Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2021 från Practical Boat Owner

The Cruising Association (CA), through its local representatives, has helped to make cruising to France easier, post-Brexit. Since leaving the EU, boats arriving in France from the UK or Channel Islands are required to sail to ‘Ports of Entry’ – mainly ferry ports – and search out the relevant authorities, usually the Police aux Frontières, to register the boat and crew’s arrival. This same process would also be necessary before departing France for the UK or Channel Islands, presenting sailors with a potential problem for many passages. Now, as a direct result of two Cruising Association members’ tireless efforts working with local marinas and officials, the French government has announced a process to allow entry at any French port. A form can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/immigrationform, completed and emailed to…

Pioneering disabled yachtsman Geoff Holt, founder of the Wetwheels charity, has launched a video adventure to bring the exhilaration of a boating to people’s homes. The Wetwheels’ immersive video aims to give young disabled people, particularly those isolated while shielding during the pandemic, a seafaring experience via virtual reality headsets. It will also be made available on YouTube. The high-definition film, produced by Soundview Media, has 360° boat and sea views. Geoff was paralysed in a swimming accident in 1984 and uses a wheelchair. In 2007, he became the first disabled person to sail single-handed around Great Britain, and in 2009 he sailed unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean. Wetwheels, which operates from Hampshire, Kent, Cornwall, Yorkshire and Jersey, enables disabled people to access the sea aboard fully-accessible powerboats. Geoff said:…

A German company has been convicted and fined for evading sanctions on timber imported from Myanmar. The Regional Court in Hamburg found WOB Timber had evaded the EU sanctions on 31 separate shipments of timber worth millions of euros from 2008-11, when the previous military junta – the State Peace and Development Council – was sanctioned by the EU. On 27 April, the company was fined €r3.3million and its director, Stephan Bührich, given a 21-month suspended prison sentence and €r200,000 fine – one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a timber trader in the EU. Faith Doherty, the Forests Campaigns Leader for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), said: “The court’s sentencing is welcome and the timing significant. Since the military coup on 1 February 2021, we have been urging…

Send us your local news stories. Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com, tel: 0330 390 6467, or write to the address on page 5 SOUTH COAST AND CHANNEL ISLANDS LUGGER ROMANCE Since the Drascombe Lugger Scillabub was donated to the Stoke Gabriel Boating Association three years ago (and featured in PBO, December 2019), she’s become a beloved member of the SBGA fleet. However, roofer Alfie Dunn took that affection to a new level when he proposed to his girlfriend Melissa Jones on board. SGBA Commodore Chris Moore took the couple out on a tour of the River Dart and Alfie went down on one knee and offered Melissa a diamond ring. “It was either she said yes,” he says, “or I’d get chucked in the river.” The couple…

Sam Llewellyn sails a 30ft ketch he rescued from dereliction The world has been talking about Seaspiracy. This is a film which claims that thanks to the greed-crazed behaviour of fishing boats and their owners the oceans will be empty of fish by 2048. The thing ends with a plea to viewers from the narrator, a half-shaved snowflake in a beanie with a powerful sense of his own intrepidity, to renounce once and for all the eating of fish, by which means the oceans will be saved. The film has been extremely popular, and makes some interesting and alarming points, some of which are true; others not. The learned article on which it bases its contention that the seas will be empty of fish by 2048 did not claim that…

A few years back, I took a party out to watch the America’s Cup anniversary jubilee fleet parading in the Solent. Our spectator craft was a nippy, low-wash Hunter Landau 20 motor boat. One of my guests had briefly owned an elderly 12m yacht and he was keen to see her sailing again. Beautifully restored by her new German owners, she was a sight for sore eyes. As were all the other 12s out on the water that day. It was a memorable and magical experience. But this glimpse back at sailing history was marred by one unpleasant modern phenomenon. Large numbers of gin palaces were careering around at high speed, ploughing up the Solent into a rutted mess, making a lot of noise and generally blocking our view. “Oh…

