With Maximus, our PBO Project boat ready for her shakedown voyage from Chichester to Poole, I turned my attention to passage planning. I dug out my old logbook and realised…

The day was approaching for Maximus’s shakedown cruise, a two-day voyage from Chichester to her new home at Cobbs Quay Marina, Poole. Before then, however, we needed to understand our…

Chichester’s Dell Quay boatyard had been Maximus’s home for two years – and felt like our second home too, since we’d acquired the Maxi 84 project boat. We’d spent long…

Upgrading electronics on Maximus seemed like a huge leap in the first weeks of ownership. We were still discovering new leaks and lockers, choosing antifouling and scraping the bottom. I…

On our PBO Project Boat Maximus we need sonar simply for measuring depth, but the advanced electronics of fish finders and forward-looking sonar can show shoals of fish and give…

A sailing cat on a boat

Cats have long enjoyed a relationship with sailors; living on trading, exploration and naval ships to control vermin, but it’s not often you see them on a 47ft yacht. Weighing…