110 ways to save money on your boating costs, from mooring and maintenance to rigging and sails! PLUS 12 anchor designs to consider, how to…
Practical Boat Owner
June issue – out 11 April
Is it time to swap your boat batteries? We look at the pros and cons of lithium-ion vs standard, installation dos and don’ts, bust the…
DIY sprayhood for a Red Fox
The Scottish scenery is fashioned by the weather so proper protection was essential for our planned trip there. However, I was quoted around £1,000 for a professional sprayhood including frame…
Make your own dinghy wheels
A 2.7m dinghy with a solid aluminium floor is great, until it comes to moving it around on land – it weighs more than 45kg and is quite a lump.…
Small boat waterproof chart holder
My 23ft Westerly Pageant does not have a navigation area, so I needed a waterproof chart holder that I could use in the cabin and also take into the cockpit…
ISAF executive conduct Paralympic Games review
The ISAF Executive has reviewed the International Paralympic Committee decision to drop sailing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games programme.
How to prepare for a lifeboat tow
Imagine that the lifeboat is on the way to take you in tow. Do you sit and wait, in the knowledge that the lifeboat’s crew will assess the situation and…
Milford Haven Coastguard joins National Maritime Operations Centre network
Milford Haven Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) is to become part of the new Coastguard national network for the first time.
Stricken Astrid ‘should not have been at sea’
A damning investigation into the grounding of the Tall Ship Astrid, which sank off west Cork, Ireland in 2013 has found a catalogue of failures and breaches of international regulations.
Marina company development plan
Salterns Marina Ltd is applying for planning permission to build a new mixed use development on the South Coast.
The Duchess of Cambridge visits the Ben Ainslie Racing team
Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) and the 1851 Trust hosted a visit from Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge, who is the Trust’s Royal Patron.
Edinburgh Marina masterplan
Developers have submitted their masterplan for Edinburgh Marina
How to catch fish while sailing
Catching supper with hook and line is a pastime most yachtsmen will attempt at some time or other, but why do some fishermen enjoy more luck with the rod than…
Adding a rudder to a small outboard
Jim Miller suggests a neat way to add a rudder to a Honda BF2.3 outboard motor to aid steering at low speed
DIY Outboard motor lock
When I bought my new inflatable, I did some research into the different outboard motor locks available. My conclusion was that they were expensive, and many seemed likely to corrode…
Protect your transducers
The forward under-seat locker in the saloon of the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 34.2 is of a fairly generous size, but its use is somewhat restricted due to the possibility of…
DIY rigging screw covers – make your own and save money
Rigging screw covers cost approximately £10 each, so for my Westerly Centaur I would have needed to spend around £60 to cover all six. Instead, I used a 2m length…
Keeping a cockpit locker organised
Having upgraded from a Hurley 22 to a Westerly Griffon we now have a cockpit locker that can easily swallow whatever we throw into it. The problem is, everything seems…
How to improve your emergency tiller
A boat move in the marina required me to go astern the full length of a narrow fairway between two long pontoons and turn 90° to port at the very end.…
How to refurbish an old pair of oars and make leather collars
I needed a pair of oars for my 1954-vintage 12ft standing lug dinghy and managed to find a couple of old ones – although they were not a matching pair,…
How to soften LED interior bulbs using a 25p ping-pong ball
We have a 25-year-old Westerly Konsort called Flycatcher, and last year I replaced the conventional 5W bulbs in the six berthlights with LED fittings, reducing the power consumption by about…
Adding a second battery to a boat
When I bought her new, my boat had just a single 75Ah domestic battery, best described as adequate if you remained frugal with the amps. But having sunk the children’s…