Innehållsförteckning för November 2023 från Practical Boat Owner

Cruising in the UK this summer has been something of a washout, with the sun failing to emerge nearly every weekend during August, and then just as some of us start thinking about laying up for the winter (page 40), early September brings us a heat wave. The vagaries of the weather are something sailors have always had to deal with, more so now with the advent of climate change. But even rain can’t dampen the joy I feel when cruising along the coast, spotting dolphins and seabirds, catching sight of quiet anchorages and visiting charming coves and harbours. In this issue, Duncan Kent reveals his selection of the best sail and motor boats under 40ft suitable for adventurous cruising along the coast (page 28). As Duncan highlights, coastal cruising…

The largest gathering of Whitbread veterans in sailing history was held in September. A total of 83 veterans met for the 50th anniversary of the first Whitbread Round the World Race at a reunion held in MDL’s Ocean Village, Southampton. Crew from 38 yachts including Sayula II, Adventure, Heath’s Condor and British Soldier were among the guests to receive the event’s OGR-Whitbread gold coin. It was an emotional evening as the veterans caught up with old sailing friends and former rivals in the company of the crews preparing to sail around the world in the Ocean Globe (OGR), a race in the spirit of the original Whitbread Round the World Race from 1973. Veterans visited the seven former Whitbread yachts entered in the OGR including Maiden, Pen Duick VI, and…

Eric Forsyth, who spent 50 years cruising the world’s oceans, most of them aboard his Westsail 42, has died aged 91 after a short illness. Born in England, the skipper emigrated to Canada in 1957 and then to the USA in 1960. He was a recipient of the Seven Seas Award, and a Blue Water Medal Winner for his 2000 cruise to the Antarctic circle on the Peninsular at 67°S; he also completed two global circumnavigations – westabout via the Panama Canal and eastabout via Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Born in Bolton in 1932, Eric Forsyth went to Bolton School before attending Manchester University on a small scholarship in the 1950s, where he joined the University Air Squadron; after graduation, he became a fighter pilot flying Meteor…

More than 100 classic yachts, working boats and open boats with 320 skippers, crews, family and friends travelling by sea, road, rail or ferry took part in the Old Gaffer Association’s OGA60 Jubilee celebrations in early August at Ipswich and Levington, Suffolk. The event at Beacon Marina, Ipswich, welcomed the return of 15 of the OGA60 Round Britain Cruise fleet, and celebrated 60 years of the Association for Gaff Rig Sailing. Events included a Parade of Sail in thundery conditions to Suffolk Yacht Harbour, a Jubilee Cruise to Chatham and a charity auction, which raised £2,500 for the East Anglian Sailing Trust. An OGA60 Jubilee East Coast Race saw five boats retire, leaving 20 finishers who had battled in strong winds for three or four hours. The ‘grand finale’ was…

SOUTH COAST & CHANNEL ISLANDS For sale The Island Trust sail training charity is ‘very reluctantly’ considering the options of ‘sale or mothballing’ its 1906 Gaff Yawl, Moosk, and the 2008-launched Pegasus, which is a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter design. The Plymouth-based trust, now in its 50th year, will continue to provide sail training opportunities for young people with special needs, disabilities and those experiencing hardship and deprivation, on its 96ft topsail schooner Johanna Lucretua. These changes will lead to a reduction in staffing. Simon Dobson, chairman of the trustees, said: “The trust aims to navigate the present challenges and emerge stronger and better equipped to inspire and educate young people for many years to come.” ■ www.theislandtrust.org.uk Litter laden A wooden sailing yacht laden with thousands of plastic bottles,…

For the benefit of South Coast sailors, I should explain that one of the chief attractions of sailing on the East Coast is that there’s hardly any water here. This makes sinking a lot more difficult and altogether more challenging for PBO readers hoping to feature in Learning From Experience. Nevertheless, in that regard, lifting-keel trailer-sailers such as my Sailfish 18 are particularly well adapted to our local conditions as demonstrated by the owner who sank – trailer and all – in a pot-hole on the A12. Among the ‘lessons learned’ were that the owner had seriously underestimated the length of tow rope needed to tie up to the RNLI inshore lifeboat, and that letting off distress flares on the A12 is frowned upon by the bomb squad. Apart from…

