Sophie Neville, who starred as Titty in the 1974 Swallows and Amazons film, will be appearing at the 2022 Southampton Boat Show. PBO’s Ben Sutcliffe-Davies will be interviewing Sophie on…
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Channel Hopping: Wonderful Wharram Women
Our resident YouTube fanatic marvels at the generations of women who have crossed (and continue to cross) oceans on Wharram catamarans.
New system for notifying overseas pleasure craft voyages
The UK government, via Border Force, has introduced the single Pleasure Craft Report (sPCR) service for those travelling to and from the UK on pleasure craft at www.spcr.homeoffice.gov.uk…
12 of the world’s most interesting and best preserved shipwrecks
The discoveries of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance and, even more recently, HMS Gloucester are a reminder of the rich history and folklore that lurks beneath our keels. Indeed, according to history.co.uk,…
Hot water on board: How to install a system that won’t leave you frozen or fried
I do enjoy a hot shower in my boat and my current vessel, a Trusty T23 displacement motorcruiser, heats the water from the engine up to at least 80°C and…
Why does boat engine oil need changing? What if we didn’t change it?
Why do we change our boat engine oil? A seemingly innocuous question I was asked a few months ago. Because we do? Because it’s dirty? Because the handbook says so?…
Boat propulsion explained: What are the alternatives to diesel inboard engines?
Rarely do we get to choose how our boats are powered. The usual scheme of things is we choose a boat on a myriad of parameters, of which one is…
How I converted my 8m catamaran to run off solar power alone
I’ve always been environmentally conscious and with an increasing concern about climate change, converting my new-to-me sailboat to fully electric propulsion was an idea that just wouldn’t leave my mind.…
First evidence of GRP boats’ “cancerous” impact on aquatic life
The ‘really worrying’ findings by University of Brighton researchers who undertook studies off the coast of Hampshire and West Sussex have worldwide implications, yet there is no practical solution for…
Channel Hopping: Look out Maître CoQ, here comes Guirec Soudée!
Our resident YouTube aficionado Kass Schmitt wonders if the reigning Vendée Globe champion risks being dethroned by a rookie with a chicken.
Lewmar Epsilon review: New generation anchor takes holding power to the next level
New generation anchors with holding power well beyond that of the previous common shapes, including the CQR, Bruce and a whole host of their derivatives, have been with us for…
What I learned from towing my 24ft keelboat 1,000 miles from Italy to the UK
The J24 World Championships in Italy were coming to an end and talk turned to the journey home. We’d originally flown in while another of the team towed the boat…
Freeman 22 used boat report: Comfortable motor cruiser with an interesting engine
Motor boats have never really appealed to me, simply because I can’t fix them when they go wrong, which inevitably they will. The idea of being stuck out at sea…
Best 30ft French boats: Our pick of the best options for cruising sailors
Sailors who look around 21st century boat shows won’t come across a single big volume British yacht builder. The occasional Oyster, Rustler, Swallow Baycruiser or Cornish Crabber is about all…
Channel Hopping: Patrick Laine’s transatlantic solo sailing woe
I write this from a cafe in Jamestown, Rhode Island USA, looking out across the East Passage of Narragansett Bay to Newport, the finish port for the Royal Western Yacht…
Sloop vs cutter – which is best? From the PBO archives
At Victoria Marine they produce some very fine boats, well designed, and well built. Beyond that they also follow a policy of allowing each customer the maximum possible freedom of…
How I built a £500 marine fuel polishing system to protect my boat from dirty diesel
Give our diesel engines clean fuel to drink, plenty of fresh air to breathe, plus a regular jump-start of amps, and they’ll happily run pretty well forever, given a little…
Replace or rebuild? How to tell if your old boat engine is salvageable
Most of us will know someone – and may have been that someone ourselves – with a rusty, rattly, oily or smoking marine diesel engine. The sort of old boat…
How to antifoul a boat: What we learned from antifouling Maximus
As we’d scraped back the hull and were starting afresh, the idea of releasing biocides into the water, albeit very slowly, was something we wanted to avoid. Also, it seemed…
Special Hui Gathering to celebrate the late James Wharram’s life
A celebration of the late James Wharram's life will be taking place on 22 to 25 July (exact day will be chosen according to the weather).