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Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner

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A gleaming boat propeller, dismantled for servicing

Propeller care: everything you need to know

Boat owner Richard Reed with his Seven Summers, a Cruiser Kits Santa Barbara 32 on the hard

DIY engine replacement saves boat owner £1,500

The Garcia Exploration 45 aluminium hulled yacht sailing. Credit: Peter K Poland

Garcia Exploration 45: the ultimate go-anywhere 45ft yacht?

Victoria of Rye, an Invicta 26 yacht, moored on the new Rye pontoon. Credit: Mick Kirby/RHSC

Invicta 26: a long keel yacht for the price of a good dinghy

Two people aboard the Westons Point 27 motor launch

Westons Point 27: the head-turning gentleman’s launch

Sailor Jasmine Harrison on a boat while taking part in the Mini Globe Race

Stitelmann first to leave the Marquesas in Leg 2 of the Mini Globe Race

Read more top stories
A man on a yacht sailing around the UK and ireland

How to sail around the UK and Ireland

Sam Steele explains everything you need to know about a circumnavigation of Britain and Ireland

A man sleeping while sailing shorthanded

How to sleep sailing shorthanded

John Apps stresses the importance of sleeping sufficiently on long-distance single-handed passages, and explains how to snatch safe naps without leaving yourself vulnerable

A yacht crossing a Traffic Separation Scheme

How to cross a Traffic Separation Scheme

Sticky Stapylton explains the meaning and intended purpose of traffic separation schemes – and what you should know if your boat has to enter or…

Read more

Boat maintenance

Propeller pitch is the key

How I achieved optimal propeller pitch

Before and after of rubbing strake refurbishment

Rubbing strakes refurbishment: step-by-step guide

Two men using a drill to fit a new toerail to a yacht

Fitting a new toerail or grabrail on your sailboat or motorboat

A man emptying a boat after it has sunk

What happens to boat electrical systems and batteries if submerged?

A boat tied to a mooring on a river

Electric-powered boat for under £8,000

A man replacing a hull plank on a boat

Hull plank repair on a boat: step-by-step

Read more how to articles...

Maintenance

How to fit a new cam belt on your boat engine

A cam belt on an engine

Stu Davies explains how he fitted a new cam belt to the diesel engine in his 1999 Beneteau 381

Making a lifting keel easier to raise

A man using a winch to raise a lifting keel on a boat

After struggling with a heavy lifting keel, Brian Johnson builds a simple tackle to make light of the problem

How to fit an adjustable backstay

An adjustable backstay on a boat

Bob Goode improves his Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 32’s sail handling by replacing the original fixed wire split backstay

Coating a GRP deck with SoftSand coating

SoftSand non-skid coating on the deck of a boat

Genevieve Leaper and Aleko Stephan remove the old teak deck on their Nicholson 32 and renovate the original GRP with a new coating

More

Amazing adventures

A sail plan for the yacht, Spray which belonged to Joshua Slocum

Joshua Slocum: Is the Spray legend fact or fiction?

Teddy Seymour and Bill Pinkney

The pioneers: Teddy Seymour & Bill Pinkney

A boat sailing by an ice berg during a high latitude cruise

Sailing in the land of fire and ice and beyond: sailors share their high latitude cruises

Hanneke Boon

Hanneke Boon: Life after Wharram

Read more

Gear tests

Fire crews tackle fire at boatyard in Tipner Lane, Portsmouth. Credit Ashley Simmonds

‘I smelled burning plastic and realised my plug was melting!’

Boats on a different mooring at low water in a harbour

Can I trust this boat mooring?

Unwanted sails collected at SKB Sails in Falmouth, Cornwall as part of the ReSail project by Clean Sailors

Where to recycle old sails and end of life kit – drop off points across the UK and Europe

boat wiring

Overhauling the DC boat electrics on a 38ft boat

A Man Overboard safety device fitted to a lifejacket

New AIS MOB device rule affecting sailors

A person topping up a boat battery

Boat battery care: the do’s and the don’ts

Practical Projects

Great tips and ideas to improve your boat from PBO readers

A chewed hole in an inflatable tender

Repairing an inflatable dinghy: fixing holes

A galley box built for a boat

How I built a galley box for my boat

A tarnish brass lamp

How to clean tarnished brass

A tool being made for dinghy repair

How I made a specialist tool to repair my dinghy

A DIY bilge alarm

How to make a DIY bilge alarm switch

A stern tube on a yacht

How to replace a stern tube on a boat

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

Promo for PBO Digital

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

DIY at home

boat feet on a motorboat on the mud

How to make boat feet to keep you level

The forecabin of a boat

Replacing vinyl with maple strips in a forecabin

See more DIY at home ideas

Latest news

Fire crews tackle fire at boatyard in Tipner Lane, Portsmouth

Five boats destroyed by fire at Portsmouth boatyard

Fire investigation officers are working to establish the cause of a fire that broke out at a boatyard in Tipner Lane in Portsmouth, Hampshire, destroying five boats.

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
Boats leaving Panama bound for Fiji in the Mini Globe Race

Next stop Fiji! Mini Globe Race skippers start Leg 2 amid gear issues

  • March 28, 2025
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust yacht Solent Hero

Big worries over new MCA Sport and Pleasure Code of Practice

  • March 28, 2025
Boats moored at Portland Marina

Open weekends announced for Portland Marina

  • March 27, 2025
Read more news

Seamanship

An aerial view of marshes

Understanding tidal streams and heights

A painting showing a man being rescued after falling overboard

Left for dead after falling overboard: how one sailor survived 5 hours lost at sea before rescue

A motorboat after running aground in mud in a river

Running aground in a motorboat: a cautionary tale

A woman on a yacht

Marina boat manoeuvring: reversing the roles

More seamanship articles

Latest issue

June 2025 issues of Practical Boat Owner

June issue – 10 April

Essential skills, planning and kit for your best summer afloat, Bonding & sealants guide, How to sail tidal estuaries, Yacht handing on rivers, Silicone antifouling test, The seamanship of Joshua Slocum, Polish your boat and make it shine! Restoring a Cornish classic motor launch, Budget fuel cleaning, Spotlight on the best-selling models from Moody’s 80s range, Boat interior cleaning tips and MORE! Order the June 2025 issue online now Buy…

Promoted

Get ready for the season with AkzoNobel’s International®

Spring Maintenance Look after the boat, and it’ll look after you. After a winter ashore, there are some spring tasks to schedule before your boat…

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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