Practical Boat Owner April 2022

To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk When the time is right There couldn’t be a more exciting time to become a boat owner. It seems every decision I make is at the brink of a new (or lesser known) technology. I ruled out lithium batteries, but chose composite seacocks. I opted for eco-antifouling but not a holding tank (yet). The environment weighs on my conscience, but so does my bank account. More than ever, I need to read PBO, which is lucky, as that’s my job. And as the owner of the PBO Project Boat, I also get to live PBO. For this issue I spent a wonderful day with Stu and Laura Davies learning how to service my Volvo MD2020 diesel. At the same time, reader…

To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk When the time is right There couldn’t be a more exciting time to become a boat owner. It seems every decision I make is at the brink of a new (or lesser known) technology. I ruled out lithium batteries, but chose composite seacocks. I opted for eco-antifouling but not a holding tank (yet). The environment weighs on my conscience, but so does my bank account. More than ever, I need to read PBO, which is lucky, as that’s my job. And as the owner of the PBO Project Boat, I also get to live PBO. For this issue I spent a wonderful day with Stu and Laura Davies learning how to service my Volvo MD2020 diesel. At the…

Saluting an exceptional voyage, the OCC’s Barton Cup was awarded to Dustin Reynolds, a double amputee, who completed a 7½-year circumnavigation on his 35ft Alberg sloop, Tiama, despite setting out with little money, experience or technology. Plus a side-trip to Antarctica on a friend’s 38-footer. OCC’s Seamanship Award recognises Jester Azores Challenge rescuer George Arnison (30ft Good Report), who assisted Duncan Lougee (25ft Folkboat Minke) [The big tow, PBO January 2022]. An inaugural Environment Award went to Richard and Stephanie Hackett’s NGO Sea Mercy, which delivers aid via private yachts to the South Pacific islands. The Vasey Vase toasts Ginger and Peter Nieman’s five-year circumnavigation. PLUS: Jester Award to Katie McCabe Qualifier’s Mug to James Frederick Port Officer Service Awards to Natasha Wolmarans and Westbrook Murphy Events & Rallies to Colin Cambell…

Achievements recognised in the latest Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) awards, include a special posthumous honour for James Wharram – the OCC Lifetime Cruising Award. Wharram, who passed away on 14 December 2021 aged 93, is considered by many as the father of modern multihull cruising. The free-spirited sailor and designer specialised in double-canoe style sailing catamarans, inspired by the Polynesian double canoe. Despite coming from a non-sailing background – he was born in Manchester in 1928 – Wharram became fascinated by Polynesian double canoes after reading Éric de Bisschop’s The Voyage of the Kaimiloa as a teenager. Starting small in the 1950s, one of his first designs was the 23ft 5in Tangaroa in which he and two young women sailed from the Canaries to Trinidad in 1955. Wharram wrote about…

Achievements recognised in the latest Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) awards, include a special posthumous honour for James Wharram – the OCC Lifetime Cruising Award. Wharram, who passed away on 14 December 2021 aged 93, is considered by many as the father of modern multihull cruising. The free-spirited sailor and designer specialised in double-canoe style sailing catamarans, inspired by the Polynesian double canoe. Despite coming from a non-sailing background – he was born in Manchester in 1928 – Wharram became fascinated by Polynesian double canoes after reading Éric de Bisschop’s The Voyage of the Kaimiloa as a teenager. Starting small in the 1950s, one of his first designs was the 23ft 5in Tangaroa in which he and two young women sailed from the Canaries to Trinidad in 1955. Wharram wrote about crossing the…

The Green Blue will be hosting a series of free webinars focused on sharing sustainable anchoring and mooring best practice with boaters. It is part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES Seagrass Project led by Natural England, of which British Marine, the Royal Yachting Association and The Green Blue are partners. Other partners in the project include the Marine Conservation Society, Ocean Conservation Trust and Plymouth City Council. The webinars aim to provide an insight into the ReMEDIES Project and raise awareness of sensitive seabed habitats at some of the project’s five seagrass restoration sites: Essex Estuaries, Fal and Helford, Solent Maritime and Plymouth. Each of the webinars will have speakers from partner organisations in the project who have local knowledge of the environment at each of the seagrass sites. The free guide The…