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Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner

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The Vega pod’s two female members, C001 and C002, spotted in UK waters for the first time, are more than 30 years old. Photo credit: Joe Pender/www.scillypelagics.com

Orcas sighted in UK waters are ‘not from yacht-damaging pod’

A furling drive on a yacht

Improving the continuous rope splice

How I refreshed my deck with a gelcoat spray gun

Sailor Jazz Turner at the helm of her Albin Vega 27 yacht Fear

Next stop: The world – Jazz Turner’s new WorldStar circumnavigation plans

Manoeuvring in shallow waters with a bow thruster remote control

Dave Selby eating muffins aboard the sailing barge Victor during a race, cartoon by Claudia Myatt

Dave Selby: Close encounters of the barge kind

Read more top stories

How I installed a smart engine monitoring system on my sailboat

Ever considered adding an engine monitoring system to your boat? This article follows on from my introduction Smart Boat article, which showed how to use…

Welded anchor chain

Is it a good idea to weld anchor chain to lengthen it?

Practical Boat Owner reader Tom Fox ponders if a qualified welder could weld anchor chain. Metallurgist Vyv Cox explains what to consider

A boat approaching close to shore

Prop walk: how to use it to your best advantage

Daria and Alex Blackwell share the close-quarters manoeuvring techniques they’ve picked up at the helm of a 57ft, heavy-displacement classic ketch

Read more

Boat maintenance

Headsail trim on a yacht

How important is headsail trim?

A mainsheet traveller on a yacht

Should I move the mainsheet traveller?

A man using a grinder to sharpen multitool blades

How to make multitool blades last longer

A large berth on a boat

How to create additional berth space on your boat

A swivel car on furling gear

Freeing a seized swivel car on foresail furling gear

How a black water pump replacement helped me narrowly avoid sinking

Read more how to articles...

Maintenance

Industry insight: lithium marine batteries and other power options

A lot of people are wondering whether to switch to lithium marine batteries, but don’t actually know what they should be looking for when buying…

A beginners’ guide to managing marine battery power

Word to the wise: always keep an eye on your marine battery. Last summer, I hired a flybridge cruiser on the Canal du Midi. The…

How to bend acrylic and change your boat’s saloon windows

Andy Pag shares what he learned about bending acrylic while replacing the curved windows of his Lagoon 410.

How to install a boat inverter

Roger Hughes explains how he installed a boat inverter to have a powerful new source of silent AC power for his yacht.

More

Amazing adventures

Solo sailor Ian Wyllie aboard his Vancouver 27 Trilleen

Ian Wyllie completes round-Britain and Ireland circumnavigation in project boat

Solo sailor Jazz Turner, first disabled person to complete a non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland, smiles at the voyage finish at Brighton Marina. Credit: Fergus Kennedy

“I crawled 50m across rocks with an anchor on my back”: Jazz Turner’s record voyage

Sailing in a hurricane: How I escaped Hurricane Beryl

Craig Wood on his solo Pacific voyage. Credit: Craig Wood Sails

Craig Wood completes solo, non-stop and unsupported Pacific voyage

Read more

Gear tests

Dezincification resistant (DZR) skin fittings explained

The Garmin chartplotter + 7 other options

Skin fittings and seacocks explained

A person using a chartplotter on a boat

A beginner’s guide to the chartplotter

A man using marine sealants on a boat

Best marine sealants and adhesives for boat jobs

How I switched to electronic charts

Practical Projects

Great tips and ideas to improve your boat from PBO readers

Contaminated fuel problems: keeping your marine diesel clean

A boat hatch

Boat hatch repair: how to stop the leaks

A boat boarding step on a yacht

Make your own boat boarding step

A homemade rigging vice

How to make your own rigging vice

Part of a boat engine

Moving a diesel engine air filter

A chewed hole in an inflatable tender

Repairing an inflatable dinghy: fixing holes

More practical projects

PBO Project Boat

What does a sailmaker do?