The problem with waves is that they may be the wrong length for your vessel. For example, a 1,000ft container vessel might find that very long waves cause stress on her keel which is not fully supported evenly. A hogging or sagging stress may occur and fractures caused by this type of wave have been blamed for the sudden disappearance of many large vessels. However, the same very long waves may cause no problems at all for our little boats while we happily ride up and down them. I say happily, but this may not relate to an unfortunate crew suffering motion or sea sickness. Hogging is the name given to stress on a ship’s keel and hull that can cause the centre of the keel to bend upward when…

Checks while afloat ■ Problems which are blindingly obvious afloat can be virtually impossible to locate ashore, so take the opportunity to mark any leaks and creaks ready for work ashore. Hull/deck joins, cleats, stanchions and other deck fittings are typical culprits. ■ The same applies to the engine, especially the stern gear and engine mounts. It’s much easier to locate problems when the engine is running in the water. ■ If your boat will be lifted onto a trailer, take the chance to service the hitch, hubs, brakes and tyres without the boat in the way. ■ If you can, service the engine now. This allows the engine and filters to be thoroughly coated with fresh oil and corrosion inhibitors, and distributes antifreeze through the cooling system. Change the…

Strip planking Modern strip-planked boats use timber – typically lightweight rot-resistant species such as cedar or Douglas fir – with a loose tongue and groove profile, allowing them to neatly conform to the hull shape and giving space for thickened epoxy glue. They are typically built over laminated frames that become part of the final structure and therefore don’t require a mould that is subsequently discarded. Often a couple of thinner outer layers of double-diagonal planking are added outside the strip planking, creating a monocoque structure that’s extremely stiff but lighter than conventional fibreglass construction. Strip planking is therefore also ideal for one-off designs and short production runs. The whole structure can then be sealed from water ingress and impact damage with epoxy. Today Ipswich-based Spirit Yachts is probably the best-known yard…

Centreline timbers The centreline of a vessel requires a timber that’s strong, durable and long lasting. Oak Pros: strong traditional choice, often allowing the option of grown pieces with stem construction. Cons: lengths of long, clear timber are hard to find. Green timber is prone to movement as it seasons. Expensive. Iroko Pros: stable timber available in long lengths, often able to provide wide boards which is important when looking at constructing hogs. Represents relative value for money. Works well for lamination when creating curved stems or stern posts. Cons: often hit and miss in terms of quality. Opepe Pros: stable timber available in long lengths. Reasonably priced, heavy timber. Cons: can check heavily in sunshine; if working outside keep it covered or apply a priming coat. Can occasionally reject…

Santa Cruz harbour, in the Galapagos, is a rolly place and the water is murky. We’d arrived here from Panama, having quit our jobs and set sail from Edinburgh, Scotland, two years earlier: me, my wife Helen and two sons aged five and seven – on a mission to see the world without flying. I was happy with the performance of our Maxi 120 on the passage from Panama, so there wasn’t too much to do in preparation for the 3,500 mile journey to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. I managed to get someone to weld a repair on the broken jaws of the spinnaker pole, and straighten the bracket on the mast car that had led to the break in the first place. My brother and his wife, Lisa, had…

North Sails’s new partnership with 727 Sailbags will provide a second life for old sails and reduce the amount ending up in landfill. Every year, 727 Sailbags transforms an estimated 50,000m2 of 100% recycled sailcloth into handcrafted bags, clothing, and home decorations. With 18 loft locations across Europe, North Sails will enable easy disposal of old sails for upcycling, and will contribute around 10% of the raw materials used by 727 Sailbags annually. ■ www.northsails.com/en-uk/pages/loft-finder…

