Bilge pumps are such a simple, standard piece of equipment that very little has changed about them in decades, but now their shortcomings are being dealt with by a range…
Practical Skills
Navigating medical emergencies at sea
Why do accidents happen at the most inopportune times? Occurring when you least need them and potentially putting a crew member out of action or more. Accidents vary from the…
Essential Guide to Marine Rope Materials and Construction: How Ropes are Made
To master the practical aspects of knotting and ropework, it is important to learn a little about the materials, tools and terminology used, as well as allowing you to converse…
Never run dry: The ultimate guide to boat tank gauges
You don’t want to arrive at your favourite anchorage only to discover that you’ve run out of water, your holding tank is full and there’s no gas left to cook…
From sextants to screens: Has modern tech made us better (or worse) sailors?
Bob Dylan’s ageless song was released at about the same time as I started sailing yachts. Its aim was to influence people’s views about society, so it seems to be…
How I moved my mooring into deeper water better suited to my yacht
Typical of a purchase driven by the heart, the reality of buying a long keel cruiser struck home immediately when I tried to keep Swedish Lass on the drying mooring…
6 Tips For Guilt-Free Sustainable Sailing
The social narrative pushes us to take responsibility for protecting the natural environment that we sail in. But how exactly can we do that without sucking the joy out of…
How to clean an anti-syphon valve on a yacht’s engine
On sailing boats the exhaust pipe is swept up into a ‘swan neck’ to stop following waves flooding the exhaust when the engine isn’t running. Exhaust gas normally drives water…
How to lay your own mooring
Over the years I have had deep water moorings laid for me and also dug in my own half-tide moorings. Both have been in positions which suited the craft I…
How do you know if you have enough purchase in a rigging system?
What does lifting a sodden man overboard out of the drink and tensioning the backstay have in common? Well, unless you’re sailing a very small dinghy, they both make use…