No circumnavigation is complete without a collection of ‘one-up’ stories to tell. We’ve hiked dormant volcanoes and looked into the fiery pit of active ones during the decade we’ve been cruising. Recounting these unique experiences has been fun. Thanks to La Soufrière in St Vincent, we can now add ‘running from an erupting volcano’ to our collection of tales. This is how my husband, John, and I experienced the event while cruising in the Grenadines with our two children Braca (nine) and Ayla (seven) onboard Atea, our 50ft Ganley cutter-rigged sloop. No longer is cruising the Caribbean defined by a carefree transit through a succession of islands. In 2020 it became all about negotiating the complexities of Covid regulations which require an in-depth understanding of the current policies of each…

Just a few years ago there were perhaps half a dozen manufacturers making electric outboards. Now there are nearly 40. We covered that market in detail last month; here we look at the latest tech for inboard electric solutions – and the remaining unsolved issues – for a hybrid or ‘electric-only’ conversion. There is also the possibility of installing a DIY electric inboard, relatively inexpensively, from equipment used in other sectors. The fork-lift industry, for example, often has a surplus of new and used DC motors that can be easily converted to marine applications. Apart from the obvious advantages of silent motoring, renewable fuel, minimal servicing and precision control, electric propulsion allows for other possibilities. Very often the boat can be configured around a high-capacity battery bank that not only…

Boats are likely to have many instruments aboard, and one of the most useful is that which indicates the exact amount of fresh water in the tanks, especially if the boat doesn’t have a watermaker. But accurate water gauge reading has been a problem on every yacht I have owned. My 45ft schooner Britannia has two stainless steel freshwater tanks amidships, one on each side. Like most yachts the outer shape follows the curve of the hull and the tanks are therefore broadly triangular shaped in cross-section, tapering to a point at the bottom. This shape makes accurate calibration of water capacity difficult for most electronic measuring devices: when the device in the tank measures the water halfway down the vertical side of the tank, the actual capacity is much…

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 Wash up for the heads Bob Connell’s bathroom makeover After some 10 years of use the heads in our 46ft centre cockpit cruising cutter were starting to look a little tired. The chrome plated brass taps and shower hardware were starting to show the green verdigris of the copper coating breaking through the pores in the chrome and becoming harder and harder to keep clean. The basins which were moulded in fibreglass within the moulded cupboards were starting to scratch and were getting more difficult to return to a nice clean shine. After some research and deliberation we decided to upgrade…

In the wake of a fatal crash on Southampton Water, UK operators of small commercial high-speed craft such as Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) are being urged to abide by their industry’s voluntary code of conduct when carrying passengers. Fifteen-year-old Emily Lewis sustained fatal internal injuries, and 10 out of the 11 passengers were injured, when the RIB Seadogz collided with the north-west Netley buoy in August 2020: “Because the RIB’s skipper was concentrating on conducting high-speed manoeuvres in close proximity to another vessel and did not see the fixed navigational in time to take avoiding action.” The Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s (MAIB) interim report into the investigation is at: bit.ly/seadogz…

Nearly half of UK boaters don’t wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) when on the water, according to new research from Helly Hansen, a partner of the RNLI. Most of the survey respondents considered themselves to be a good example to others when it comes to water safety (81.6%), however only 56.2% always wear a PFD, and of those who do not, just half (50.76%) would wear one in bad weather, 22.84% said they didn’t need to because they can swim, and only a third (29.44%) wear one when sailing alone. Every year, around 150 people die at the coast around the UK and Ireland; last year, the RNLI launched 8,000-plus times to those in need of help. Gareth Morrison, RNLI head of water safety, said: “Our advice is simple,…

