Practical_Boat_Owner_-_November_2015_

■ Gael Force,

Tel: 01463 229422

http://www.gaelforcegroup.com

Bargains

of the

month...

More great bargains in

the Chandlery section

starting on page 52

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5 ISSUE ON SALE DECEMBER

Next

month

Contents subject to change

PRACTICAL

Winter engine

maintenance

■ What you need to do to ensure

your engine survives the cold snap

Plus

■ Installing a VSR

■ Servicing a turbocharger

■ Carrying out keel repairs

■ Restoring a catamaran

TESTED

Battery chargers

■ Compared for speed, ease of

use and reliability

Winter gloves

■ Can you perform boat tasks

while keeping your fi ngers warm?

BOATS

An overseas overview

■ Bargain foreign-built 28-30ft

cruisers from the ’60s onwards

40 years, 30 boats (so far)

■ One man’s sailing history,

from a Graduate-class dinghy

to a Coaster Passagemaker 33

SEAMANSHIP

Constructing a jury rudder

■ A reader is forced to improvise

after his boat’s rudder breaks

Casting off

■ Different techniques demonstrated

Curing weather helm

■ How to maintain the perfect balance

CRUISING

The River Dart

■ On the water in deepest Devon

DECEMBER ISSUE ON SALE

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5

PRICE £59.

■ Jimmy Green Marine

Tel: 0129 7 20744

http://www.jimmygreen.co.uk

RRP £187.50,

NOW ONLY £

RRP £45.

OFFER PRICE £

■ Force 4.

Tel: 0845 1300 710

http://www.force4.co.uk

REEDS 2016 NAUTICAL

ALMANAC

The 2016 edition

is updated

throughout,

containing over

45,000 changes,

and includes a

free Reeds

Marina Guide.

WAVEFRONT

TILLERCLUTCH

Free yourself from the helm with just a

click! The easiest, most intuitive

mechanical device for lashing the tiller.

PBO Best on Test award, August 2015.

6:1 MAN OVERBOARD

RECOVERY SYSTEM

Includes 25m of 8mm braid-on-braid

polyester spliced to 10mm Barton

ball-bearing triple block with cam

and becket, reeved onto a 10mm

Barton ball bearing triple b lock.

Top block is spliced to a stainless

steel carbine hook with 1m of 8mm

3-strand polyester.

MARINA PLAN RULED OUT
BUT REPAIRS GO AHEAD
Plans for a marina to be built in
Stonehaven harbour have been ruled
out. A feasibility study for Stonehaven
Town Partnership reported that the
£8million project was not commercially
feasible, but recommended that work
should be carried out on the outer
breakwater, south pier, net pier, fi sh
pier, storm gates and booms to
prevent further deterioration. There
are currently nearly 140 regular
moorings fully occupied in the
harbour, plus a waiting list.

NORTH-EAST

SCHOONER PICKLE

The replica HM schooner Pickle

arrived at her new home in Hull

on 25 September. The Royal Navy

patrol vessel HMS Explorer escorted

the recently-restored Pickle into

Hull Marina. The original HM

schooner Pickle was a 72ft

two-masted vessel, built in 1799,

which brought news of Nelson’s

victory at the Battle of Trafalgar to the

UK. The replica schooner was built in

St Petersburg, Russia in 1996 and

had been operating as a charter

vessel, based on the Welsh coast.

SOUTH-EAST

NEW RAMSGATE PONTOONS

Chain moorings in Ramsgate harbour

have been removed and replaced by

30 fl oating pontoon berths. The new

pontoons are sited at the Western

Gulley of the Royal Harbour Marina,

between the Commercial Quay and

West Pier, and will provide easier

berthing for members of the

Ramsgate Small Boat Owners

Association (RSBOA). Funding for the

scheme was provided by the Port of

Ramsgate and Thanet District Council.

DRUGS YACHT

Border Force offi cers seized 1,200kg

of cocaine with an estimated street

value in excess of £56million from a

yacht at Dover. The yacht, Golem, was

intercepted off the Kent coast on 31

August by the Border Force cutter,

Vigilant. Two Dutch nationals aboard,

Hendrik Brugmans and Raymond

Aalders, were arrested. Brugmans, 68,

who gave an address on the island of

Curaçao and Aalders, 46, of Kesteren,

Netherlands, appeared at Folkestone

Magistrate’s Court on 2 September

charged with drug traffi cking offences.

Brugmans withheld his plea while

Aalders denied the charge. Their case

has been listed for trial at Maidstone

Crown Court on 22 February 2016.

INLAND

NARROW BOAT VOYAGE

A Doncaster man with a terminal

illness has set off on a charity narrow

boat voyage across the UK. Shortly

after being diagnosed with stage four

lung cancer, Kevin Duckham bought

Daydream from Strawberry Island

Boat Club. He set off on his 61st

birthday, on 11 September, with his

partner Kayla Mead. They will travel

through Thorne to the Keadby

junction, join the River Trent and travel

south to Bristol, raising money along

the way for palliative care providers.

PBO TROPHY WINNER

Bob Smith from Leicester made a

328-mile round-trip to scoop the

PBO Miles to Maldon trophy for

the boat towed furthest to take

part in the Maldon Town Regatta.

As a bonus, 71-year-old Bob (with

crew Peter Shepherd) sailed his

35-year-old Sailfi sh 18 into third

place in the cruising yacht class in

the September 19 event on the

River Blackwater in Essex.

Although shy of the record set

last year when Gwilym Newnham

towed his 4.9m (16ft) Winkle Brig

503 miles from west Ireland,

retired chartered engineer Bob

has already racked up well over

1,500 miles this year towing

EAST

Bob Smith with his trophy

Dave Selby

Bobkat to Plymouth, Chichester

Harbour, The Orwell and three

times to the Norfolk Broads.

Bob described the Blackwater as

‘a great playground’ and added: ‘A

big attraction is sailing into Maldon

with all its Thames barges and the

great party and hospitality after a

long day’s sailing. It’s well worth

the effort.’

RIVER COLNE

OBSTRUCTIONS

Three temporary structures,

marked by 30cm-diameter yellow

fl oats, have been laid on the bed of

the River Colne outside the main

navigation channel, off the entrance

to Alresford Creek and downstream

of Priors Wharf, Fingringhoe. The

structures extend approximately

2m above the seabed and are

recording information in support of

the development of Fingringhoe

Wick Nature Reserve. Their

exact positions are:

51° 50.883’N 000° 58.364’E;

51° 50.511’N 000° 58.787’E;

51° 50.238’N 000° 58.864’E.

All vessels should keep at least

5m clear of the structures, which

are expected to remain in place

until November, and should not

moor in the vicinity.

■ http://www.eastcoastpilot.com