The finishing touch to the interior of many boats is the vinyl-covered headlining panel, which can be detached to access under-deck fittings. Jake Kavanagh watches upholsterer Alan Dring make one…

replacing drooping headlinings

It happens to us all eventually – things start to sag, and it’s particularly true of foam-backed vinyls. For boatbuilders, vinyl is comparatively cheap and easy to install, so it’s…

If you need to plug a hole in your glassfibre boat, fear not – repairs are easy to make. Jake Kavanagh shows how it’s done and offers some useful tips

Osmosis repair

Even the worst cases of osmosis can be professionally treated, and while the process is expensive and time consuming, it will revive the boat and restore its value. Jake Kavanagh…

DIY Osmosis repair

If you’ve found a few blisters on your gel coat, don’t despair. You may not need to do a full gel coat strip – which on cheaper boats may not…

After a few knocks a yacht’s keelbolts can work a little loose – but that might be just the beginning, as the owners of Quartet discovered.

Boat leaks are the bane of a sailor’s life, but with patience their source can be traced. Here are some ideas of where to start...

There are basically four viable options for charging two battery banks on board: Battery switches, twin alternators, split charge diodes, and VSRs. Here's a brief guide to them...

A turbocharger on an engine is an effective way to get extra horsepower, improve fuel consumption and emissions. But when a turbo goes wrong it’s definitely time to call in…

Tim Marsden demonstrates how he fashioned a smart pair of cockpit locker lids for his bargain boat using glassfibre and iroko hardwood

After a long winter indoors many 2-stroke outboards are reluctant to start. A simple service should make yours more reliable. Here Steve Dawkins of Bursledon Outboards shows PBO’s Ben Meakins…

Torie Morley and Toby Hamer realise a burning ambition to restore a Fireball dinghy– and reveal how Skunk earned her stripes

Using a router

A power router can make light work of jobs that would otherwise take ages by hand. Julian Peckham has some tips for its use

project boat

John MacKenzie finds himself renovating a war veteran’s Leisure 17 that had resided among chest-high nettles in a field in rural Hampshire for 17 years

Canvas bucket article

Lin and Larry Pardey's step-by-step guide to producing a durable canvas bucket: from the January 1995 issue of Practical Boat Owner magazine.