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Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner Practical Boat Owner

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    Sailing ‘La Semaine’: how I faced hidden 8-knot currents and whirlpools on traditional craft

    How I survived a fouled propeller in a crowded marina

    I installed a yacht air conditioning system in just a few hours

    A man sailing a Waarschip 70

    Waarschip 740: the offshore boat you can build in your garage

    The simple rebuild that saved a 50-year-old BMC diesel engine for less

    ‘I thought it was all over’: man overboard drama hits Mini Globe Race 2025

    Read more top stories
    Yann Quenet at sea

    Yann Quenet: From France to Canada in a 4m boat

    French micro voyager Yann Quenet is currently transporting his home-built 4m boat across Canada ahead of a Pacific crossing in the spring

    How I built a SCAMP boat so my sick dog could go sailing again

    After my Australian Cattle Dog, Ozzie, had a health scar, I built a SCAMP boat, a popular dinghy cruiser design, so he could get back…

    Domestic GO storage box on a boat

    Dometic GO hard and soft storage: how practical is it onboard a boat?

    Gibert Park tests the Dometic Go storage system onboard his two motorboats to see how practical it is

    Read more

    Boat maintenance

    How to link your smartphone to your navigation system

    How to revamp your boat’s fuel system

    Your best biocide-free antifouling options

    How to service your outboard steering

    How to service your outboard steering

    How to strip and tidy your boat deck

    How to strip and tidy your boat deck

    Keeping your compass accurate: our expert advice

    Read more how to articles...

    Maintenance

    How I built a hull skirt to keep my boat dry while antifouling

    Ever thought of making a hull skirt? Getting fed up with the yearly grind and expense of antifouling Koto’s bottom I decided to switch over…

    Replacing your boat’s engine mounts

    Marine engine mounts are designed to isolate engine vibration noise from the boat’s structure. They’re susceptible to diesel and water leaks, should be checked regularly,…

    The essential tools to keep on your boat

    What tools do you really need for a boat? Say you now own a new or new-to-you boat, and you’re ready to get going. What…

    Your guide to different cockpit styles, and how to best use the space

    Whether you’re buying a new boat or refitting an older one, the cockpit deserves consideration; probably more than you think. While a spacious saloon or…

    More

    Amazing adventures

    Painting of Jazz Turner crawling 40m across rocks carrying two 10kg anchors, in an attempt to refloat her Albin Vega yacht Fear, after running aground near Felixstowe on UK and Ireland circumnavigation. Credit: Claudia Myatt

    Making history in an Albin Vega 27 – Jazz Turner’s story

    A drawing of a 33ft yacht caught in a Force 10 storm

    Force 10 in the Channel: ‘We took a colossal wave broadside, and the cockpit was suddenly knee-deep in water’

    Solo sailor Ian Wyllie aboard his Vancouver 27 Trilleen

    Ian Wyllie completes round-Britain and Ireland circumnavigation in project boat

    Solo sailor Jazz Turner, first disabled person to complete a non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland, smiles at the voyage finish at Brighton Marina. Credit: Fergus Kennedy

    “I crawled 50m across rocks with an anchor on my back”: Jazz Turner’s record voyage

    Read more

    Gear tests

    Boats moored on a marina in the EU. Many UK citizen are taking their boat to Europe

    Taking a boat to Europe: how to avoid the pitfalls

    A boat trailer hooked up to a Land Rover

    Reversing a boat trailer: a quick guide

    Industry insight: lithium marine batteries and other power options

    Dezincification resistant (DZR) skin fittings explained

    The Garmin chartplotter + 7 other options

    Skin fittings and seacocks explained

    Practical Projects

    Great tips and ideas to improve your boat from PBO readers

    An in-mast halyard line

    How to re-reeve a halyard: If your in-mast halyard has broken here’s how to fix it

    Contaminated fuel problems: keeping your marine diesel clean

    A boat hatch

    Boat hatch repair: how to stop the leaks

    A boat boarding step on a yacht

    Make your own boat boarding step

    A homemade rigging vice

    How to make your own rigging vice

    Part of a boat engine

    Moving a diesel engine air filter

    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

    A man repairing a hull plank on a clinker-built boat

    Clinker-built boat repair: step-by-step

    A cockpit cushion on a boat

    How to make cockpit cushions

    See more DIY at home ideas

    Latest news

    Fishing gear entanglement on a boat

    Report lobster pot and fishing gear entanglement, urges CA and RYA

    Sailors and boaters are being asked to report lobster pot and fishing gear entanglement and sightings of poorly marked static gear around the UK coast, as part of efforts to…

    Round the world yachtswoman Dee Caffari and Otley Sailing Club's Rob McCandless with a Sunsail marketing executive Lucy Castle at the Southampton International Boat Show. Credit: Sunsail

    Sunsail’s Funding the Future winner to refurbish five old Laser dinghies

    • September 22, 2025
    Excessively low water levels have left hundreds of boats stranded, including Adam McKinstry’s 45ft Oakwood at Gargrave since May – however the photo shows a silver lining, Adam has been able to 'do a bit of blacking on the bottom of the boat.'

    Crisis in the canals as drought hits boaters

    • September 18, 2025
    Ellia Hibbert wearing a red lifejacket

    Ella Hibbert: first British woman to sail the Northwest Passage solo

    • September 17, 2025
    The formerly boatfolk-run Haslar Marina is among those now under the ownership of Premier Marinas. Credit: boatfolk

    boatfolk marina group is now owned by Premier Marinas’ owner Wellcome

    • September 17, 2025
    The Vega pod’s two female members, C001 and C002, spotted in UK waters for the first time, are more than 30 years old. Photo credit: Joe Pender/www.scillypelagics.com

    Orcas sighted in UK waters are ‘not from yacht-damaging pod’

    • August 8, 2025
    Read more news

    Seamanship

    Quick tips to improve your boat’s performance

    What we learned picking up our first motorboat

    How a ‘Sécurité’ warning and a 33 hour continuous sail saved this 87-year-old solo sailor

    “I was on Lyme Bay harbour wall in only my soggy underpants”: how a test voyage became a crash-course in seamanship

    More seamanship articles

    Latest issue

    Practical Boat Owner December 2025

    December 2025 issue – out on 23 October

    From steering to rigging (and all the things we forget!) – the essential checks for the prepared skipper;  Displacement theory and how it affects the way your boat handles; Anchoring short-handed; Barry Perrins on his 9-year circumnavigation; Fit your own Saildrive propeller; Why you should never neglect lubricating oil; How to tow a dinghy; Lost prop replacement; Boat focus on small Westerly yachts; Making a mizzen mast and more! Order…

    Promoted

    Navigate Your Way to Financial Freedom

    If you could summarise Raisin’s philosophy In sailing terms, then it’s about keeping a steady hand on the tiller and staying on course. Racing sailors…

    Videos

    A person servicing a two-stroke outboard engine

    How to service a two-stroke outboard motor

    Join PBO's engine expert Stu Davies as he demystifies the maintenance of a classic two-stroke outboard, sharing essential tips, common…

    A man cleaning an engine leg on an outboard engine

    How to revamp and protect your engine leg

    Join PBO's engine expert Stu Davies as he runs through the checks and maintenance needed to revamp and protect an…

    More videos

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