a yearning to inflict my knowledge on others, simply because that’s what happened to me every time I stepped on someone else’s boat. I mean, you tie a proper bow-line like you’ve been told to on one boat and you step on another boat and the…

It was movie night on board Heaven 47. Simon had rigged the fairy lights, a rom-com was playing on the tablet, and Rachel and Sam were in their dressing gowns, nails freshly painted, tucking into popcorn. “It was the most amazing thing ever,” recalls Rachel. “After five days of no wind, and constantly craving home comforts, we finally decided to treat ourselves.” But all of a sudden there was a bang. Sam flew across the cabin and landed on top of her sister-in-law. “Lifejackets, lifejackets!” she yelled, scrambling to her feet. In seconds they were out in the cockpit in the roaring wind and pitch black, winching harder and faster than they’d ever done before. Out of nowhere, a squall had hit, and they’d broached with the spinnaker still flying.…

From getting on and off the yacht to collecting supplies, visiting friends or simply going fishing, tenders play an important role in a boat owner’s life. Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the years: Board with care On a mooring or at anchor, getting aboard a boat can be a challenge. One time, a friend of mine reached for the boarding ladder, and gave a slight push off from the dinghy. Naturally, the dinghy moved away from the yacht leaving my friend in an extremely undignified position before getting very wet. Another time my wife stepped onto the gunwale instead of the centre of the dinghy, ending up in the sea. Perhaps the most dangerous mistake I witnessed was an ageing friend step into the dinghy forward…

Zhik drybags You can never have enough drybags and Zhik’s high quality kit always makes good gifts at Christmas or any other time. The new 30lt dry backpack is made from a heavy duty 100% waterproof fabric with welded seams. Features include an internal zipped pocket, padded laptop holder, and water bottle pouch. Extra compression straps will help to reduce bulk when the bag is only partially full and can double to secure jackets and the like on the outside. Zhik has also launched a new 6lt high vis dry bag. Again this is 100% waterproof with taped seams and is supplied with its own pouch for easy stowage when not in use. Prices: 30lt dry backpack £69.95, 6lt high-vis dry bag £22.00. ■ zhik.com Treat your boat Why not…

Sailing for fun and in safety Margaret Norris is an RYA Senior Instructor teaching sailing at the Hengistbury Head Outdoor Education Centre in Christchurch, Dorset Having taught sailing for nearly 30 years, I’ve heard some funny – if they weren’t so tragic – stories of people getting into trouble at sea through lack of knowledge and preparation. One of my favourites is the chap who was rescued by Mudeford RNLI in Dorset. He was about four miles offshore in a 14ft dinghy – on his way to America, he said. He had with him some sausages, a bottle of water and a street map of Southampton! It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that these things happen when you compare what you have to do in order to drive…

The main lesson I learnt from renovating my Contessa 26 was that if you want a hobby, try bird-watching or home brewing! But if you want something all-consuming that will take up almost all your spare time and spare cash, take on a project boat. Buying a suitable project boat has never been easier. Internet sites are full of potential candidates that were once their owner’s pride and joy but have now fallen into various states of decay. Often they are at very tempting starting prices: some may even turn out to be good value. So supply is not the problem, it’s choosing the right boat that can be tricky. I chose Simona, a 1973 Contessa 26, not by carefully considering my requirements, but largely because of the iconic status…

Great ideas and tips from PBO readers Email your projects and tips to pbo@futurenet.com or write to us at the address at the top of page 5. We pay at least £30 for each one published “One thing you need to know is that all Disco windows leak,” Andy Lewis, then chief engineer of Sunsail’s Sporades base, told me the first time I met him. I was in Greece to look at the last remaining boats in a fleet of 30ft Discovery 3000s that were being sold off at the end of their life as charter boats. I didn’t worry too much, given that I’d successfully fixed many leaks around fittings and hatches in the past. So I bought one of the boats and set about refitting it. The first…

Got a question? Email pbo@futurenet.com 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 QTogether with a sailing partner I sail a Hunter Duette moored on the Hamble River at Warsash. As two 78-year-olds we find this suits us for pottering around the Solent. As the fouling is severe where we moor we had the bottom professionally Coppercoated but found that, despite using preventative products, the outboard propeller soon got fouled and quickly lost thrust. To overcome this we remove the outboard from its well and place it in the cabin after each trip. This is getting to be a more difficult, awkward and unpleasant task. I note some Sonatas have a…

