Practical Boat Owner April 2022

To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk When the time is right There couldn’t be a more exciting time to become a boat owner. It seems every decision I make is at the brink of a new (or lesser known) technology. I ruled out lithium batteries, but chose composite seacocks. I opted for eco-antifouling but not a holding tank (yet). The environment weighs on my conscience, but so does my bank account. More than ever, I need to read PBO, which is lucky, as that’s my job. And as the owner of the PBO Project Boat, I also get to live PBO. For this issue I spent a wonderful day with Stu and Laura Davies learning how to service my Volvo MD2020 diesel. At the…

Achievements recognised in the latest Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) awards, include a special posthumous honour for James Wharram – the OCC Lifetime Cruising Award. Wharram, who passed away on 14 December 2021 aged 93, is considered by many as the father of modern multihull cruising. The free-spirited sailor and designer specialised in double-canoe style sailing catamarans, inspired by the Polynesian double canoe. Despite coming from a non-sailing background – he was born in Manchester in 1928 – Wharram became fascinated by Polynesian double canoes after reading Éric de Bisschop’s The Voyage of the Kaimiloa as a teenager. Starting small in the 1950s, one of his first designs was the 23ft 5in Tangaroa in which he and two young women sailed from the Canaries to Trinidad in 1955. Wharram wrote about…

Saluting an exceptional voyage, the OCC’s Barton Cup was awarded to Dustin Reynolds, a double amputee, who completed a 7½-year circumnavigation on his 35ft Alberg sloop, Tiama, despite setting out with little money, experience or technology. Plus a side-trip to Antarctica on a friend’s 38-footer. OCC’s Seamanship Award recognises Jester Azores Challenge rescuer George Arnison (30ft Good Report), who assisted Duncan Lougee (25ft Folkboat Minke) [The big tow, PBO January 2022]. An inaugural Environment Award went to Richard and Stephanie Hackett’s NGO Sea Mercy, which delivers aid via private yachts to the South Pacific islands. The Vasey Vase toasts Ginger and Peter Nieman’s five-year circumnavigation. PLUS: ■ Jester Award to Katie McCabe ■ Qualifier’s Mug to James Frederick ■ Port Officer Service Awards to Natasha Wolmarans and Westbrook Murphy ■…

The Green Blue will be hosting a series of free webinars focused on sharing sustainable anchoring and mooring best practice with boaters. It is part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES Seagrass Project led by Natural England, of which British Marine, the Royal Yachting Association and The Green Blue are partners. Other partners in the project include the Marine Conservation Society, Ocean Conservation Trust and Plymouth City Council. The webinars aim to provide an insight into the ReMEDIES Project and raise awareness of sensitive seabed habitats at some of the project’s five seagrass restoration sites: Essex Estuaries, Fal and Helford, Solent Maritime and Plymouth. Each of the webinars will have speakers from partner organisations in the project who have local knowledge of the environment at each of the seagrass sites. The…

■ BoatLife Live, 17-20 February, Birmingham NEC, boatlifeevents.com ■ RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, 26-27 February, Farnborough International, rya.org.uk/events/dinghy-show ■ British Marine National Conference, 15-16 March, National Conference Centre, Solihull, britishmarine.co.uk/nationalconference ■ Poole Regatta, 30 April-2 May, pooleregatta.co.uk ■ South Coast Boat Show, 6-8 May, Ocean Village Marina, Southampton, mdlmarinas.co.uk/boat-shows ■ OSTAR TWOSTAR,15 May, 60th anniversary edition of the OSTAR (Original Single-handed TransAtlantic Race) from Plymouth to New York, rwyc.org/ostar/ ■ Solent Boat Jumble, 22 May, Royal Victoria Country Park, Hampshire, boat-jumbles.co.uk ■ Yarmouth Sea Songs and Shanties Festival, 27-29 May, see the group’s Facebook page ■ Crick Boat Show, 2-5 June, Northamptonshire, crickboatshow.com ■ Jersey Boat Show, 10-12 June, St Helier Marina and Weighbridge Place, jerseyboatshow.com ■ Green Tech Boat Show, 16-18 June, Queen Anne’s Battery, Plymouth, mdlmarinas.co.uk ■…

SOUTH COAST AND CHANNEL ISLANDS PICKETS CHANGE AT DARTMOUTH Twin-jet powered naval training boats have replaced a 50-year-old flotilla of eight ‘picket’ boats at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. The distinctive blue and white boats which have chugged up and down the Dart since the 1960s were retired at the end of 2021. Officer cadets are now learning navigation, leadership and seamanship aboard 15mlong Vahana boats, packed with similar technology to the Royal Navy’s front-line fleet. “There’s a lot of nostalgia for the old boats, understandably given how long they have been around for”, said Warrant Officer 1st Class Dan Powditch. “The Vahana boats are the polar opposite: new, modern – you can drive it using a mouse – more reliable, but we can teach more people, using equipment…