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Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner

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    The Garmin chartplotter + 7 other options

    How to install a boat inverter

    Skin fittings and seacocks explained

    A man repairing a hull plank on a clinker-built boat

    Clinker-built boat repair: step-by-step

    A Mediterranean monk seal swimming

    Sailors urged to help protect the Mediterranean monk seal in Greece

    A person using a chartplotter on a boat

    A beginner’s guide to the chartplotter

    Read more top stories
    Boats moored in an anchorage using a shore line

    How to use a shore line to secure a boat at anchor

    Genevieve Leaper explains why, in some circumstances, using a shore line to keep the boat secure makes perfect sense

    A boat bow thruster motor on a workbench

    How does a boat bow thruster work?

    How does a boat bow thruster work? Mike Attree explains, and shares how he repaired this handy bit of kit on his own yacht

    Solo sailor Jazz Turner, first disabled person to complete a non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland, smiles at the voyage finish at Brighton Marina. Credit: Fergus Kennedy

    “I crawled 50m across rocks with an anchor on my back”: Jazz Turner’s record voyage

    Jazz Turner reflects on her circumnavigation achievement of being the first disabled person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the UK and Ireland

    Read more

    Boat maintenance

    A man using marine sealants on a boat

    Best marine sealants and adhesives for boat jobs

    A cockpit cushion on a boat

    How to make cockpit cushions

    A sailboat forestay before and after it was fixed after a knockdown

    Fixing a sailboat forestay after storm damage

    Wiring a marine dashboard panel on your boat

    A person painting wood oil on steps on a boat

    Moving from varnish to wood oil

    Defeating the Diesel Bug: One Tank, Two Clarke Pumps, an Inspection Hatch and a Lot of Elbow Grease

    Read more how to articles...

    Maintenance

    How I found the right electric engine for my boat after spending £25k

    An electric engine on a boat

    Felix Marks explains how he turned around the disastrous electric engine installation on his Tofinou day-sailer

    Why rebuilding your self-steering gear will change your cruising game

    a woman standing next to windvane self-steering gear on a boat

    Dena Hankins and James Lane explain how rebuilding your self-steering gear changes the cruising game

    How to replace a worn teak deck

    Two men laying a teak deck on a yacht

    Genevieve Leaper explains how friend Sokratis Kavallieratos laid a new teak deck on his Najad 320

    DIY engine replacement saves boat owner £1,500

    Boat owner Richard Reed with his Seven Summers, a Cruiser Kits Santa Barbara 32 on the hard

    When his Bukh DV20 engine fails, boat owner Richard Reed saves cash by installing a ‘new’ second-hand Beta 28 and doing a DIY marine engine

    More

    Amazing adventures

    Sailing in a hurricane: How I escaped Hurricane Beryl

    Craig Wood on his solo Pacific voyage. Credit: Craig Wood Sails

    Craig Wood completes solo, non-stop and unsupported Pacific voyage

    A boat sailing on the Broads during an inland charter holiday

    Boat charter holiday destinations in the UK and Ireland away from coast

    A sail plan for the yacht, Spray which belonged to Joshua Slocum

    Joshua Slocum: Is the Spray legend fact or fiction?

    Read more

    Gear tests

    How I switched to electronic charts

    Contessa 32 Coppelia in the yard ahead of for Halyard Aquadrive installation

    How to install a Halyard Aquadrive in a Contessa 32

    A display screen before and after the film was replaced

    How to replace polarising film on your instrument screen

    Two yacht sailed past the coast as part of a yacht charter in Europe

    I’m a commercial skipper and this is my onboard essentials list for a Mediterranean Yacht Charter

    Can VHF and AIS run on the same aerial?

    Fire crews tackle fire at boatyard in Tipner Lane, Portsmouth. Credit Ashley Simmonds

    ‘I smelled burning plastic and realised my plug was melting!’

    Practical Projects

    Great tips and ideas to improve your boat from PBO readers

    Contaminated fuel problems: keeping your marine diesel clean

    A boat hatch

    Boat hatch repair: how to stop the leaks

    A boat boarding step on a yacht

    Make your own boat boarding step

    A homemade rigging vice

    How to make your own rigging vice

    Part of a boat engine

    Moving a diesel engine air filter

    A chewed hole in an inflatable tender

    Repairing an inflatable dinghy: fixing holes

    More practical projects

    PBO Project Boat

    What does a sailmaker do?

