Practical Boat Owner March 2019

A record of change Now, I may be misquoting a well-known photographer, or thinker here, but I had a conversation with a friend over Christmas in which the advice was: ‘Pay less attention to historic, unchanging objects; it is better to take photos of things that will change.’ So, the theory goes that if you visit a historic monument, make sure you take photos of the reception, the gift shop and the ticket counter – these are the bits that will elicit gasps of wonder in years to come. The monument will remain unchanged forever. It has been a privilege to publish Keith Wheeler’s boating journey (page 26) from rescuing a dory from the seabed in 1978, via six different family sailing cruisers to becoming a motorboat owner since 2009. Taken together, his…

The method of disposal of out of date flares in the UK is under review. Currently, the onus is on boat owners to get rid of old flares, usually by returning them to the supplier when buying new ones, or by paying for them to be safely disposed of. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) does offer a free 'last resort disposal service' at a handful of locations,but now the Department for Transport (DfT) is reviewing the scheme. This is because the MCA’s contract with the firm tasked with collecting and disposing of flares will end in 2020. The DfT has already met with key stakeholders, such as manufacturers, to look at alternative disposal methods. A wider consultation will be held later this year. The disposal of out of date flares used to…

German sailor Susanne Huber-Curphey has become the first Longue Route skipper to cross their own track. Unlike the Golden Globe Race, the Longue Route isn’t a competition, and has no regulations. Instead, it is a pilgrimage in tribute to Bernard Moitessier, who took part in the original 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. He famously abandoned the race to ‘save his soul’, deciding to continue sailing on his 40ft steel ketch Joshua rather than return to England. Moitessier eventually made landfall in Tahiti, setting the record for the longest nonstop passage by a yacht – 37,455 nautical miles in ten months. Huber-Curphey, who holds the record for the first woman to navigate the Northwest Passage single-handed (west to east), started the Longue Route from Portland in Maine, USA, on 14 June 2018,…

From 1 April 2019, boaters will have to install a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm onboard if they want to cruise certain waterways in the UK. This will affect cruisers using the Scottish Canals, BWML marinas, Bristol Harbour, all Canal & River Trust waterways, The Broads, the rivers Medway, Thames, Blackwater, Chelmer, Cam, Dee, Wey and other waterways run by navigation authorities which apply Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) regulations. The new rule applies to all classes of boats with accommodation and will become part of the four-year BSS examination of vessels – a boat-equivalent of an MOT – which is needed to cruise BSS-regulated waterways. The BSS consulted on its plans for mandatory CO alarms in autumn 2018. It said 84% of those asked supported the move. BSS manager Graham Watts said details of the…

Jeremy Lines is remembered as an unsung hero of the yachting industry, writes Ian Nicolson. Jeremy, who died in November 2018, started his career in 1947 as a 17-year-old apprentice to Fred Parker, a leading yacht designer at the busy Dorset Yacht Company. Having completed his National Service in the RAF, Lines then worked at Universal Shipyard on the Hamble before joining Camper & Nicholsons in Gosport, where he soon became a leading light. Among his many talents he was excellent at developing fibreglass yachts. He was responsible for no fewer than 550 improvements to the design of the celebrated Nicholson 32 between the first production boat and the Mark 6. Jeremy rose to be technical director through sheer application. He famously never stopped work, answering calls at all times of the day…

British Waterways Marinas Ltd (BWML), which operates 18 marinas across England, has been sold to its existing management team backed by the private equity investor, LDC. BWML runs 15 inland marinas, including London’s Limehouse Basin Marina and Pennington Wharf Marina in Manchester, and three coastal marinas at Hull and Lancashire including Glasson Basin. In total, it manages 2,520 berths, of which 699 are residential. Chris Wright from LDC, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, said management would be focusing on ‘delivering improvements across the marina sites and add new locations to further strengthen its brand and market position.’ BWML was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canal & River Trust. The sale price isn’t being disclosed, but the trust’s chief investment officer, Stuart Mills, said the proceeds would be reinvested in other…