Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2023 i Practical Boat Owner

For me, boating is all about freedom; the chance to escape from the stresses and strains of life on land, to control my destination (weather and tide dependent) and get as close to nature as possible. So, I was sad to hear last year that many sailors were sharing bad experiences of cruising in Europe post-Brexit, and some had even declared they would never sail there again. Complaints ranged from difficulties in getting passports stamped (a necessity to ensure you don’t overstay in the Schengen zone, and thus be barred from entry) to the ‘clunky and torturous’ clearing in and out procedure in the UK. Curtailing your cruising experience seemed like an extreme option to me. To help those planning to sail to Europe this summer, I asked the ever…

Four sailors were rescued from a yacht which sank following an interaction with orcas off the coast of Barbate, Cádiz. The crew of Alborán Champagne, who had been sailing from Madeira to Benalmádena, made a distress call to report a ‘significant leak’ and that orcas had broken the rudder early on 5 May. A spokesman for Salvamento Marítimo, Spain’s government maritime safety and rescue agency, said the Maritime Rescue Centre in Tarifa mobilised the Salvamar Enif rescue vessel and the Helimer 222 helicopter. The four occupants of the yacht had reported that they could not control the leak. They were wearing their lifejackets and had prepared the liferaft. At 0353, an Enif crew member boarded the yacht with a motorised pump, but the yacht finally sank at 0550. The auxiliary…

Boat owners are being warned not to attempt to refill Calor gas bottles with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) at petrol stations– which is “both highly dangerous and unlawful”. Yachting forums are awash with suggestions that with Calor ceasing supply of 4.5kg butane bottles, it was tempting to fill gas bottles cheaply with LPG at petrol stations. PBO reader Chris Mardon wrote in to ask about the idea, saying: “At £0.76/litre a 4.5kg bottle would cost £3.42 to refill at a petrol station compared to a one-off £34 for a Calor alternative Flogas bottle plus £26 for every refill…” Graham Forbes, Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) business and technical manager, has warned: “Refilling Calor gas bottles with LPG at petrol stations is both highly dangerous and unlawful and must not be attempted.…

Two men lost their lives after carbon monoxide (CO) gas entered the covered cockpit area of a 5.5m sports cruiser, which did not have a CO detector fitted. Fumes from the Fletcher 18 GTS’s petrol engine, left running while moored at Port Hamble Marina, were funnelled into the cockpit by an inflatable towable ski ring that was suspended from the transom, a Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigation has concluded. The owner of Emma Louise, William Traynor, 44, and his brother-in-law Martin Steventon, 39, both from Slough, died on the evening of 11 January 2022 having intended to stay overnight on the boat, moored on the River Hamble finger pontoon. The men had left the engine running to maintain power to some of the boat’s systems. Exhaust gas containing CO…

Dave Selby is the proud owner of a 5.48m (18ft) Sailfish, which he keeps on a swinging mooring on the picturesque Blackwater estuary in Essex Seasick Cyril, my best mate, is one of the few people I know who can afford proper holidays – by which I mean ones that take place on land, such as trekking in the Andes, skiing in Verbier, or taking a villa on the shore of Lake Como. The last one was a bit of risk, what with it being perilously close to water, but he found that with the right medication– a glass of Veuve Clicquot and caviar dabbed behind each ear– the sight of a mahogany varnished Riva Super Aquarama bobbing at its mooring was just about tolerable, and didn’t make him too…

Clive Marsh discovered small boats while working for Canadian Pacific Steamships and is a past Commodore of the Merchant Navy Association Boat Club. In this series he shares tales from his 50 years of boat ownership. Fond as I was of my Tideway 12, I let her go while looking for something lighter and easier to launch and recover by hand on steep slipways or through shingle. Sometimes it’s not possible to use the car as a towing aid. A lighter Tideway 10 (TW10) could be the answer and so on a cold rainy day in early January my wife, Brenda, and I set off to drive 120 miles north to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club and collect the TW10 that I’d bought after seeing an online advertisement. I talked with…

Moored in Las Palmas, among dazzling white GRP yachts, Sweet Dreams is a boat I’ll never forget. An elegant monohull crafted in wood from many different trees, the hull is western yellow cedar with Khaya mahogany veneer and the coachroof and cockpit varnished teak. The interior is fitted out with Douglas fir, teak and oak. Every detail – from the rounded corners of the companionway hatch to the cream-painted tongue and groove panelling – has been planed, sanded and varnished to perfection. The Bill Dixon one-design is a work of art, so it surprised me to learn that the owner, Roz Preston had built it by hand in Dorset, alongside late husband John. Was she a boatbuilder, I wondered? No, she was a former special advisor to Tony Blair! Sweet…

