Engine maintenance and reliability is a pipedream for many sailors – hopefully we can help in this issue, plus the launch of Nigel Irens designed…
Practical Boat Owner
August 2019
This month we concentrate on small boats in a big way, plus 30 pages of practical content and some great ideas for getting your children…
PBO Secret 20 Project Boat update: Spars, partitions and trims
The Secret 20 is a beautifully-shaped wooden sailing yacht designed by Derek Ellard and available to the DIY enthusiast in a pre-cut kit. The brochure describes the boat as ‘the…
September 2019
Engine maintenance and reliability is a pipedream for many sailors – hopefully we can help in this issue, plus the launch of Nigel Irens designed 14ft skiff and plenty of…
Restore and revive faded gelcoat: Three different methods to try
Few things irk me more than dirty, chalky and stained gelcoat. Like an engine that is corroded – or lines that are chafed – worn gelcoat is a sure sign…
August 2019
This month we concentrate on small boats in a big way, plus 30 pages of practical content and some great ideas for getting your children reading nautical fiction over the
PBO Project Boat Secret 20 update: Bulkheads and beams
Designed in Australia and built by enthusiasts all over the world, the Secret 20 packs grace and pace into her streamlined hull. The kit is supplied as a series of…
Smallest yacht wins top trophy at Round the Island Race
An 18ft yacht with a three-man crew won the Golden Roman Bowl at the Round the Island Race on Saturday. The prize went to Eeyore, an Alacrity 18, skippered by…
Summer 2019
An epic GRP motorboat restoration plus one couple's summer trip around Scotland and the final instalment of decade-defining yachts
Project Boat update: Secret 20 completes deck fit-out stage
The Secret 20 is a beautifully designed classic sailing yacht that can be built from a kit, one of which was delivered to PBO in 2016. Regular readers may well…
How to choose the right propeller for your boat
Understanding propeller design can help solve performance problems that occur when a boat is being driven under power. The wrong prop may be wrong in a number of different ways…
How to service a windscreen washer pump
Spares for an engine water pump, namely an impeller, are one of those ‘must have items’ most boat owners would probably label as essential. Also when it comes to general…
July 2019
This month sees the return of the PBO Project Boat, 24 pages of practicals and a chance to get inside the mind of a surveyor as he reports on two…
PBO project boat – the Secret 20 kit – is back in build
Like many boat projects Harvey, the PBO Secret 20, has been the victim of circumstance. This unique, classic-style performance weekender that arrived as a flat-pack kit and took shape in…
PBO magazine covers of the 1990s
The final decade of the 20th Century: as told on the covers of Practical Boat Owner magazine! Note: There are two missing images (March 90 and 91) – get in…
PBO Small Craft Almanac corrections April 2019
You can download the pdf file of corrections for April 2019 here. Alternatively, if you don’t have a copy: Click here to buy a copy online from Bookharbour.com
June 2019
The best boats of the 1990s and a 60-year-old 25-footer that still feels solid as a rock
Off track and into trouble off Portland Bill
David Sloan discovers the simple navigational error that turned his parents’ Channel hop into a near disaster
The Outer Hebrides welcome
Charmian Entwistle tests new facilities at Tarbert, Harris and Scalpay
How to replace hydraulic steering hoses and refill the system with fluid
I bought my three-year old Jeanneau Merry Fisher 855 in November. After a full survey I sailed her back to Emsworth a few days later, with no problems. She sat…
May 2019
How to fix your engine at sea, a Westerly Centaur 50th anniversary special, and more, in the latest issue of PBO
16. Fairing the curves
Casting a critical eye over the project boat’s lines, David Pugh and Ben Meakins set to work filling and fairing to make the hull smooth