Readers’ cruising destinations, near and far We pay for your published cruising stories and harbour updates. Email pbo@futurenet.com or write to the address at the top of page 5 For around 15 years I have been dinghy cruising up and down the Bristol Channel in my wayfarer, Windlord, from Lydney Yacht Club in the Severn Estuary. Over the years varying numbers of dinghies and open boats have participated along with yachts in the club. We have cruised all the way up river to Gloucester, and down channel as far as Ilfracombe and Lundy Island, but a typical weekend away involves setting off at high water Lydney (which on a spring tide is often around breakfast time) and sailing into the wind down river to take advantage of the fast currents…

Marine biologists at the University of Essex are leading new research to produce a so-called ‘living coating’ as a replacement for traditional antifouling on boats. The bespoke engineered biofilm would be made from ‘a community of microbes’ which would produce a protective layer to prevent barnacle and other marine plant growth. Project leader Dr Nick Aldred, from Essex’s School of Life Sciences, said traditional antifoul had many drawbacks such as toxicity, fragility, cost and disposal, and often failed to offer complete protection. “A living coating could heal itself after damage, act as a sensor and could be automatically released from the surface naturally when necessary,” he explained. “We aim to create an engineered bacterial community that can be controlled to produce a bespoke, protective, multifunctional film for vessel hulls.” The…

For the second year running, Royal Quays Marina on the River Tyne and Poole Quay Boat Haven have been named Marina of the Year. Royal Quays won in the over 250 berths UK Coastal category, while Poole Quay took the prize for a coastal marina under 250 berths. Organised by The Yacht Harbour Association, the marinas are voted for by their berth holders. The award ceremony was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. White Mills Marina on the River Nene at Earls Barton in Northamptonshire took the Inland Marina of the Year title. The boatyard manager at Emsworth Yacht Harbour, James Stenning was named Marina Employee of the Year due to his efforts to reassure berth holders about the safety of their vessels during the height of lockdown. The Yacht…

Ireland’s Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) is recommending that sailors should have ‘appropriate training’ on the international regulations on prevention of collisions at sea (COLREGS) after a yacht was left extensively damaged in a collision with a tanker. The incident took place in the early hours of 23 August 2019 in good visibility and conditions off Greystones in the Irish Sea. The Moody 39. Medi Mode was motor-sailing from Arklow to Howth. The Turkish-registered tanker, Varkan Ege had left Dublin bound for Falmouth. MCIB investigators found that Medi Mode’s two experienced crew, who had no formal marine navigation training, believed the the ship would pass safely down its starboard side, insisting the nav lights on both vessels were ‘green to green’. However, the tanker’s officer on watch reported seeing a…

Send us your local news stories. Email PBO news editor Katy Stickland at pbo@futurenet.com, tel: 01252 555213, or write to the address on page 5 Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) is warning harbour users that if they ‘break the rules, we will take action’ after two jet-skiers were fined for speeding. It says there has been a rise in the number of complaints about antisocial behaviour involving jet-skis since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the summer. Gary Williams from Kingfisher Drive, Banbury, pleaded guilty to breaking the 10-knot speed limit. He was fined £250, a £34 victim surcharge, and £600 towards costs. Simon Grant from Curzon Street, Reading, was fined £600 for speeding, £100 for failing to purchase a permit, ordered to pay a £76 victim surcharge and costs of…

A £20,000 fundraising campaign has been launched to save the Harwich Harbour ferry after it was severely damaged during storm force winds in September. The former SS Canberra lifeboat, which takes passengers between Harwich, Shotley and Felixstowe, was ripped from her mooring at Ha’penny Pier and became half submerged. The 40ft vessel was towed to safety by the harbour authority, and remains afloat. Chris and Lucy Zemann, who have owned the ferry since 2015, have now been told repairs will cost more than the insurance payout. They said the damage to the ferry was 'a huge blow', especially as demand for trips had been high following the easing of COVID-19 lockdown in mid-May. gofundme.com/f/please-helpsave- the-harwich-harbour-ferry EXTRA MOORINGS FOR RIVER CROUCH More swinging moorings will be laid this winter in the…

Flotsam and jetsam Sam Llewellyn writes nautical thrillers and edits The Marine Quarterly. He is currently patching up a 30ft ketch Useless thing, these days, the chart table. Once, the navigator crouched over it, tensely twiddling the wheel on his Breton plotter, dividers at hand, pencils rolling to the swells, drenched in the blood-red glow of the night vision lamp. ‘Where are we?’ calls the helmsman down the hatch. ‘Thirty miles north-west of Ushant,’ replies the navigator, his voice full of a confidence that he and the helmsman both know he does not feel. And so the long night wears on towards a landfall everyone hopes will at least be on the right continent. That was then, but this is now, and now is different. The helmsman is watching the…

