Ben Meakins utilises a saltwater spray tank, bolt croppers and a hacksaw to assess the effectiveness (or otherwise) of a selection of padlocks when it comes to preventing boat break-ins
Ben Meakins
6 compact freshwater hoses
How portable, practical and useable are cassette-type hoses? Ben Meakins wrestles with the problem, tests six models and promises not to gush
Repair a depth transducer afloat!
I recently carried out a repair to my boat using a 3D printed part in the process. There was a leak around my depth transducer housing, and I could either…
Stop halyards rubbing on the coachroof
Nathan Lomas finds a low cost way to stop his boat's halyards rubbing on the coachroof
Remove salt from an outboard’s cooling passages
John Stevenson uses a wallpaper steamer to remove salt blockages from his outboard's cooling passages
Straighten a bent toerail
Robin Garside devises a cheap, simple and effective method of straightening out his boat’s damaged toerail
PBO Tested: Mirka Deros 650CV ‘dust- free’ sander
Dust-free sanding sounded too good to be true, but the Mirka Deros 650CV sander, priced from £340, makes it as dust-free as possible.
PBO Tested: Mirka Deros 650CV ‘dust- free’ sander
Dust-free sanding sounded too good to be true, but the Mirka Deros 650CV sander, priced from £340, makes it as dust-free as possible.
Oceansteer emergency rudder tested
PBO assesses the effectiveness of the ‘one size fits all’ Oceansteer emergency rudder with a trial run on the PBO Project Boat
Restoring a fireball
Torie Morley and Toby Hamer realise a burning ambition to restore a Fireball dinghy– and reveal how Skunk earned her stripes
Shortening sail single handed
In Pete Goss’ classic account of his Vendée Globe campaign, Close to the Wind, he tells the tale of a boat show encounter with a member of the public who…
Troubleshooting your telltales
Telltales: how they work, how to use them to steer a close-hauled course and how to interpret their behaviour
Tiller locks tested
Being able to leave the helm for short periods of time is made much easier with something to hold the tiller for you. We compared three tiller locks for effectiveness,…
DIY Sail repairs – how to do a ‘get you home’ repair
Ben Meakins tries out some useful temporary sail repair methods that will tide you over until you can get to a sailmaker
Leisure 17: Rescued from the nettles
John MacKenzie finds himself renovating a war veteran’s Leisure 17 that had resided among chest-high nettles in a field in rural Hampshire for 17 years
Sailing chartplotters: Exclusive first test!
Chart plotters and instruments have been around long enough that they’re now considered standard equipment on most boats. But sailors have had to take the functions offered with even the…
How to inspect a Yanmar GM exhaust elbow
Ian Pirrie explains how to check the condition of the exhaust elbow on Yanmar GM engines
Grate blacking propeller antifouling
Does black grate polish work as propeller antifouling? This reader finds out...
How to find the source of a deck leak
However your decks are constructed, the water from a deck leak often emerges a considerable distance from where it enters. The point of emergence is usually very clear to see…
Dingy dinghy blues
Daria Blackwell uses a 'miracle' product to clean a heavy yellow stain from a fibreglass dinghy