The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have joined forces to produce a new series of ‘How to’ videos with advice and tips on how to…
Practical
How to: moor a yacht alongside
When it comes to mooring your boat alongside, it helps to know which lines do what, what type of rope to use and how best to arrange them so that…
Lay up or sail away? Ideas for enjoying winter afloat
Ask a dozen boating enthusiasts what they do over the winter and you’ll get a wide range of answers. Some value the escape from the water to allow them to…
How to climb your mast and work aloft safely
As much as I love sailing, there is one thing (besides rebuilding the head) that I really have a problem with, and that is the height of the mast. No,…
How to: change a marine diesel water impeller
One of the key checks when you start up your engine is that your raw water cooling system is working properly. You should see water coming out of the exhaust.…
Restoring a 1950s Bembridge Scow
Few things can be more satisfying than saving an old wooden boat from the chainsaw and bringing her back to life; but this can be a very expensive exercise as…
How to paint your boat – tips from PBO’s Project Boat
Hantu Biru was a a Snapdragon 23 that was rescued from a farm in Dorset and restored as the PBO Project Boat. Over three years the PBO team transformed her…
How to restore a 22ft trailer-sailer in 10 easy steps
I’ve been hooked on boats since before I could walk, and have spent over 30 years repairing and sailing them. My experience has taught me how to manage a yacht…
Plastic boats – how should we dispose of old boats when they reach the end of their lives?
Steve Franklin is on a mission. He’s made it his business to deal with the increasing numbers of boats in the UK reaching the end of their useful lives, too…
How to: troubleshoot your diesel engine electrics
Even when you’ve done all your normal pre-departure checks, sometimes the engine still just won’t start. If you have ever faced this problem, there are going to be two main…
How to: check and change an anode
Galvanic corrosion is a phenomenon that affects the majority of boats. If you have two dissimilar metals, such as stainless steel and bronze, the water will act as an electrolyte…
How to remove a marine diesel cylinder head step by step
During the summer of the 2019 our Bavaria 39 Tessa Jane began producing black exhaust smoke and suffering a reduction in power from her 2005 Volvo Penta MD2030. Initial investigations…
The step by step guide to dismantling a PRM 100 marine gearbox
As a boat owner practical enough to cope with most maintenance I still had to think twice before delving into the guts of my gearbox. One imagines the need of…
How to polish stainless steel in the workshop at home
Once you know how to polish stainless steel from its raw milled state to a high gloss finish then it’s possible to make all sorts of trims from flat bar,…
How to dismantle and repair a seized wind generator at home
I confess, I’m frequently guilty of surrendering to the old adage, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ But I got caught out in hurricane Dorian in October last year.…
How to drill out and set rivets – mending a broken spinnaker pole
It was a cracking day, mid-May on the Algarve. We had sailed our Beneteau 381 from Gibraltar to Bruce’s Yard in Faro earlier on in the year, had her lifted…
Bake perfect bread on your boat in 5 easy steps
Many years ago, when we were cruising along the South West coast, we were anchored off Cargreen on the river Tamar. We’d run out of bread a couple of days…
How to make your own hammock or cockpit tent from a simple tarpaulin
You may find yourself in need of one (or all) of the following at some point: a sun awning and maybe something to keep the dew off in the evening…
Basic sewing skills for boat owners to protect sails from chafe
Chafe damage has always been a problem on yachts, and owners are generally advised to preserve their sails by adding protective devices to the rigging. However, we don’t want baggywrinkles…
How to get the last of the sealant out of the tube
It’s often the case that you just want to use some sealant for a small project, which means of course that most of what you’ve paid for can get left…