Save our soles I wonder if your readers have noticed how their deck shoes become slippery after spending a winter in the cupboard. If not worn regularly the natural brown rubber type of soles develop a shiny, hard surface as they age and can be lethal on a wet deck. Scuffing shiny soles on rough tarmac or hand sanding them is hard work and produces little benefit. I’ve found the best results are achieved with a belt sander with 80-to-100-grit. The time to stop sanding is the moment the powdered rubber stops flying off the sole exposing nice soft, grippy virgin rubber. This process might sound a bit harsh on your expensive deck shoes but it’s no bad idea to shorten the life of our soles if it could save…

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. Summer is beautiful here in Shetland. The hills are soft green, with bright marsh marigolds filling every burn. After a winter of grey, the guillemots are smart in their black and white summer plumage, the kittiwakes are in pairs on the cliffs, chittering Arctic terns have made it back from Africa, and there are puffins in the voe, along with otters, seal, porpoises and even whales. The winds are softer, the temperature soars. Best of all, there are the ‘simmer dims’, the lovely long nights, when you get to drift home at eleven, in the last of the wind. We sailors are desperately hoping to get…

Sailors have been watching seabirds for thousands of years. Early navigators in the Pacific used their knowledge of how far different birds ranged from land to judge when they were approaching an island. The white tern was known as the ‘navigator’s best friend’. Birds carrying fish back for their young will even indicate the direction to follow. European sailors on long voyages also noticed the birds but often viewed them in a more superstitious light. It was good luck to see an albatross but bad luck to kill one. These days we watch birds for pleasure rather than navigational cues; sailing and birdwatching go very well together – for a start there are usually binoculars to hand, and there is little effort involved – just keep your eyes open. By…

PBO Digital is the best way to get the full magazine experience if you’re unable to buy your regular copy at the newsagent or supermarket. But it’s not quite as straightforward as simply browsing the shelves! 1. What device should I use? You can get a digital, or electronic, version of PBO magazine on a computer (desktop or laptop, Mac or PC), a phone, tablet or an eReader device. The options for desktop/laptop are limited in comparison to phones and tablets, but the bigger screen area and resolution may be an attraction. See the table below for options. 2. Which magazine platform should I buy from? For PBO Digital there are nine different digital magazine platforms available. Some platforms are like supermarkets, while others are like local newsagents with a…

Hybrid drives, where a combustion engine is part of the drivetrain, fall into two main types: serial and parallel. Serial hybrids use a quiet-running diesel generator located in another part of the boat which feeds the motor via thick electric cables. This gives much greater flexibility with the accommodation, as the generator can be located almost anywhere. The generator can also be optimised with the correct loading to make it as quiet and fuel-efficient as possible. The graphic shows a typical Oceanvolt serial hybrid set-up. Parallel hybrids connect the electric motor directly to the engine, either by an attachment to the prop shaft or by being mounted on – or between – the gearbox. This also allows it to be driven by the diesel engine as a generator and spun…

It was October 2015, I was 30 years old, and dreaming of sailing the world some day, perhaps even owning a gaffer of my own. I had £300 of savings, which certainly was a start towards a £25,000 smack but, realistically, I was still a long way off. On this particular evening I sat on a packed train travelling out of London. Around me people read newspapers, balancing their work bag on their lap, eating fast food or just staring out of the window. It felt like the thousandth time I’d made this monotonous commute. By weekday, I was a media producer, by weekend, a sailor. For years I balanced this compromise, the prospect of ‘climbing the ladder’ versus being on the river in East Anglia, something I wasn’t willing…

When a client asked me to help finish his boat in Portugal, I agreed, but on one condition I wanted to bring my own boat, Wendy May. My 84-year-old gaff cutter was in need of a refit, and this way I could work on her on my days off. So instead of flying out to the Algarve, I decided to sail there instead. I had just two weeks to prepare. Finally the departure day arrived. On 19 September I drove down from Wolverhampton to Newport, Wales, where I kept Wendy May. I left at 4am with a long list of jobs to do, having not set foot on the boat for nearly a month. When I arrived Wendy May was just starting to float on the flood tide. I began…