For small, open boats used principally under outboard motor power, the transom is likely the most important part of its structure. The weight of the engine, and its crowbar-like twisting effects while being raised, lowered, turned and powered in forward and reverse soon reveal any weaknesses in structural integrity, and watching an outboard still clamped to a small, wrenched off section of transom head for the seabed faster than a homesick halibut must be one of boating’s more depressing spectacles. Having said that, on this tender there was no surprise rot revelation required; the boat had spent two years inverted on my shed roof and, on getting it down for recommissioning, the transom woodwork turned to powder in our hands. Plywood or hardwood? If I was writing this 15 years…

For more adventures visit www.pbo.co.uk/cruising The winds and waves precluded us from leaving Milford Haven to cross the Irish Sea to Kilmore Quay, so we decided to explore the countryside and industry of this part of the Welsh coast. From its early years as a whaling processing port and fishing port, Milford has adapted to the changes in its fortunes embracing new technologies as the need arises. During World War II, despite its strategic importance as the home of a large fish market, a mines depot, a flax factory, and housing numerous military personnel, Milford escaped serious damage from German bombings and was instrumental in parts of the planning for the D-Day landings. The large independent homes of the wealthy from that time can be seen in the higher curve…

Kirsten Neuschäfer has become the first woman to win a solo, round the world yacht race after winning the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR). Not only did the South African skipper achieve her goal but she also diverted off course to rescue fellow entrant Tapio Lehtinen, after his Gaia 36, Asteria sank some 450 miles south east of South Africa. After just over 235 days at sea, and a slow final few miles in light winds, Neuschäfer crossed the finishing line off Les Sables d’Olonne in France at 2100 on 27 April. Tired but jubilant, the focussed 40-year-old, who throughout much of the race had no idea she was leading, actually achieved victory around 10 hours behind competitor, Simon Curwen, but a previous stop for repairs for the British sailor…

PBO’s sister title Yachting Monthly’s marine environmental journalism award is back, with two £2,000 cash prizes for the best article and best video from storytelling sailors. The Brian Black Memorial Award 2023, sponsored by B&G, also includes a £1,500 donation to marine conservation charity, Sea-Changers. The award was established in 2021 in memory of Brian and Lesley Black, who were trailblazing small-boat explorers and passionate story tellers. Their daughter, Sarah Brown, said: “Dad would go that extra mile for a story or an image. Whether he was confronting people illegally threatening wildlife or getting washed away by a collapsing glacier, he was pretty fearless when he had a story to unearth. Every year he would sail his small yacht north and capture stories about retreating glaciers and threatened wildlife and come home…

Sam Llewellyn writes nautical thrillers, edits The Marine Quarterly, and is perpetually patching up a 30ft ketch: samllewellyn.com The sun is up and the breeze is fair, and we are heading for the water again, the struggles of the yard forgotten - No they aren’t. The events underlying Marcel Proust’s horrifyingly long novel came back to him when he tasted a sort of French bun soaked in tea. Now, a whiff of diesel takes me back to the battles of the winter. It started down below. During the very rainy months it was resolved to paint out the forepeak, using a white gloss designed for terrestrial bathrooms and guaranteed not to harbour nasty black mould. Slopping this stuff on in a confined space led to internal vistas of the kind…

Having spent the morning on the five-day boat restoration course, I was keen to know what’s involved in the 40-week course, so asked tutor Matthew Law to give me a tour. Matt began his career at Latham’s boatyard in Poole and moved to Lyme Regis in 2004 where he’s now one of the four instructors. Joinery Our tour started in the upstairs classroom where students begin by learning joinery. Matt fished out some interesting pieces of wood– scarf joints, which I’d learned about that morning, and box joints. It’s surprising just how many different joints there are. He showed me a drawer front dovetail joint– the tails of which you’d only see from the sides of the drawers. For each joint there was a model, showing how the cuts are…

Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery has our boat radio on display. OK, it’s not actually Maximus’s radio – that was in the workshop at the time of our visit – but it’s a similar set belonging to Sir Alec Rose. In 1967-68 this impressive radio was his only means of contact as he sailed solo around the world in Lively Lady. It reassured me that the Sailor radio was a fine piece of kit and my quest to repair and restore the one from Maximus wasn’t totally bonkers! Our Sailor radio had been on board our Maxi 84 project boat since she was built in 1978. However, when we acquired Maximus, rainwater had seeped through a gap between the companionway hatch boards. Sadly, the leak found its way to the…

Crossing dangerous coastal bars asleep and sideways is certainly not a habit of mine, but strange things can happen on the water, and like many incidents they often happen slowly and start long before the final event. So, here we go! When I was retrenched from my job as a communications engineer, my friend Don Dunn, a retired bank manager and wartime intelligence operator spying on the Japanese invaders just to the north of Australia, decided the time was right for a cruise to see the old Commando Base on Fraser Island, north from our home in Sydney, Australia. He was at an age when long trips were becoming more difficult so, with the blessing of our wives, off we went for the trip of our lives on his yacht,…

