Practical Boat Owner

Published by TI Media Limited Practical Boat Owner is Britain's biggest-selling boating magazine, trusted and respected by all its readers. A source of useful and helpful information for both power and sail boat owners, PBO helps you get the most from your boat acting as a forum for interacting with like-minded individuals.

Practical Boat Owner

Waiting for the tide

News • News and current affairs from the world of boating

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) no longer opposes legislation

Make boating tragedies with an alcohol factor ‘a thing of the past’

Family tradition continued

Lithium-ion battery guidance issued

Record breaker honoured

Sir Robin leads line up for Southampton

Seventeen left for Golden Globe Race

DIARY DATES

News from your cruising area • Got a news story that would interest a fellow PBO reader? We want to hear from you! Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com

Letters • Sharing your boating thoughts and opinions

Channel hopping • Essential monthly highlights from the world of online sailing channels with Kass Schmitt

Pottier than the Odyssey • Sailing should not have to be pot luck!

Pet scorner • Wildlife gets the seal of approval. Pets, not so much

A voyage of exploration • A circumnavigation of a Scottish loch is a test of teamsmanship and kayak capability

Cruising around Britain in a kayak • Inspiration for the sailing club when adventurer Ian Hayward visits

Reading telltales • Cruising instructor Ben Lowings explains how to get the most out of your telltales

The humble waypoint • How do the four stages of passage planning – appraise, plan, execute, monitor (APEM) – work in the age of the chartplotter?

Bente 28 • Few yards build boats of this size – even fewer build capable cruisers at a sensible price. Theo Stocker went to see if Bente has managed to do just that

New gear • Rupert Holmes previews Southampton Boat Show launches

Tried & tested • Laura Hodgetts tests UPF 50 tops and ocean-friendly sunscreen

Nav apps tested • Duncan Kent and Dagnall Clutterbuck test a selection of the latest marine navigation apps for tablets and smart phones

Book reviews • Katy Stickland shares our recommended maritime reads

Practical Boat Owner®

Stopping a leak from a seacock • Roger Hughes struggles with a potentially disastrous snapped off skin fitting

Paint like a pro • For a finish you can see your reflected face in, here are some top tips from experts in the field of high gloss yacht coatings

Prepping the hull

Roller and brush method

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on looking after Suhaili • Sir Robin Knox-Johnston shares some hard-won tips on caring for his world famous record-breaking 63-year-old ketch

14 mistakes to avoid • Expensive, embarrassing or inconvenient, Rupert Holmes shares some practical and seamanship errors he wishes he’d never made

DIY keel-cooled fridge in a 1980s yacht • Kerry and Fraser Buchanan convert a cavernous coolbox into an efficient, near silent keel-cooled fridge in their Barbican 33

Repurpose a cool box into a keel-cooled fridge

Ocean ready • Joe Bainbridge explains to woodworking tutor Geoff Bowker how his Contessa 26 was refitted ready for an Atlantic circuit

Sealing the steering • Gilbert Park explains how he dealt with an oil leak on his motorboat’s hydraulic steering ram by replacing the O-ring seals

Freshwater system maintenance • John Payne explains how to manage drinking water on board

Tracing a portlight leak • A leak proved an easy fix for José-María Molina-García-Pardo

Filling a grease...