Shortly before the Round the Island Race, one of the largest yacht races in the world, it’s all go at…

A man inserting an adaptor in shore power supply at a marina

Shore power: solving tripping problems

Ali Wood gets a crash course in reverse polarity and smart charging when Project Boat Maximus’s shore power gets trippy…

Sail design – using 3D software and laser technology to cut new sails

During the survey of our Maxi 84, the PBO Project Boat Maximus, we were warned by a marine surveyor that…

How to measure your yacht for new sails

Measuring your boat for new sails is a job for the sailmaker, so when our PBO Project Boat Maximus needed…

A man installing a restored Sailor radio on a boat

Restoring a vintage Sailor radio

Ali Wood’s Sailor radio is given the VIP treatment

silicone-antifoul-review-PBO289.prac_project_boat.img_4737

Seajet Bioclean silicone antifoul review: Our verdict after one year on the water

Does silicone antifouling work? It’s not flying off the shelves yet, according to suppliers, but the results from our Project…

Feeding a mast cable up a mast

Securing mast cable on our Maxi 84

With the help of ACM Marine, Ali Wood goes about securing mast cable on the Maxi 84 PBO project boat

sailing safety gear - children wearing lifejackets

Family sailing safety gear: TESTED!

Ali Wood discusses the sailing safety gear she chose for their first family cruise on board their Maxi 84, and…

Read more

Read PBO on tablet · phone · computer

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Get every issue of PBO on Android, iPhone, iPad or desktop

DIY at home

A man repairing a hull plank on a clinker-built boat

Clinker-built boat repair: step-by-step

A cockpit cushion on a boat

How to make cockpit cushions

See more DIY at home ideas

Latest news

Dolphins swimming beside sailboat

Sailors urged to report collisions with whales and other marine life

Sailors around the world are being urged to participate in an anonymous global survey to document collisions at sea between sailing boats and marine life.

Jazz Turner requires a wheelchair ashore, but her adapted Albin Vega 27 gives her greater freedom at sea. Credit: Tom Pilston/tompilston.com

Jazz Turner becomes first wheelchair user to circumnavigate Britain solo

  • June 30, 2025
Japanese sailor Minoru Saito aboard his beloved yacht Shuten Dohji II. Credit: Takashi Ichige

Eight bells for Japanese sailing legend Minoru Saito

  • June 24, 2025
Fire crews tackle fire at boatyard in Tipner Lane, Portsmouth

Five boats destroyed by fire at Portsmouth boatyard

  • April 23, 2025
People at the British Motor Yacht Show

2025 British Motor Yacht Show line-up announced

  • April 15, 2025
Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd (Imray) nautical paper charts and books

Plan to secure future of nautical publisher Imray paper charts

  • April 8, 2025
Read more news

Seamanship

Cruising boat racing

Why you should race your cruising boat

Paul Jones with his sextant watercolour painting by Claudia Myatt

Embracing electronic navigation – one reluctant boater’s tale

Boats moored in an anchorage using a shore line

How to use a shore line to secure a boat at anchor

A yacht anchored in a bay

Summer sailing: how to have the best time afloat!

More seamanship articles

Latest issue

September 2025 issue of Practical boat Owner

September 2025 issue – out 1 August

Skills to make you more confident sailing short-handed; Rudder types and how they affect performance; How to enhance your cockpit; The must-have tools for every skipper; Tips for buying your first motorboat; Checks to save your rig; Sadler 34 and the best alternative boats; Practical tips to keep sailing as you age and more! Order the September 2025 issue online now Buy a single issue delivered to your door! OR…

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Navigate Your Way to Financial Freedom

If you could summarise Raisin’s philosophy In sailing terms, then it’s about keeping a steady hand on the tiller and staying on course. Racing sailors…

Videos

How to get a crew place sailing around the world

If you don’t own a boat but want to sail around the world, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which…

Screenshot from WindedVoyage YouTube channel, Don’t Count Out This Sailor,Season 6, Episode 39

Channel Hopping: Winded Voyage Sailing – don’t count this sailor out

PBO's resident YouTube aficionado Kass Schmitt begs a YouTuber she's never met to help a friend with wonderful results

Happy reunion and podium finish for transatlantic yacht Imi Makani

Canadian yacht Imi Makani, who PBO captured arriving in Grenada last week, was one of the ARC+ yachts to take…

More videos

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