Rigging screw covers cost approximately £10 each, so for my Westerly Centaur I would have needed to spend around £60 to cover all six. Instead, I used a 2m length…
Practical Projects
Keeping a cockpit locker organised
Having upgraded from a Hurley 22 to a Westerly Griffon we now have a cockpit locker that can easily swallow whatever we throw into it. The problem is, everything seems…
How to improve your emergency tiller
A boat move in the marina required me to go astern the full length of a narrow fairway between two long pontoons and turn 90° to port at the very end.…
How to refurbish an old pair of oars and make leather collars
I needed a pair of oars for my 1954-vintage 12ft standing lug dinghy and managed to find a couple of old ones – although they were not a matching pair,…
How to soften LED interior bulbs using a 25p ping-pong ball
We have a 25-year-old Westerly Konsort called Flycatcher, and last year I replaced the conventional 5W bulbs in the six berthlights with LED fittings, reducing the power consumption by about…
Adding a second battery to a boat
When I bought her new, my boat had just a single 75Ah domestic battery, best described as adequate if you remained frugal with the amps. But having sunk the children’s…
Baking bread on a boat
Baking bread on a boat need not create a floury mess and produce sinkfuls of washing-up. When victualling for your cruise, pack into a sealable two-litre oblong plastic container one…
Singlehanded mooring aid
Single-handed sailing requires forethought and a little extra preparation – no more so than when coming alongside. I had this idea a few years ago which cost virtually nothing and…
A sprayhood you can reef
Ian Bray shows how he designed his replacement sprayhood to fold down and convert to a spray-dodging windscreen
Outdoor workbench tip – turn your Workmate into a bigger work surface
This might come under the heading of ‘bleeding obvious’, but I have found it to be very useful when working on my boat in the dinghy park at my local…
Stop chain jumping on your anchor windlass
Mike Bowyer fabricates a simple solution to stop chain-jumping on his windlass
How to stop a swing keel leak
John Taylor finds a car steering rack gaiter stops leaks from the lifting cable of his swing keel
See-though fiddles for flare storage
Fire extinguishers are generally fixed where everyone can see them on a cruising yacht. However, other safety gear like the flares and the foghorn are often hidden away in lockers…
How to heave to with a self tacking jib
Small modifications to his Hunter Pilot's jib track mean that Dave Young can now heave to easily with his self-tacking jib
Savings on Volvo Penta engine spares
When I bought Sacha, my Beneteau Oceanis 381, five years ago I changed the cam belt on the engine. It is a Volvo Penta MD22L B, basically a Perkins Prima…
Make an outboard motor overheat alarm from a digital thermometer
The outboard on my Hunter Liberty is located in a well in the cockpit from where it is difficult to see the cooling water tell-tale. On my first trip this…
Retrieving lost halyards
James Boyce uses a crocodile clip to retrieve a lost halyard
How to make cockpit booster seats for more comfortable sailing
Looking for a more comfortable sailing experience, James Brooking builds 'booster' seats for his cockpit
Make your own transom shower fitting covers
Put spice pot lids to a new use with this budget tip to make transom shower fitting covers