    Shortly before the Round the Island Race, one of the largest yacht races in the world, it’s all go at…

    A man inserting an adaptor in shore power supply at a marina

    Shore power: solving tripping problems

    Ali Wood gets a crash course in reverse polarity and smart charging when Project Boat Maximus’s shore power gets trippy…

    Sail design – using 3D software and laser technology to cut new sails

    During the survey of our Maxi 84, the PBO Project Boat Maximus, we were warned by a marine surveyor that…

    How to measure your yacht for new sails

    Measuring your boat for new sails is a job for the sailmaker, so when our PBO Project Boat Maximus needed…

    A man installing a restored Sailor radio on a boat

    Restoring a vintage Sailor radio

    Ali Wood’s Sailor radio is given the VIP treatment

    silicone-antifoul-review-PBO289.prac_project_boat.img_4737

    Seajet Bioclean silicone antifoul review: Our verdict after one year on the water

    Does silicone antifouling work? It’s not flying off the shelves yet, according to suppliers, but the results from our Project…

    Feeding a mast cable up a mast

    Securing mast cable on our Maxi 84

    With the help of ACM Marine, Ali Wood goes about securing mast cable on the Maxi 84 PBO project boat

    sailing safety gear - children wearing lifejackets

    Family sailing safety gear: TESTED!

    Ali Wood discusses the sailing safety gear she chose for their first family cruise on board their Maxi 84, and…

    Read more

    Read PBO on tablet · phone · computer

    Promo for PBO Digital

    Get every issue of PBO on Android, iPhone, iPad or desktop

    DIY at home

    Before and after of rubbing strake refurbishment

    Rubbing strakes refurbishment: step-by-step guide

    Two men using a drill to fit a new toerail to a yacht

    Fitting a new toerail or grabrail on your sailboat or motorboat

    See more DIY at home ideas

    Latest news

    Jazz Turner requires a wheelchair ashore, but her adapted Albin Vega 27 gives her greater freedom at sea. Credit: Tom Pilston/tompilston.com

    Jazz Turner becomes first wheelchair user to circumnavigate Britain solo

    At around 13:45 on Monday, 30th June, Jazz Turner, a GB para-athlete and engineer from Seaford, East Sussex, has become the first wheelchair user to sail solo, unassisted, and non-stop…

    Japanese sailor Minoru Saito aboard his beloved yacht Shuten Dohji II. Credit: Takashi Ichige

    Eight bells for Japanese sailing legend Minoru Saito

    • June 24, 2025
    Fire crews tackle fire at boatyard in Tipner Lane, Portsmouth

    Five boats destroyed by fire at Portsmouth boatyard

    • April 23, 2025
    People at the British Motor Yacht Show

    2025 British Motor Yacht Show line-up announced

    • April 15, 2025
    Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd (Imray) nautical paper charts and books

    Plan to secure future of nautical publisher Imray paper charts

    • April 8, 2025
    Boats leaving Panama bound for Fiji in the Mini Globe Race

    Next stop Fiji! Mini Globe Race skippers start Leg 2 amid gear issues

    • March 28, 2025
    Read more news

    Seamanship

    A yacht anchored in a bay

    Summer sailing: how to have the best time afloat!

    A boat secured using pile mooring pick up lines

    Rigging pile mooring pick-up lines

    Tidal races, overfalls, and headlands: how to prepare for challenging waters

    A couple trying to deal with a fouled anchor on their boat

    How to free a fouled anchor

    More seamanship articles

    Latest issue

    August 2025 issue of Practical Boat Owner

    August issue – out on 3 July

    Everything you need to know about trailer-sailing; How to spray gelcoat; Improvements on the continuous splice; Retrofitting a £1 mast; Tips for avoiding collisions;  Enduring appeal of Hunter Ranger 265 and MORE! Order the August 2025 issue online now Buy a single issue delivered to your door! OR buy a single issue to download now · Buy a back issue · Subscribe to get future issues delivered to your door:…

    Promoted

    Navigate Your Way to Financial Freedom

    If you could summarise Raisin’s philosophy In sailing terms, then it’s about keeping a steady hand on the tiller and staying on course. Racing sailors…

    Videos

    How to get a crew place sailing around the world

    If you don’t own a boat but want to sail around the world, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which…

    Screenshot from WindedVoyage YouTube channel, Don’t Count Out This Sailor,Season 6, Episode 39

    Channel Hopping: Winded Voyage Sailing – don’t count this sailor out

    PBO's resident YouTube aficionado Kass Schmitt begs a YouTuber she's never met to help a friend with wonderful results

    Happy reunion and podium finish for transatlantic yacht Imi Makani

    Canadian yacht Imi Makani, who PBO captured arriving in Grenada last week, was one of the ARC+ yachts to take…

    More videos

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