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

Stress free cruising

Anchoring charges and the law • News and current affairs from the world of boating

Not ideal for overnight

‘Harbour authorities entitled to levy harbour dues’

Heroes’ welcome for retro race history makers

From Canada to the UK in a microyacht

Orcas sink yacht off Spanish coast

£5,500 prizes for marine environmental reports

Jubilee year for Old Gaffers Association

Don’t risk illegal filling of gas cylinders

DIARY DATES

Regional news • News from your cruising area

Double carbon monoxide tragedy sparks warning to all to fit an alarm

Letters • Sharing your boating thoughts and opinions

A yacht race like no other • Essential monthly highlights from the world of online sailing channels with Kass Schmitt

Magna charter • Why exotic sailing holidays abroad are not necessarily all they’re cracked up to be

Modern classic, swollen head • The many perfumes of Memory Lane

Regattas again! • Camaraderie, competition, mussel float dodging and home-made blueberry muffins

Tideway 10 GUNTER OR LUGGER? • The trailerable TW10 has the benefits of her sister vessel, the Tideway 12, but is lighter and easier to launch and recover by hand

Rig design THE PROS & CONS • Peter Poland looks at the history of popular rig designs and how the different types affect boat performance

Cruising Europe • Sailing to the EU this summer? The Cruising Association shares its advice on what you need to know for a stress-free cruise

How to avoid engine failure when cruising • Marine surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies shares his knowledge for essential pre-departure engine checks for trouble free cruising

How to cross Biscay • Crossing Biscay is a rite of passage for many sailors: Rachael Sprot has expert advice on how to handle the ‘Golfe de Gascogne’

New gear • Rupert Holmes checks out the latest marine products

NEWS IN BRIEF

Tried & tested • Ali Wood stays buoyant and walks tall

Bilge pump mystery • Zoran Glozinic buys a suspiciously low priced bilge pump with a design flaw… but it proves just the job for his project boat

DIY £200 chartplotter • John Calton builds his own 10in touchscreen chartplotter with GPS and AIS for a fraction of the cost of an off-the-shelf system

FATHER’S DAY SUBSCRIPTION OFFER

Learning how to restore old boats • Inspired by a stunning homebuilt yacht, Ali Wood visits the Boat Building Academy to learn how any of us can become boatbuilders

Back to school • Fancy building or restoring your own boat? Ali Wood takes a tour of the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis

SUBSCRIBE TO Practical Boat Owner FROM £23.50*

Transom refurb for a hard tender • Jake Frith beefs up a wibbly wobbly transom for many more years of trouble free service

Understanding electrics: switches and relays • Pat Manley and Oliver Ballam demystify boat electrics, starting with switches and relays

Essential checks for chainplates • As long as our chainplates aren’t leaking, few of us give them a second thought. But should we be checking more closely? Surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies explains what to look out for

Restoring a vintage marine radio • Ali Wood’s Sailor radio is given the VIP treatment

Practical projects • Your great ideas and...