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race-that enables people from all walks of life to set sail on a circumnavigation–or legs of it – has begun. Light conditions and strong tidal flow made for a tactical start of the 40,000-mile circumnavigation on 3 September. Race director Mark Light said: “After a short course in the Solent, the fleet headed east around the Isle of Wight and into the English Channel where they’ll find stronger south easterly breezes to carry them through towards the north-west tip of France and down across Biscay.” Hannah Brewis, 27, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, is the youngest skipper. Hannah, who learnt to sail on Rutland Water and is leading the Washington DC yacht, said: “The Clipper Race is a unique opportunity for our crew to test their mettle…

Try astern All Jon Mendez’s tips for turning in a tight space apply to all vessels (PBO, September 2023) but I have an extra tip for sailing boats if the main problem is when going astern. It’s worth practising going astern in open water to understand exactly how your vessel behaves. When entering a windy, narrow passage seeking a mooring, it is then worth considering going in astern. This has two advantages. Firstly, it gives you a greater chance of exiting without hitting anything, and secondly, it increases your confidence in going on to a pontoon astern, especially if the weather forecast is wind and or rain ‘on the nose’. Andrew Sabourin Engine corrosion I was interested to read about Barry Pickthall’s experience with his 'yellow' engine intercooler corrosion (PBO,…

Last issue I was on about the iniquity of marinas, the declared intention of some of their owners to squeeze yachties till the pips squeaked, and the general unpleasantness of the concreting over of Britain’s foreshores and harbours. Putting our money where our mouth is, the Llewellyn home fleet eschews concrete and pontoons, preferring the rough peasant option of the swinging mooring. We like the swinging mooring because of its ruggedness, its low environmental impact, and because it is cheap. Or used to be. Recently the Crown Estate, conscious of its sacred duty to keep His Majesty in tweed suits, sent a letter informing us that the annual charge for the mooring site was going to increase by 37%, take it or leave it, justifying this with an alphabet salad…

Biodiesel does not currently enjoy a good reputation among the boating community. Stories of blocked filters, diesel bug infestations, damaged fuel lines and corroded pistons have put boat owners off the very idea of using it. However, a new generation of renewable diesel that is chemically identical to fossil-based diesel but cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 90% could prove to be the quickest and simplest route to a cleaner, greener boating future. It sounds almost too good to be true and yet this fuel already exists and is currently in use in some cars, aeroplanes and even commercial boats. So what is it, how is it made, how come it’s not yet readily available to leisure boat owners, and is it really the silver bullet we’ve all been waiting for?…

One of the delights of coastal cruising is discovering and exploring new anchorages, harbours, beaches, towns and villages. A long passage at sea is fine if you’re voyaging from country to country, but you can’t beat sailing within eyeball distance of the coast, where the gulls and cormorants swoop and dive while seals lollop about on headland rocks or hidden beaches. Cruising under sail can be exhilarating, demanding, and even a tad frightening occasionally, but ultimately it’s thoroughly fulfilling. While it sounds easy to the uninitiated, sailing along coastal waters is often more challenging than a simple A-to-B offshore passage where your main concern is wind and tide, not scary-looking rocks, sand bars, daunting harbour entrances and rocky anchorages. However, with careful planning and a sound boat, the fun factor…

Diesel bug is the boat owner’s enemy. This microscopic collection of yeasts, moulds and bacteria absorbed from the air lives for 24 hours and doubles in numbers every 20 minutes. It’s the dead organisms that build up to make that sludge. Dirty fuel, or sludge, can get into fuel lines, block filters and injectors, cause internal corrosion, reduce horsepower and even cause engine failure. And the fuel tank is a wonderful place for them to live… access to food (carbon), water (so they can grow), oxygen to breathe and the perfect temperature. Sold! So when Stu Davies warned me we might find diesel bug in the tanks of our Maxi 84 Project Boat, I waited with bated breath. The 28ft cruiser had been sitting in a boatyard for 18 months,…

SailTies sailing log app SailTies started as an easy way to create a simple and streamlined personal log of your activity afloat via an app. Since a soft launch a couple of seasons ago it has developed into a more sophisticated product that includes similar functions to those that have made Strava an eminently popular app for cyclists. A push of a button at each end of a voyage is all that’s needed to record your track, total distance sailed and time at sea. At the same time, the software will collate photos you take while en route, pinning them to your track. Collaboration with other crew is easy, including adding photos and comments. The software keeps cumulative running totals of total distance and time at sea, while everything is…

