Innehållsförteckning för February 2024 från Practical Boat Owner

Iconic British institution Like Katie Carr (page 40), my childhood was punctuated by The Shipping Forecast. The walls of our Cornish family home echoed with Radio 4, and the names of the sea areas… Dogger, Fisher, German Bight. It was a poetic reminder that we lived on an island nation and that those at sea are sometimes in peril, a sober realisation that was brought home to me on 19 December 1981 when the crew of the coaster Union Star and the brave RNLI volunteers of the Penlee lifeboat, Solomon Browne lost their lives in heavy seas and hurricane force winds off west Cornwall. Later, when living aboard our Sparkman & Stephens 34 in the Caribbean, I’d listen to The Shipping Forecast online to feel connected to home waters. The…

The invaluable contributions of volunteers across sailing and boating communities have been celebrated by The Princess Royal, President of the RYA, and guests at an awards ceremony in central London. The 2023 RYA Volunteer Awards were held in November with 81 accolades presented across five categories: RYA Community Awards; Francis Elkin Award; Honor Preston Award; RYA Awards; and Honorary Life Membership. Some 46 Lifetime Commitment Awards were celebrated and a further 25 recipients were honoured with Outstanding Contribution Awards for their crucial roles in club establishment and maintenance to race officiating, training, coaching, fundraising, inspiring disadvantaged groups through sailing, and more. Jack Kennedy was one of the six Young Volunteer Award recipients, who started volunteering aged 14 at Strangford Lough Yacht Club in Northern Ireland, progressed through instructor roles and…

Visitors to the third edition of BoatLife – Powered by Suzuki can expect themed days to showcase the variety of the recreational marine industry. Running from 15-18 February at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, the event will begin with Innovation Day on the Thursday, highlighting cutting-edge technology and pioneering trends; followed by Wellness Day on Friday; then Discovery Day on Saturday for boating newcomers; and Sustainability Day on Sunday with a spotlight on eco-friendly practices. The GJW Direct-sponsored activity pool zone will once again see Rockley Watersports professionals offering have-ago sessions on kayaks and paddleboards. There will be more than 100 models of powerboats and rigid inflatable boats on display, a boat angling zone, talks on the main stage and stands from equipment suppliers and manufacturers. Richard Dove,…

The 2023 Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards were presented to Tom Slingsby and Kirsten Neuschäfer in a contest decided by an expert panel and a public vote. South African Neuschäfer was named female 2023 Rolex World Sailor of the Year after writing her name into the history books by becoming the first woman to win a solo non-stop round the world yacht race. The 2023 Golden Globe Race winner also came to the rescue of a fellow sailor, Tapio Lehtinen during the event, after his yacht sank. Three-times winner Slingsby was presented with the men’s award at the event in Malaga, in recognition of guiding Australia SailGP team to a third consecutive title. The Magenta Project won the 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award. The AC40 was named Boat…

SOUTH COAST & CHANNEL ISLANDS Design tweaks Changes have been made to designs for Elizabeth Harbour, Jersey, which is being reconfigured to increase freight capacity and improve passenger experience as part of the St Helier Harbour Master Plan. The changes are an update to the existing planning application, following feedback from stakeholders. Among the amendments is a reduction in the volume of material to be dredged by 30%. Approximately half of this material will be processed and reused in the Elizabeth Harbour redevelopment. ■ www.pbo.co.uk/plan-update Multi-agency rescue Two people were rescued after an 18m Princess motor cruiser caught fire just off Ventnor, Isle of Wight. HM Coastguard received a Mayday from the boat at 1020, 11 November, and tasked both RNLI lifeboats from Bembridge, along with the Bembridge Coastguard Rescue…

When I read the letter from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Registry of Shipping and Seamen department, my heart sank. They were going digital. There’s a cartoon doing the rounds on Facebook: a woman at a railway ticket office, with the clerk saying something along the lines of ‘OK, you just go home, log on to our website, create an account, buy your ticket with your credit card and download it to your smartphone, then come back at your train time. Which bit of ‘easier and more convenient’ don’t you get?’ I felt like that lady as I burrowed under the piano for Karima’s grab bag. The letter included a lengthy list of documents that I must have sent them when I first registered her, so I didn’t see why…

