José-Maria Molina extends the life of his ageing anchor winch
Practical Projects
Make a boat step from salvaged wood and ropes
Mark Prior makes a step using £10-worth of material (which could be salvaged free)
How to make a carbon fibre spinnaker pole
Colin King saves himeself £1,500 by building his own carbon fibre spinnaker pole for his Contessa 32
How I gave my Albin Ballad’s mast and standing rigging a major upgrade
When I bought my 1973 Albin Ballad Moments of Clarity many years ago, the first job I did was to replace all of the running and standing rigging. A few…
Boat windscreen wiper motor repair: how one boat owner fixed the seized motor
Richard Stone mends his deck saloon's windscreen wiper motor
DIY automated fog horn for £30
Nick Tyler takes the guesswork out of broadcasting fog signals
Practical tip: how to use a scanner for an accurate drilling template
Like many boat owners, I often fit new bits to my boat. Some of them come with templates that make drilling holes more precise. The alternative is careful measurement of…
How I installed a mast spotlight to stay safe in nighttime anchorages
Have you considered adding a mast spotlight to your yacht? Perhaps we’re asking too much of the good old anchor light. Set against the lights of a busy town or…
How I built a DIY propeller puller to free a calcified prop and shaft
Removing a propeller from your sail- or motorboat doesn’t always translate to smooth sailing, even on a well-maintained yacht. Imagine doing it on an old wooden motor cruiser which was…
My tiller pilot went rogue: the surprising DIY repair that saved my Raymarine ST1000
After his boat executes an unexpected hard-over turn, Paul Newell diagnoses and repairs a problem with his tiller pilot
I installed a yacht air conditioning system in just a few hours
Wanting to upgrade the comfort of my 2004 Bavaria 38 with a yacht air conditioning system, I found the procedure to be remarkably simple. Here, I demonstrate how easy it…
How I built a hull skirt to keep my boat dry while antifouling
Ever thought of making a hull skirt? Getting fed up with the yearly grind and expense of antifouling Koto’s bottom I decided to switch over to Coppercoat. Doing so would…
Replacing your boat’s engine mounts
Marine engine mounts are designed to isolate engine vibration noise from the boat’s structure. They’re susceptible to diesel and water leaks, should be checked regularly, and replaced every 10 years,…
How to re-reeve a halyard: If your in-mast halyard has broken here’s how to fix it
Steve Langton threads a new line down through a mast
How I made my own DIY fridge
Richard Hare describes how he built the ply/epoxy fridge during the reconstruction of his Westerly Konsort galley
How to make multitool blades last longer
Dick Everitt takes a DIY approach to make multitool blades last a little bit longer
Freeing a seized swivel car on foresail furling gear
Chris Mardon fixes his jammed foresail furling gear
Contaminated fuel problems: keeping your marine diesel clean
Got contaminated fuel problems? Much has been written about the issue, particularly the advice from Marine 16’s Peter Weide piece in the PBO November 2023 issue and Nick Houlding’s piece…
How to make cockpit cushions
Paul Vellacott discovers that making cockpit cushions saves money and is comfortably within everyone’s capabilities
Boat hatch repair: how to stop the leaks
Fed up with water dripping into his boat's galley, Jose Molina decides to get out his tool box and fix the problem