Ben Meakins discovers the importance of wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when antifouling a hull – and issues some propitious advice
Ben Meakins
PBO Tested: 12 bosun’s chairs
Are you sitting comfortably? Let’s hope so – especially when climbing the mast. Ben Meakins tests the comfort, safety and build quality of 12 bosun’s chairs
Hatches fitted
Before the stringers, deck beams and hull sides go on was a good opportunity to add hatches to our Secret 20 build. These will allow access to the bilges -and…
Fillets galore
Once all the frames had been installed on the keel (see our last update), it was time to break out the laser level again and go around, truing up the…
PBO tested: Bilge cleaners
Ben Meakins gets down and dirty in the pursuance of the most effective way to clean oily, malodorous bilges
Dual-purpose cockpit table
When I bought Crusader, my Aqua Star Ocean Ranger 33, the table arrangement in the wheelhouse/saloon left a bit to be desired. Although the table itself was a beautiful piece…
Lift-up cockpit sole table
Cockpit table are great things on any boat but where to stow them when they’re not in use is always a headache. We saw the perfect arrangement for us on…
Is an umbrella really the most useless thing on a boat?
David Weston shows that nautical wisdom can be proved wrong
Cockpit table for a binnacle
Stuart Carr enables onboard alfresco dining with a table mounted on the binnacle
Clever anchor ball storage
A bright idea means Jeremy White’s anchor ball is never forgotten
Anchor Ball from a giant Lindor box
Ron Stark chocs up a successful means of hoisting a black ball day signal for a vessel at anchor
Black Friday PBO subscription offer – 50% off!
We’re offering a great deal for a subscription to Britain’s biggest-selling boating magazine! Get 50% off if you subscribe before the end of the weekend! PBO is full of practical…
DIY mast climbing device
John Gardner devises a hoist to take the strain out of going aloft
A pump for bone-dry bilges
Norman Eastwood assembles a bucket pump to remove the final few bits of water from his boat’s bilges
Rocna hard place
David Berry describes the unexpected problems he faced after purchasing a Rocna anchor for his Moody Eclipse, Aderyn Glas
Sailing a Secret 20
We took a trip to Brightlingsea to sail a Secret 20 while ours was in transit
Navtex: obsolete or essential?
Has Navtex been superseded by smartphones and the internet, or does it still have a role in modern sailing?
The PBO Great UK Antifouling Showdown
20 antifouling paints tested in 13 UK locations: which works best where you keep your boat?
PBO Tested: B&G Vulcan 5 chart plotter
Ben Meakins takes B&G’s new compact 5in multifunction display for a trial sail
PBO tested: Henri Lloyd Elite Racer Smock and Salopettes
One immediate thing that jumps out is the light weight of the oilskins. They are by far the lightest oilskins I’ve ever owned – and thus the least constrictive to…