She was one of the saddest boats I’d ever seen, but her lines were beautiful. Olleanna, an Olle Enderlein-designed OE 32 with a dark blue hull, caught my eye in a way that few boats ever have; it was love at first sight as I stared down at her from the dock at the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town. In South Africa, we don’t see a lot of foreign designs other than the run-of-the-mill French production boats from Beneteau, Dufour and Jeanneau, so Olleanna stood out. I started asking around and found she’d been entered in the 2018 Golden Globe Race by her Norwegian owner and skipper, Are Wiig. Are was in fourth position in the race when he suffered a knockdown and capsized around 400 miles south-west…

Enough of equipment, what about cooking? You can make most things in a boat galley if pushed, but probably won’t want to. Quick and easy meals are good, and having a few hacks up your sleeve helps. One of mine is cream cheese, especially the garlic and herb variety. ‘Chicken Merly’ ingredients: ■ 2 small chicken breasts■ 4 spring onions, sliced■ Good handful of sliced mushrooms■ 75ml white wine■ ½ tub cream cheese, preferably garlic & herb variety■ Olive oil Slice the chicken breasts and lightly brown them in a little olive oil. Lower the heat slightly and add most of the sliced spring onions and mushrooms, reserve some of the green onion tops to garnish. Cook over a medium heat until the vegetables soften (about 10 minutes). Add the…

Repairing glassfibre can seem like a mystical art with so many products and techniques to know about. Get it wrong and it’ll need redoing within the year. There are numerous ways to repair glassfibre so just because you’re not mimicking your boatyard neighbour doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. It’s helpful to understand the basics to avoid the pitfalls that lead to bad repairs. Any repair is going to follow these four steps: ■ Surface preparation ■ Application of resin ■ Gap filling ■ Finish You can buy resin systems and product ranges which take the guesswork out of some aspects, and each comes with its own instructions, but a bit of knowhow will prevent you from getting sucked into the sales pitch and buying supplies you don’t need or…

Sailing is a sport that can provide thrills and spills if that’s what you enjoy. But it can also open up a world of tiny harbours and heavenly anchorages for cruisers who prefer a slower pace of life. Many of us started out as dinghy sailors and gradually moved up in size as family demands or inclination dictated. Fraser and I are no exception. Before we met, we’d both been exposed to sailing as teenagers, and as a couple we have owned dinghies, trailer-sailers, then small- and medium-sized cruising yachts. As relative youngsters, we had neither time nor money for long term cruising, but now we are retired we have both time and a bit of money saved to indulge in our hobby. But here’s the rub. Over the years,…

The October 2023 issue of PBO presented a selection of mains electricity-powered dehumidifiers, all of which are effective but expensive and cost money to run. They also assume that some ‘helpful’ person does not unplug the shore power supply. I don't have my boat lifted out of the water during the winter for several reasons. Stating the obvious, sea water is warmer than sub-zero nights that freeze an entire boat. Therefore, if there is any damp, the last place condensation will occur is in the warmer bilges. Also, when stormy winds blow, the boat can heel rather than be held rigidly by the localised pressure points of the cradle or props holding it upright. Atmospheric humidity is less when the winter sun is shining than during grey, overcast days. Ten…

A new report by the International Council of Marine Industry Associations which looks into ‘Pathways to Propulsion Decarbonisation for the Recreational Marine Industry’ has been hailed as the first of its kind, outlining how different technologies can support the reduction of carbon emissions from recreational boats. With a focus on vessels under 24m/78.7ft in length, the report found that using sustainable biofuels, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) in a conventional internal combustion engine is better for the environment than switching to electric propulsion, and that opting for electric motors and batteries will have more impact on the environment over a boat’s lifecycle than sticking with a diesel internal combustion engine. This is because leisure boat engines are run, on average, between 35-48 hours a year, making it hard to…