As the years trundle by I become increasingly aware of the dilemma facing those who want to buy a ‘proper yacht’. In days gone by, would-be buyers of moderately priced 30ft to 35ft sea-going cruising yachts that could leave harbour with little worry about the weather they might encounter, could find plenty of candidates at a boat show. By ‘candidates’ I mean solid GRP production yachts with sea-kindly hull shapes, moderate beam, secure cockpits, longish keels and comfortable yet compact accommodation. Yachts that are as happy cruising on open oceans as they are pottering along friendly coastlines. But things have changed. In order to pack in voluminous accommodation, modern production yachts have moved towards wide beam, short-chord fin keels, flattish bottoms and wide cockpits. And many are appreciably lighter than…

After leaving St Lucia, we headed south for St Vincent and the Grenadines. We had an incredible time and the Caribbean really did live up to expectations, both in terms of natural beauty and wildlife, excellent trade wind sailing and very friendly locals. Tobago Cays was definitely a highlight – swimming with turtles in crystal clear water. Our shallow keel meant we could get where no other boats were. After the Grenadines, we headed north, stopping at Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St Barth and St Martin. At this point, COVID-19 started looming and a lot of our friends flew home. We decided to stay, although I did get an electric hob (in case we ran out of gas), 10kg of pasta and a speargun (in case we ran out of…

Single oar sculling is the art of propelling a boat with an oar over the stern. It’s a useful way of moving a loaded dinghy that’s too laden for you to use both oars. Another usage is when coming alongside in an inflatable dinghy. This works especially well with flatbottomed, traditional Avon-style dinghies, which you can simply scull sideways using the normal rowlocks. In a sailing dinghy it means you can make headway even if the boom is too low or furled sails prevent rowing. It’s handy for making headway up a channel that’s too narrow for a pair of oars, between moored boats, or in busy harbours where standing up and looking over your shoulder allows you to see where you’re going. It’s a useful ‘get you home’ skill…

Celebrating Traditional Boats: Glorious Brest, the world’s largest maritime festival in photographs by Nigel Pert and Dan Houston, foreword by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston This dual-language celebration of the four-yearly Brest Maritime Festival really gives a flavour of the events and atmosphere. The A4 landscape format and good quality paper showcase the wonderful photography. Each page has one full-page photo and several smaller ones, all full colour, along with a detailed description of each photo in English and French. There are aerial shots of the crowds and the piers, close-ups of rigging and figureheads, many of vessels under sail, portraits of people at work or enjoying themselves messing about in boats. A general introduction to the festival is followed by pictures of boat visitors from all around the world and from…

Many of us had to find alternative things to do during COVID-19 lockdown. One of my pastimes is woodwork so I fancied extending my limited skills by making a ship’s wheel. Although I made it out of repurposed softwood – not the most suitable material on a boat – it was nonetheless good practice to prepare me for making a proper ship’s wheel in a more exotic wood. The method I used will work exactly the same for all wood species so I hope that by avoiding the mistakes I made, some readers will choose some suitable wood and make their own. You can buy a ship’s wheel online for about £40 but few, if any, at that price would be useful for anything more than hanging on the living-room…

If sailing has taught me anything, it’s this: if you’re still afloat, there is really no such thing as failure. It’s not like driving a train; there is no guarantee you’re going to get to where you want by the route you want nor at the time you want. Most of the time you go where conditions allow and enjoy it. Let me explain. I have a Moody 29, Blue Air, bought in Christchurch, Dorset, in 2006 and sailed happily around the Irish Sea ever since from our home port of Skerries, County Dublin. Its bilge keels and spacious main cabin make it an ideal cruising boat. Skerries has a fishing harbour but sailing has been very much on the increase due to a vibrant local sailing club and the…

I was installing a radar tower on top of my Merry Fisher 855 and all of the bolts were down a narrow gap between the top of the inner lining and the cabin roof, so putting nuts on them was proving difficult. I tried sticking nuts to my fingers with sealant, using pliers, mole grips and water pump pliers but I couldn’t get the angle right and so the nuts wouldn’t start. I was losing nuts as they dropped off into the space. Then I had an idea! I found that if I wrapped a pipe cleaner around the nut and tightened it with pliers then the nut was held firmly. For the bolts further away down the space I attached the end of the pipe cleaner to a grabbing…