Saildrives revolutionised engine installation in many smaller vessels. The combination of a compact engine/drive package and relatively easy installation with no propeller shaft alignment to worry about has made them very popular. However, like every other piece of onboard equipment, the saildrive requires regular maintenance. This consists of changing the oil annually, checking for water ingress (identified by the oil being a milky white colour), checking the external fairing gaiter to ensure it is still firmly in position and the vitally important sealing gaiter that actually prevents water from entering the boat. Originally Volvo recommended changing this gaiter on an annual basis, but the current recommendations are for an annual inspection and a change once every seven years (unless an inspection shows early deterioration). Changing the gaiter is not difficult…

For our honeymoon in June 1962, Mary and I decided to go touring and give sailing a rest. But we missed the sea and when my father-in-law’s cruising yacht became ready for collection, we cut our special holiday in Cornwall short to help him sail Wataita home from Poole, Dorset, to Chichester Harbour. Wataita was a Dell Quay Shearwater, a 22ft cold-moulded plywood sloop of 1.5 tons displacement and 4ft draught with centreboard down. Borrowing the boat later that summer for a short trip, Mary – a keen dinghy sailor – had her appetite for cruising thoroughly whetted and I found the responsibility of skippering much more satisfying than the navigating and watchkeeping I had done before with the Island Cruising Club. That winter we made plans for a longer…

ENGINES Mysterious oil leak in Volvo 2002 engine Q I have a Volvo 2002 18hp engine which has developed a mysterious symptom, the cause of which I hope you can help diagnose. The engine, new in 1995, powers my 34ft cruising yacht, so it’s not as if it has worked tremendously hard all its life. Indeed with routine maintenance and a few odd replacements e.g. the starter motor and thermostat, it has been very reliable.The last time it was used it involved a two-hour motor at 2,200rpm back to my mooring. When I came to pack up and turn off the engine seacock I could see that the front of the engine bay was covered in oil and the same at the back of the engine – so almost everywhere.…

A circumnavigation to commemorate the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race saw 14 yachts, representing eight countries and crew from 23 nations, set sail from Cowes, Isle of Wight, on 10 September, embarking on a four-leg, 27,000-mile sprint around the globe. In keeping with the first Whitbread race, the retro Ocean Globe Race (OGR) challenges sailors to use paper charts, sextants and celestial navigation. The skippers and crew were given a rousing send-off on their eight-month adventure with talks from Whitbread veteran crew earlier in the week, when they met for a 50th anniversary reunion. OGR race founder Don McIntyre advised the departing sailors: “Thanks for your passion, your commitment, your blood, sweat and tears over the years to get here. The thing I want to stress is, just enjoy…

WORTH £475 Here’s your chance to win an Ocean Signal rescueME PLB3 AIS Personal Locator Beacon – simply by completing an online PBO reader survey questionnaire. Established in 1967, the values of Practical Boat Owner magazine have not changed: we’re here to make life afloat easier. Boat owning can be an expensive hobby, but our mission is to make it as fun, accessible and affordable as possible. From engines to electrics, seamanship, gear tests, reader restorations and expert opinions, PBO is packed with practical, money-saving DIY advice. Now, we’d love to hear from you, the readers, to find out what you think about Britain’s biggest-selling boating magazine so we can continue to deliver the content you want to read. Help us to keep our finger on the pulse by sharing…

After six weeks of recovery in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary I was moved to the Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick, which has a grandstand view over the south entrance to Lerwick Harbour: the green headland of the Ness of Sound with a crofthouse surrounded by square fields bright in the morning sun looking across the shining water to the Bressay light (Stevenson brothers, 1858, fl(2) W 20s). For those who missed the last issue of PBO, I was hit by a boat at the Brae Regatta in July, and left with a broken shoulder blade and several rib and pelvis breaks. In Lerwick’s hospital, my day began with watching a shellfish boat pottering round the rocky bay, laying and lifting creels. After that came the Northlink ferry from Aberdeen, with its…