A teen whose calm mayday call via VHF radio summoned rescuers to save his granddad, has been praised by the RNLI. On 23 September, 13-year-old Henry and his grandfather David Richards (70) were taking part in a race in St Austell Bay, Cornwall when David fell overboard. Alone on the 5m yacht, Henry collapsed the spinnaker before using the radio to make a Mayday call. Falmouth Coastguard tasked both Fowey RNLI lifeboats, and a Coastguard helicopter to attend. Henry, who lives in Par and has been sailing since the age of six, said: “Pops was wearing a lifejacket so I didn’t think he would drown, but I knew he’d get cold, so I knew I needed to call the Coastguard for help.” Henry’s mum has been on a VHF radio course…

People of all ages and backgrounds have been encouraged to engage with historic vessels around Great Britain and Northern Ireland through photography, volunteering, conservation, online activities, and skills-based training, for the National Historic Ships UK 2023 awards. Historian and TV presenter Dan Snow and young Norfolk sailor and boat restorer Ash Faire-Ring revealed the year’s winners and flagships aboard Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith, Scotland, in November. The ‘In All Weathers’ themed photography competition attracted nearly 500 entries. The Marsh Volunteer Awards honouring ‘the lifeblood of the sector’ saw Friends of Lady Daphne based in Cornwall win the group category, while Colin Barton from The Excelsior Trust in Suffolk scooped the individual category. The Shipshape Award was awarded jointly to Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company of Woodbridge, and Pilgrim of Brixham…

Plans are under way for a celebration of the first Yarmouth Scow being built in 1924. ‘Scow 100’ will be held on Sunday, 21 July 2024 at Yarmouth Sailing Club (YSC), to coincide with day two of YSC Scows Week and all scow sailors are welcome. The non-racing centenary muster will include a sail past and salute, and an exhibition of Yarmouth Scow’s history, from its creation by boatbuilder Theo Smith and apprentice Bernard Hayward to the thriving scow sailing on the River Yar and the western waters of the Solent; the clinker design has spawned hundreds of wooden and GRP boats, all of which have stood the test of time. Co-ordinator of Scow 100 and trustee of YSC, Pete Giles, said: “We will be delighted to welcome sailors of…

The first golden rule when considering buying a wooden boat is… don’t. The second golden rule is that if someone offers to give you a wooden boat for nothing it will cost you even more. The third is that when you’ve fallen in love with that beautiful sheerline, honey-coloured varnish and hand-crafted cabinetry there really is no point in getting a survey, because you know that unless the marine surveyor says it’s planked in kitchen-carcass chipboard you’re going to buy it anyway. Yep, I actually paid money for my wooden boat and the process has turned this cynic into a romantic, and it can for you if you closely observe one more golden rule. It’s been a long journey, and I owe much of my awakening to my hippie carpenter…

When sailing a little open boat at sea there are times when an outboard engine can get you into a fast drying river or harbour when the wind has died and the ebbing tide is too strong for rowing. Sail and oar boaters will plan to avoid this situation but, as we know, the ‘best laid plans…’ In this situation, an outboard motor can help you to avoid a cold night afloat waiting for the next flood tide and hoping the weather remains manageable. It does not hurt to have a back up and I keep my outboard on tickover when entering Rye Harbour in particular. The problem most small dinghies have is where to mount the outboard so as not to foul the tiller and mainsheet and not to…

Unless you’ve had a very large paper bag over your head for the past five years, you can hardly fail to have heard of Don McIntyre and his growing number of round-the-world and trans-oceanic yacht races. McIntyre’s events are recreations of races from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, when most of the competitors were amateurs and the boats were often standard production cruisers or, on occasions, home-built. Those were the days before heavily sponsored, full-time professional sailors, GPS navigation with pin-point accuracy, shore-based routing teams, software that tells you whether you’re sailing the boat to within 1% of its optimum, and foil-borne, carbon fibre racing machines costing astronomical amounts of money. The first of McIntyre’s events to capture the public’s imagination was the Golden Globe Race in 2018, held to…

