Practical Boat Owner

Published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd 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

A bridge not far

‘Orcas are playing with the yachts’

What happened?

Advice to sailors – what to do if orcas interact with your boat

Shipwreck identified as steamship Virago

Wave energy technology success

Junk yacht’s Royal re-commission

Disposal of marine pyrotechnics to change

The icy sound of climate change

Nominate deserving young people

Channel hop paperwork guidance

DIARY DATES

Regional News • News from your cruising area

Aircraft crew rescued from liferaft

Letters • Readers share their thoughts and opinions

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

King of the hagglers • Got a boat-buying bargain of the century? Haggle and you’ll get it for less… probably

Navigating by road map • Thin blue lines on the AA road atlas snake hither and yon, all more interesting than roads

Dream sailing • The dark days of winter are brightened if you use the time to plan an exciting summer of sail

Sailfish 18 • A modestly-priced trailer-sailer with a surprisingly speedy performance

NEARLY NEW Viko S21 • Jake Frith test sails a surprisingly keenly priced trailer-sailer in the company of both the guy that sold it and the guy that bought it

The appeal of GRP classics • Peter Poland considers the reasons why ‘plastic fantastics’ are now being welcomed into the fleets of traditional classic yachts

Fair winds to Jeremy Rogers • The co-designer and builder of Contessa yachts, ‘The quiet legend who loved boats and the water in equal measure,’ died in October

Coastal birds • Have you ever wondered what species of bird you’re watching at anchor? Genevieve Leaper helps to identify waders, herons, divers, seaduck and geese, plus the fish-eating sea eagle and osprey

Exploring cheaper mooring options • Paul Power tries swinging moorings to beat soaring marina prices

10 seadog essentials • Some handy kit can make taking your pet dog to sea a lot easier

Skye to Anglesey with the tides • Charmian and Mark Entwistle embrace plenty of passage planning to make best use of strong tides and weather

Trip findings

Shrinking distance • Charles Godden experiences the fright of engine failure in the path of a bulk carrier

THE INFAMOUS BUG

The Perfect Christmas Gift • from just £6

New Gear • Rupert Holmes on furlers, weather and data processing

Popular furlers

PredictWind severe weather warnings

B&G Triton Edge processor

Christmas gifts • Ideas for the boat owner who has (almost) everything

Conserving batteries when left over winter • Engineering guru Vyv Cox confesses to a less-than impressive track record of over-wintering batteries – but shares his new-found solution

Two-way waste holding tank installation • Keith Calton fits a compact, economical and user friendly heads system for less than £500

Holding tanks

Cleaning out a sludgy diesel tank • Richard Barnard braves the mess and overcomes key challenges for the satisfaction of a clean fuel tank, free from sediment and sludge

Boatyard ladder • Zoran Glozinic makes a safe, sturdy ladder with minimal budget

PROJECT BOAT RESTORATION Making sails • Ali Wood visits the T Sails loft in Southampton to watch...