Zoran Glozinic saves some cash by making a new cockpit grate for his yacht using redundant old wooden kitchen shelves
In the workshop
Boat fibreglass repair: a beginner’s guide
No need to fear GRP repairs with these helpful tips from Andy Pag
Fitting synthetic teak to a cockpit
Ben Meakins shows how he installed synthetic teak Dek-King seating
How to build a boat: Essential guide to building your first kit boat
You don’t have to be a boatbuilder to learn how to build a boat, argue Roger Nadin and Polly Robinson. Here is their guide to building your first kit boat…
A sticky situation – Sam Llewellyn’s musings on stitch and glue construction
Stitch and glue, the bodger’s charter – PBO columnist Sam Llewellyn shares his top tips on avoiding the pitfalls of boatbuilding at home.
How to replace your sprayhood windows
Do you have a foggy view? Don’t throw away your expensive sprayhood or awning – you can replace the windows for just a few pounds, says Jake Kavanagh
Boat electronics repair: How to fix your boat’s instruments
If you can solder it’s always worth taking things apart and having a go at repairing them as a last resort before paying for a replacement. In this boat electronics…
Electronic repair tips and tricks for boat owners to fix instruments
Often the causes of electronic failures are not electrical at all. The environment on a small sail or power boat requires mechanically robust, rugged construction and many instruments are simply…
DIY electronic repairs on trusty Autohelm ST4000 and Garmin GPS 152
You don’t always need oscilloscopes, signal generators or even voltmeters to find faults in your boat’s instruments and effect decent DIY electronic repairs. So long as you have a magnifying…
Make your own bilge pump alarm
A bilge alarm is an essential piece of kit on any boat. You can buy a bilge alarm on Amazon or at any chandlery or make your own using a…
How we designed and built a folding dinghy for under £350
A dinghy adds an enormous amount of fun to a cruising holiday, but on a small boat there is always the problem of where to stow it. Hang it on…
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…
June 2020
As the lockdown extends through the month of April, PBO brings you 100 DIY ideas you can do from home or in the workshop. See the full list online at…
DIY at home: 100+ things to do and make in the workshop at home
In normal times we cover a lot of ground every month in Practical Boat Owner – online and in the magazine – but in lockdown conditions it makes sense to…
How I built a bespoke aluminium powerboat at home
Late in 2015, just as James Oakley was finishing the hull of his home-built aluminium speedboat, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “I’d been to see my doctor for something…
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…
A new build nesting dinghy for a newlywed couple
In the days before inflatable dinghies it was common to have a hard dinghy, to be left on the mooring or hoisted onto the foredeck of your yacht, or atop…
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 make a foldaway bottle rack out of neoprene for your boat
I live in Valencia, Spain, and discovered PBO in a UK airport 15 years ago. I asked the newspaper shop near my home to order it in for me, and…
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.…