Leisure marine engines are generally used so little that they tend to corrode out rather than wear out, so until recently there has been little incentive to retrofit a hybrid installation. Prices remain high and deep-cycle lithium batteries are equally expensive, so most boaters stick with what they’ve got. But things are changing as more production boatbuilders begin fitting hybrids as options, and the manufacturers of the internal combustion engine see hybrid – or even full-electric – as the future. Economies of scale in the automotive sector are also bringing prices down, and increasing numbers of boaters have come to enjoy the benefits of silent electric cruising. The large battery banks required also replaces the need to run generators overnight at anchor. Here are some of the most promising advances…

Aside from cracks and crunches the most common type of DIY glassfibre repair is an osmosis repair. What is osmosis? Gel coat isn’t fully waterproof. It slowly absorbs water, a process called osmosis, if submerged for long periods of time. The formulation of gel coat used for hulls has got better since the 1980s when boatbuilders first started using it but even now gel coat used below the waterline needs sealing from the water. This is usually done with an epoxy barrier coat. Epoxy is waterproof, so an epoxy resin won’t suffer from osmosis. What are osmosis blisters? Once water gets into the gel coat it slowly reacts with the polyester laminate. The product of the reaction, which includes acetic acid, has a larger volume than its components so it…

Owning two boats was a blessing. My Nimbus 365 was kept on a nearby dry-stack, while my Trusty T23 was on a drying mooring in front of my house in Chichester Harbour. However, the required maintenance, to say nothing of the cost, was becoming increasingly difficult as I grew older. So when I saw a vessel that would dry out, fitting between a wall and some piles on the mooring by my house, I began to wonder if I should downsize to one boat. One day I was moored up at Town Quay, Lymington, in my T23 and walked to Yacht Haven marina. Carpe diem I decided to take the coastal route back and spotted a twin-engined Mitchell Classique 28 for sale, it seemed to be just the boat to…

GAS FITTING Considering refillable gas bottles Q Are refillable gas bottles safe for marine use? I have 904 Campingaz-type cylinders on my Feeling 32 and started looking at other options due to the cost of replacing them. My daughter has recently completed a camper van conversion and she has gone for refillable cylinders. Price-wise the cost of filling a refillable cylinder is around £3-4 for a 904-sized cylinder, which is a considerable saving, although you do have to pay a significant outlay for the cylinder initially. Although the cost saving is attractive, safety comes first, as does the availability of the LPG to refill the bottle. Are any of your experts able to confirm if refillable cylinders – such as those from Gaslow – are safe for marine use? Pete…

A solo sailor was rescued from a ‘critically damaged’ 14m (46ft) yacht, around 600 miles, west of Cornwall, following a two-day rescue operation led by HM Coastguard. Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft, along with French aircraft and a merchant ship, responded when the Norwegian-registered vessel lost its mast and began taking on water in high seas, during Storm Ciarán. The first distress call was received by HM Coastguard at around 1130 on 2 November. Due to the yacht’s position and the weather in the Atlantic, the first responding vessel estimated their arrival to be 20 hours later but still changed course and proceeded. A French Navy FA50 Falcon was launched on 2 November evening ‘to locate the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean and confirm that its captain was alive’, the…

A Rigid inflatable boat (RIB) driver is starting a three-year jail term after his passenger died when the RIB he was piloting collided with a buoy in Poole Harbour. Morgan George Smith, 21, of Northampton, was under the influence of alcohol and was driving at nearly 30 knots at the time of the accident, which followed a regatta prize-giving event at Poole Yacht Club. At 1218 on 2 May 2022 the RIB collided with the Diver Buoy – an illuminated buoy that stands 4m above the waterline in Poole’s Middle Ship Channel. The impact threw 24-year-old David Haw and another passenger into the water. While the other passenger was able to make their way back to the boat, Mr Haw was not located. Dorset Police were called at 0159 after…