Being 6ft tall, Andrew Bedwell cannot straighten his legs in his ‘just over a metre long’ microyacht Big C, yet he is about to sail the boat solo across the Atlantic for 90 days, eating cold squares of dehydrated beef. His toilet facilities will be a bag and pump, with a convenient zip in his drysuit. Andrew is hoping to wear his drysuit continuously, although even the manufacturers cannot say what the compression of the neck seal for that amount of time will do to his body. Former sailmaker Bedwell, from Lancashire, turns 50 this November and is attempting to break the current transatlantic record held by US sailor Hugo Vihlen, whose boat Father’s Day was 5ft 4in– and to raise funds for Cancer Research. He is expecting five storms…

Hundreds of classic yachts and working boats are to gather in Ipswich to mark the 60th year of the Old Gaffers Association (OGA), with a Diamond Jubilee Party from 3-6 August. The four-day long celebration will include a programme of activities to explore the maritime history and traditions of the area, with guided walks, visits to local boatyards, excursions to the Sutton Hoo Saxon longship museum and the recreation of that ship in Woodbridge. A civic reception, hosted by Associated British Ports (ABP), will welcome those finishing a Round Britain Cruise, and a highlight will be a Parade of Sail of 100-plus boats from Ipswich Marina downriver to Suffolk Yacht Harbour. Once at Levington, there will be separate races and cruises for the open and the larger boats, shoreside trips…

Got a news story that would interest a fellow PBO reader? We want to hear from you! Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com SOUTH COAST & CHANNEL ISLANDS Eco moorings trial Ports of Jersey is trialling two different types of eco moorings, designed to tolerate Jersey’s extreme 12m tidal range while also protecting the seagrass in St Catherine’s Bay. Other environmentally sensitive moorings which are commercially available are not designed to cope with such an extreme rise and fall in tide. Head of maritime operations, Louise Stafford, said: “This is an exciting phase of the work, and we will be watching its impact carefully. Hopefully, we can then deploy the successful system to all boat-owners in St Catherine’s Bay.” Two mooring types have been deployed: developed by Guernsey-based…

Marsali Taylor sails an Offshore 8M, Karima S. She’s a dinghy instructor and author of The Shetland Sailing Mysteries starring liveaboard sleuth, Cass Lynch. How wonderful it was to have a back-to-normal summer last year, with regattas again: to be exact, the Delting BC regatta, and Contessa 32 Cynara of Arne’s first outing under her new syndicate ownership (aka most of her former crew). It was great to be together again. Joe and Mary, the former owners, joined us in an advisory capacity – well, Joe stood aft and just enjoyed being on the water, and Mary distributed home-made blueberry muffins (no Cynara expedition’s complete without them). For a first outing, it was very promising. We set out among the other five boats, unfurled the stuck furling jib manually and…

Having had two new knees, my wife decided after 40 years to give up the dubious pleasure of sailing with me. So, we sold our 10m boat and I bought a little Beneteau Antares 620 to allow me to remain afloat and catch some of the dwindling fish stocks in the Solent. During all those decades, I appreciated the use of various electronic instruments that assisted my navigational skills. But I couldn’t justify spending over £1,000 for the latest touchscreen chartplotter because it would be uneconomical for a 20ft boat that only, at most, coastal hops. However, the convenience of instantly knowing where you are and whether a large vessel is bearing down on you when a blanket of fog descends meant that an up-to-date chartplotter was essential for my…

Email your projects and tips to pbo@futurenet.com including high resolution photos where possible. We pay at least £30 for each one published Dinghy launch trolly renovation Rather than bin a rusty trailer, Alec Marsh saves cash– and landfill When you find the boat of your dreams – in my case a 40-year-old Mk II Wayfarer named Scarab – something important is bound to be wrong: in this case, the launch trailer that came with the boat had a gammy wheel. Worse still, the wheel flange had corroded so badly that it had come adrift, taking the wheel (or what was left of it) with it. Most of the business end of the trailer, where it submerges into the nice salty water as your boat floats off, was rusted over and…

For more expert advice, visit pbo.co.uk/expert-advice/expert-answers ENGINE CONTROLS Revs keep slip sliding away Q I’ve had the ownership of a lovely 2008 model Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42DS for the past four years. I’m delighted with the boat, she is roomy and beautiful to sail. However, like all things man-made she has little technical niggles that crop up from time to time. I was out sailing recently about 30 miles from home when the wind died and I needed to motor back. The 50hp Yanmar is a really good, clean engine with very few hours. She performs best around 5.5 knots at 2,500rpm, but the throttle would not hold or stay at that rpm. Instead, I coaxed 1,800rpm which only gave 4 knots. I could not get the engine to stay…