One of the disadvantages of sleeping or cooking on board in the cold UK climate is that condensation forms on the windows or port holes. In my case the windows, which were fixed, dripped condensation onto the chart table, bedding and the main cabin upholstery so something had to be done to fix it. The classic solution in a domestic house is to thermally insulate the windows with double glazing. This adds a layer of insulation which stops heat escaping and raises the surface temperature which, in turn, reduces and hopefully stops the water droplets forming on the glass and window frame surfaces. So the challenge was to design and make secondary glazing which blended with the interior décor. The original windows had aluminium frames, which I covered with 3mm…

A. Some boats’ stern cleats are not strong enough to tow from, so rig extra lines to other strong points. B. A bridle with a quickly-tied ‘figure of eight’ eye (C) will keep the tow central across the stern. Some people also add a fender to stop the bridle sinking into the prop. D. Ideally you should be able to slip the tow line at either end, even when it’s under load. The dinghy could rig a bridle, or just take a turn around the mast or thwart if they are strong enough. A ‘round turn and two half hitches’ is handy as it can be released under load. E. If the casualty is stuck on a lee shore, and you have sufficient depth of water, throw them a line…

Dame Ellen MacArthur is calling on Round the Island Race (RTIR) sailors to inspire young people to believe in a brighter future living through and beyond cancer by raising £90 in honour of the event’s 90th anniversary. The ‘race for all’, run by Island Sailing Club, will see yachts of all sizes competing around the Isle of Wight on 3 July. Since becoming the official race charity in 2005, some £299,266 has been raised for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, making a huge difference to hundreds of young lives. Young people need support more than ever as COVID-19 has amplified the isolation, loneliness and anxiety they have experienced. The Trust will be supporting them in-person this summer, on regional day sails and five-day cruising and residential trips. Dame Ellen said:…

Tributes have been paid to sailor, instructor, long-time contributor and friend to PBO John Goode, who has died after a short illness. John, 71, trained thousands of sailors through his Southampton-based sailing school and taught many more through his books and articles on seamanship and pilotage. PBO’s former deputy editor Dick Everitt said: “John Goode was a rough diamond, his tough exterior was honed by many years in the Merchant Navy. But he could also be very kind, with endless patience for students. On leaving the Navy he set up a company installing motorway crash barriers, which taught him to be a canny businessman, and gave him enough cash to take over the Southern Sailing School. There John developed loads of simple teaching methods, which tied in beautifully with PBO’s…

Sailors in the UK concerned about how the ‘Schengen shuffle’ will impact their European cruising plans are being assured by the Cruising Association (CA) that days spent in an EU country with a visa or residence permit, do not count as days spent in the Schengen zone. Now that Britain is out of the EU, British citizens can only visit the 27 Schengen Area Member States within the EU – such as Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain – for 90 days in every 180-day period. However the EU has now confirmed to the CA that days spent in an EU country with a visa or residence permit granted by that country do not count at all in the Schengen 90/180 calculation. Currently Sweden and…

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 As last month’s issue of PBO seemed to be almost entirely devoted to sinking, and how to do it, the editor has asked me to be a little bit more buoyant this month, and write something about floating, and how to do it. For this you will need a boat, and this article will help you acquire the right one. First some background. We wouldn’t want to give the impression that sinking is all there is to sailing, despite the fact that statistics from the RNLI reveal that at least 100% of the 200 sinking incidents it attended last year involved boats, as my east…

France is often seen as the powerhouse of innovation in the sailing world. However, Germany has long been responsible for some of the biggest brands in the industry. Bavaria was among the first European boatbuilders to invest heavily in creating the capacity to build yachts on a true production line basis. As a result its boats are competitively priced, both new and on the second-hand market, and are of a generally consistent quality. In the late 1990s I visited both the Bavaria and Westerly factories. At the time the latter was still fitting out boats in a time-consuming traditional fashion – while I was on site a team of six carpenters was working with jigsaws inside a boat, which already had the deck fitted. By contrast, the German company had…

