PBO Ask the Experts Live videos - now online!

Free expert advice on a range of subjects including sail trimming, effective anchoring, repairing fibreglass and diesel engine maintenance are now available to view online.

Daria and Alex Blackwell draw a crowd at PBO Ask the Experts Live 2017

Back by popular demand for a third year, PBO’s Ask The Experts Live! at Beaulieu Boatjumble saw maritime professionals give up their time for free to offer advice on a range of subjects including sail trimming, effective anchoring, repairing fibreglass and diesel engine maintenance.

The latest edition of the event was held at the 40th anniversary boatjumble back on 23 April. Now, all the videos of the in-depth talks and demonstrations have been edited and posted on the ‘practicalboatowner‘ YouTube channel.

Rear Commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club Daria Blackwell and her husband Alex, were first to take to the stage with an impromptu talk on cruising the West Coast of Ireland, when chef David Wells was unable to attend the show at the last minute.

The authors of Happy Hooking – The Art of Anchoring, then drew the crowds with their scheduled talk on effective anchoring.

Daria said: ‘We’ve had a good audience here. It’s our first time to Beaulieu, it’s astounding to see people walking out of here with baby buggies loaded with all kinds of boating gear, it’s fascinating.’

Jerry Henwood, aka Jerry the rigger of Gosport, gave a talk to a packed crowd on DIY rigging checks.

Jerry said on the day: ‘I really enjoyed it. It was good fun and hopefully a bit of education has gone out and people will be safer.

‘There have been some interesting talks, I was listening to the other guys, it was very worthwhile for people to come in and hear things. Many thanks to Selden Mast Limited for loaning us their demo rig for the day.’

PBO sails expert Ian Brown from OneSails GBR saw standing-room only for his sail trim masterclass.

Ian said: ‘There were a lot of people, it was a very pleasant experience to come and meet more people than I was expecting to see. I hope my talk was informative for most people.’

Tom Edwards of ASAP Supplies provided insight to diesel engine maintenance with the help of a demo engine supplied by Hamble School of Yachting.

Gareth Ross from Sika – which was also sponsor of this year’s Experts Live! – gave a practical demonstration on window bonding.

Gareth said: ‘I thought the boatjumble was a bit sparse compared to previous years but the talks were really well attended.’

Meanwhile Gary Thompson of WEST SYSTEM Epoxy from Wessex Resins demonstrated how to repair holes in glassfibre boats.

Gary said: ‘This is the third year that WEST SYSTEM Epoxy has been involved, I enjoyed it, it’s always a good day out.’

Met Office weather forecaster Penny Tranter shared her knowledge on how to prepare for and respond to impacts from the weather.

Penny said: ‘The audience asked a lot of really good, challenging questions.’

Also on the day, PBO regular Alan Watson offered advice on electronics on board throughout the day, and RNLI Community Safety Team volunteers hosted a popular lifejacket clinic for a third year running.