Hello new friend Maybe one of the best days in a boat owner’s life is the day the boat is sold (Goodbye, dear friend, editor’s letter, PBO, December 2023). When I sold my Tornado 31 after 20 years of ownership it was a sad day followed by five sad and grey years. I sail single-handed and had found 31ft quite hard to manage at 66 years. Five years later I said to my wife: “Someday I will buy another boat.” And then she said the most beautiful words: “If you really want it buy it now.” The same afternoon I found a wonderful Beneteau Evasion 22 and I bought it. Since then all my days have been the best. Now I’m 72 but I can easily sail this boat. Last…

Last spring a friend, the owner of a beautiful Endurance, asked me if I would like to come for a cruise on his other boat. This turned out to be HMS Albion, 20,000 tons of pure lethality, carrying a large crew of Royal Marine Commandos and Naval personnel. I found myself on the bridge as we passed through the Dover Strait, crowded with big ships behaving like dodgem cars. Hannah the navigator reclined in her padded chair, coolly considering vectors. But there was no mistaking the tension. Straits are great breeders of tension. An entry-level version can be found in the Kyles of Bute, where the island of Bute comes close to the mainland. It is studded with islands, a wreck and a car ferry. One of the main features…

The English Channel, as with all relatively narrow channels, can be challenging, especially when the predominant sou’westerlies are blowing hard. And even if the weather and sea conditions happen to be favourable, there’s always the constant commercial shipping to worry about. Of course, weather can be forecast relatively accurately ahead of your intended passage, but the movements of the prolific marine traffic can’t be calculated until you’re out there among it. That said, hundreds of small boats cross the Channel safely every day, winter and summer. All it takes is a sound vessel, careful planning, a good VHF radio, a radar reflector, and a decent pair of binoculars. Nowadays, most will back up this basic inventory with a chart plotter, AIS and radar to be sure of seeing and being…

IKEA Tillreda portable induction hob Almost 20 years ago my husband persuaded me that crewing on a yacht was a gentle pastime, bathed in sunshine on a calm sea, gin and tonic in hand! Of course, what he didn’t let on was that preparing meals in the ‘kitchen’ would be like cooking in a cupboard with very limited equipment and a fridge the size of the average supermarket basket. Since then many miles of crewing, chartering and syndicate-sharing have honed our galley skills. We now have our own Bavaria 32. The following are some of the things learned along the way. First things first: do an audit of the galley! Know what you have, where it all is and where the really important omissions are. Whether you’re taking over a…

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There is a broad diversity of keel types found within the boating spectrum. By far the most common type used for sailing yachts is the bolted-on fin keel, usually made of cast iron, which is bolted through the underside of a GRP hull with substantial stainless steel bolts. Other types of keel include bilge keels, shoal keels, encapsulated keels, lifting keels and canting keels, as used on racing yachts. While iron is the most common type of ballast, lead is also widely used. Cement or concrete is sometimes used in combination with scrap iron as ballast for wooden and steel boats, but this can lead to steel rusting from the inside and is not considered good practice. Some modern racing yachts have water ballast which can be pumped into tanks…

When we reached Horta on the second leg of our electric sailboat circumnavigation, my partner James stayed on Cetacea and I rowed in alone. As the gap widened between me and the 1984 Baba 30 that we’d just spent 29 days sailing from Bermuda to the Azores, I knew we’d made the right decision converting to an electric motor. We’d pulled into Horta with 31% of our propulsion battery power remaining (71 generous amp-hours) after using the electric motor without compunction and to good effect, keeping our tacks to a minimum and our angle tight to our destination. After clearing in and enjoying a fortnight on Faial, we finally sailed to the place we’d hoped to reach for well over two decades: Velas on São Jorge in the Azores. My…

We have used the electric motor far more freely than we ever did the diesel. The sound of the diesel sent our cat, Beluga Greyfinger, into hiding. The vibration loosened random fasteners and the stink permeated the boat. Starting the diesel engine was a frustrating disappointment, every time, and we avoided it assiduously. Conversely, the electric motor is always ready. It’s quiet and never fills the cabin with exhaust fumes. There’s no need to discuss or overthink whether it’s the right time to use it. As we learned its strengths, we discovered that the quiet boost of our electric propulsion is a tremendous boon in a wide range of sailing situations that do not freak the cat out. At first, during the shakedown, the motor did not come into play…