Fulmars & shearwaters (1) Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, (2) Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus ⏹ Relatives of the albatrosses ⏹ Fly with stiff wings held straight, several wingbeats followed by long glide ⏹ Shearwaters often seen in large flocks Storm petrels (3) European Storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, Leach’s petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa ⏹ Small dark birds with a white rump ⏹ Fly close to the water, flight often erratic ⏹ Rare Leach’s petrel has a slightly forked tail Gannet (4) Adult gannet (5) Immature gannet ⏹ Related to the boobies of tropical seas ⏹ Conspicuously large and white with black wing tips ⏹ Juveniles are brown Cormorants (6) Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, (7) European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis ⏹ Large, dark birds with a long neck ⏹ Use large webbed feet to swim…

■ If you have an old engine some of the moving parts such as belts and crankshafts may be exposed. Take great care that you don’t have loose clothing, hair, jewellery and the like that can get caught and injure you. ■ If you have a large engine or are working in a confined space protect your hearing with ear defenders. ■ If there is a risk of ‘bits’ coming off the engine such as loose particles of paint or rust use eye protection. ■ Remember to wear gloves. There are a variety of nasty compounds around your engine. It also means it’s much easier to clean your hands at the end of the day. Even doctors wear gloves when examining patients! ■ Make sure you’re in a well-ventilated area, especially…

When a wooden boat has been out of the water for a long time, the wood dries and moisture lost from within the cells of the wood causes shrinkage. This water loss and shrinkage will continue until the moisture content of the wood is in balance with the humidity of the environment. When put back in the water, a boat that’s been dry for a long time will leak. ‘Taking up’ is the process of getting the hull wet to allow moisture back into the wood to stop these leaks. If the boat’s on a trailer you could chuck some salt in the bilge and just give her a hose down (though be careful not to add too much weight and overload the trailer or the boat). Another option is to…

When I was 14 I attended an open day at a small sailing club in Cookham village on the river Thames. I was hooked the minute I got on a boat, and soon became a member of Cookham Reach Sailing Club (CRSC). I progressed to racing 12ft dinghies and brought home many trophies, which encouraged me to get my dinghy instructor qualification when I turned 16 and teach cadets at CRSC. After my A-levels I planned to travel around Asia. However, because of the Covid pandemic, I couldn’t go. Instead, with financial help from my grandparents, I embarked on a five-month fast-track RYA Yachtmaster course with the British Offshore Sailing School (BOSS). I passed my RYA Yachtmaster Offshore exam in December 2020 and had the qualification commercially endorsed. So I’m…

This adventure began on a Wednesday afternoon last year, October 2020. After a long period of rain a rare sunny day with only a few clouds was a pleasant change. Combined with a favourable tide in the afternoon I decided to break the long spell of not having sailed Flotaxe and go for it. Through my previous lengthy observations of the tides including the calibrations and markings on some of the steel posts that hold the pontoons in place in the Maylandsea marina (they show the height of the tide above LAT) I know I can leave from my berth when the tide has reached 3.85m which is about 3 hours before high water. Similarly, I need to get back in about 2½ hours after high water (so around 1900…

With regard to my misadventure detailed on the previous pages, in retrospect it should have been possible to prevent that outcome by simply having an alarm that would warn me of a dying battery before it was dead and too late to start the engine. The minimum level of acceptable discharge is 11.5V. That would be the limit to start the engine and get the battery recharged. The easiest solution would be to get a second battery dedicated to engine starting, but sadly there’s no space for that in my yacht Flotaxe. So I set out to design a low-voltage alarm connected to the onboard 12V system that would warn me the very moment that the voltage dropped below 11.6V, and then cut out once the voltage has increased again.…