While electric propulsion may well become the norm for new boats in the future, a significant number of the recreational boats today will still be fully serviceable for decades to come and given design constraints, cost and the environmental impact of scrapping engines or even complete boats, many existing small boats might still have no alternative but to rely on a diesel engine. The emissions from small boat engines may be relatively small but boat owners of all types are generally very environmentally conscious and hence the Inland Waterways Association, (waterways.org.uk) (IWA) Royal Yachting Association (rya.org.uk/) (RYA) and The Cruising Association (theca.org.uk) (CA) have formed a joint working group to consider the use of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) as a potentially more sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel for legacy small…

The aim of the adventure was to become the first person to successfully circumnavigate all the islands in England and Wales. A big enough challenge in itself, but when you’re attempting it in a 4m RS Aero single-handed dinghy it makes it just that much more difficult! The motivation behind the circumnavigation was raising funds for two amazing charities, Cancer Research and Oakhaven Hospice. Having lost my father, several uncles, aunties and my mother-in-law to cancer, I first embarked on my sailing fundraising in 2015 when I sailed a Laser dinghy around the Isle of Wight and raised over £3,000. After you’ve completed any adventure one of the most common questions people ask you is “What’s your next adventure?” For me, that turned out to be sailing from Land’s End…

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Seeing the materials that go into the hull of a 40ft yacht flat-packed and stacked on a single large pallet is an arresting sight (see page 56). Yet that’s exactly what happens at RM Yachts in La Rochelle, a well-known French boatbuilder that has been constructing state-of-the-art plywood yachts for more than 30 years. Why build boats from plywood these days? “It’s very lightweight but also very stiff, which is good for performance and for sailing qualities,” RM’s Léa Laurent told me when I visited the factory during the La Rochelle boat show. “It’s also a flexible, artisanal kind of production and more environmentally friendly than fibreglass.” Laurent says almost all RM clients understand the advantages of the construction method “before they come to us.” However, that’s not always the…

Repairs, replacements and restorations are very much part and parcel of boat ownership. At some point most of us will have to tackle a small, niggling woodwork repair ourselves, or undertake a larger-scale project. However, are you making the correct choices when it comes to choosing the timber to use? Like most items associated with boats, there is not a definitive right or wrong approach, but guidance is useful. We often think of stout working boats as built of larch or oak and finer yachts dripping in teak and mahogany. This is not always the golden rule though. It’s worth keeping in mind the three key points when looking for the right wood for your project: durability, movement and structural integrity. If your choice in material is informed by these…

The Atlantic circuit has often been seen as a year-long adventure, crossing the Atlantic in late November or December to the Caribbean, with a return to Europe starting in May. There are good reasons for this timetable, the overriding one being the hurricane season. This runs from the beginning of June through to the end of November. Hurricanes can happen outside of the ‘official season’, but they are rare – although there can be named storms in May. By departing towards the end of November, with the bulk of the crossing in December, we maximise the Caribbean season, often coming back to Europe in May. Interestingly, for the actual crossing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, statistics show that the wind tends to become stronger as we get into…

Cruising from Chichester to Devon and the Channel Islands does not seem particularly adventurous today – though how many of us would want to try navigating by dead reckoning? Boats have got larger, faster and more comfortable but the biggest change over the last 60 years must be the sheer number of boats. So although most aspects of sailing have got easier, it can be more difficult to find a berth when you arrive. New marinas have increased the capacity but demand is high in summer. Portland When it was built by the Admiralty in the mid 19th century (1872) Portland was the largest manmade harbour in the world and is still the fourth largest. Royal Navy operations ceased in 1995 and the former Naval base is now a commercial…

Windsurfers It’s quite hard to work out when people are in trouble and when you should offer to help. Often just standing by until they’ve rested is enough. If they’re hurt you have to weigh up calling for professional help against getting them ashore as fast as possible. If their craft has to be abandoned tie a note on it and inform the coastguard – otherwise a full-scale search could be started when it’s found. Kite surfers Personal water craft Canoes Once the paddler is safe, the easiest way of retrieving a canoe is to get it on board.…