Does your ground tackle pass muster? In the July issue of PBO (on sale 14 May) we offer 10 easy checks and dozens of ideas for improving your anchor and chain, plus there’s an ingenious demountable windlass design in Practical Projects. For UK readers still stuck at home we indulge in a little escapism with a couple of amazing adventures from Australia and Canada. Plus we tackle GRP recycling, AIS B+, lifejacket servicing and the return of the Fisher 25.
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Used boats and New boat test
Used boats: which lift-keeler?
Peter Poland picks the best of a bewildering array of French variable draught yachts (read more…)
If you have a yen to go coastal cruising in a variable draught yacht that’s less than 30ft long, you’ll need to search in classified adverts or on brokerage listings. Some of the best second-hand options come from French manufacturers. However, it’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the keel-lifting mechanisms that are available… (read more)
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Fisher 25 review: a big little ship
David Harding tests the 40-year-old Fisher 25 now reborn and back in production in Sri Lanka (read more…)
If any boat deserves to be described as a timeless classic, it must surely be the Fisher 25. With her high bow, jaunty sheer, chunky rubbing strake, ketch rig and forward-raked wheelhouse, she’s one of the most unmistakeable and enduringly popular little boats afloat.
But apart from her engagingly purposeful appearance, what is it that makes this heavyweight motor sailer stand out? (read more…)
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Improve your anchor, chain, windlass and more…
Rupert Holmes on how to set up your boat for bulletproof anchoring (read more…)
There has been a revolution in anchoring technology over the past couple of decades. If you’ve recently bought a boat, or are planning more adventurous cruising in your existing vessel, it’s worth taking a careful look at the anchoring equipment and arrangements for the ten common problems, ranging from rusty shackles to worn chain and poorly maintained windlasses (read more…)
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200 miles in a 16-footer
Zoran Gozinic recalls a Canadian river voyage from Montreal to Kingston… in a daysailer (read more…)
My friend Ante and I were born in Croatia and both immigrated to Canada over 30 years ago. We met for the first time here in Montreal and shared a passion for small boats. We did many day-sails together, either on his boat or mine, but one day we decided to go further afield. I don’t remember whose ideas it was to sail 200 miles in a 16ft daysailer, but once the plan was hatched, we began our preparation in earnest (read more…)
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GRP recycling – the truth about boat-breaking
Nic Compton on what really happens to old boats beyond repair? And who should pay for their disposal? (find out more…)
Steve Franklin is on a mission. He’s made it his business to deal with the increasing numbers of boats in the UK reaching the end of their useful lives, too many of which end up abandoned in marinas or cluttering up creeks around the country. It’s a growing problem which the UK’s boating industry – unlike most other European countries – seems to be reluctant to deal with. And it’s driving this self-appointed Undertaker of the Boating World a little bit nuts (read more…)
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What is AIS B+ and do I need it?
Class B or Class B+ AIS… Gilbert Park investigates the difference and how to decide which is best for your kind of boating (find out more…)
I’d been thinking about buying an AIS transceiver for my Merry Fisher 855 for some time. I use my boat mainly in the Solent, where avoiding other vessels is a major concern, but in the end it was a Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report that suddenly reminded me of an incident I avoided (thanks to AIS) on my previous boat a few years before. Then ‘Black Friday’ (for bargain electronics shopping on the Internet) made me knuckle down and place an order to fit a unit over winter (read more…)
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Step by step: How to remove a marine diesel cylinder head
Geoff Higginbottom strips the cylinder head from a Volvo Penta MD2030 (read more…)
During the summer of the 2019 our Bavaria 39 Tessa Jane began producing black exhaust smoke and suffering a reduction in power from her 2005 Volvo Penta MD2030. I was unable to isolate the exact cause before our annual cruise around the Channel Islands and northern France, so we simply kept the revs low while motoring and enjoyed our holiday.
However, while motor-sailing from St Peter Port to Cherbourg, the smell of unburnt diesel increased and just a couple of miles from the west entrance to the harbour we started emitting rather a lot of white smoke (read more…)
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Brilliant ideas from refitting a Contest 43
Bluewater cruiser Nitzan Sneh tells Ali Wood about his DIY upgrades that inspired some ideas for any boat owner (read more…)
I recently read A Year in Provence. It was a fantastic book – very humorous and a great depiction of what it’s like to buy an old house in a foreign country and use the local trades to do the work. I found there to be a lot of similarities between that and my experience here in St Lucia, where I’ve spent the past few months working on my Contest 43 (read more…)
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We designed and built a folding tender for under £350
Gordon Davies and Alison Mainwood describe how trial and error led them to design and build their own unique compact folding tender (read more…)
A dinghy adds an enormous amount of fun to a cruising holiday, but on a small boat there is always the problem of where to stow it. Hang it on davits and it gets in the way in tight manoeuvring and it can block the view astern; storing it on deck is often a nuisance. Inflatables are good if an outboard is required, but as we worked out our style of cruising we realised that we rarely actually needed the motor (read more…)
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Demountable windlass
An ingenious electric windlass mount for occasional use (read more…)
The time recently came for the addition of a windlass to Feng Shui, our 1986 Breehorn 37, to ease the effort of weighing anchor on the ageing arms and back. The addition of a windlass is quite a common task, but every boat is different, and in our case, we have the original 13mm thick teak deck (now about 10mm) that I was loath to cut though. Luckily, the boat has a large and deep chain locker, which made me think that a removable windlass would make sense. (read more…)
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The ‘real’ Provence
Expensive and over-developed? The south of France is neither if you know where to go (read more…)
East of the Rhône to the Rade (bay) de St Tropez is the ‘real’ Provence/Cote d’Azur. Why real? Well, at the risk of sounding twee, it’s pretty. Here, visiting yachtsmen will find destinations that inspired Med voyages back in the heady days of the Earls Court Boat Shows. With few non-French tourists, an abundance of free anchorages, set against classic Med landscapes – some rocky and brutal, others green, soft and wooded – most in crystal clear water. Ashore, umbrella pines, olives, date palms and tamarisk abound (read more…)
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Cruise the Whitsundays
Huw Williams on finding paradise among Australia’s north-east coast Whitsunday Islands (read the full article here…)
More than anything right now, you probably just want to get on the water, but perhaps the lockdown might prompt a few more of us to stop putting off that ‘trip of a lifetime’. So let’s assume you want to experience a new cruising ground, something exotic, visually stunning, an adventure with crystal clear water, interesting flora and fauna… and no crowds. I may have the answer – the wonderful Whitsunday Islands.
(read the full article here…)