boat owner

Contents

MAINTENANCE · PROJECTS · GEAR REVIEWS · SEAMANSHIP · CRUISING

KEEPING YOUR

ENGINE COOL

Step-by-step guide to servicing

your cooling system

MOORING UNDER SAIL

Tips, tricks and techniques

Cure for a cracked encapsulated keel

PLUS How Mini Transat

racers influence cruising

TENSION GAUGES

DIY rig tweaks with

repeatable results

PLUS Flip-down

dinghy wheels

TESTED

INSIDE

Making a safe space in

a tender for a toddler

Fixing up an old car

engine as a spare

2016

MARINA GUIDE

Costs and facilities near you

INNOVATIVE LIFTING KEELPractical improvements to a gaff cutter

PRICES AND FACILITIES UK MARINA GUIDE:

5 Waiting for the tide
The editor’s welcome to this month’s PBO

6 News
Storm Imogen batters parts of Britain, PBO
Project Boat winner announced... and more

10 Regional news
Improvements to Ros an Mhíl Harbour,
Carbost facilities boost... and more

12 Readers’ letters – your views

14 Dave Selby
Maldon becomes Tinseltown

16 Sam Llewellyn
It’s crane day in the yard

18 Andrew Simpson
Take care to guard your own

86 Ask the experts
Getting to the bottom of paint blisters,
plus more reader queries answered

91 PBO products and services
Books and plans from the PBO Shop

REGULARS BOATS

CRUISING

74 Cure for a cracked

encapsulated keel

Repairing a split keel on an Albin Ballad

70 Fixing up an old car

engine as a boat spare

Repurposing an old Maestro lump

78 Retro-fitting spring cleats

AND sorting out loose locker lids,

plus more reader projects and tips

82 Keeping your engine cool

A step-by-step guide to servicing

your cooling system

90 A toddler-friendly dinghy

Make a toddler-safe space in a dinghy

SEAMANSHIP

28 Mooring under sail

Tips, tricks and techniques

60 More Sticky situations

Seamanship tips from Sticky Stapylton

80 A day I’ll never remember

A reader succumbs to transient

global amnesia while at the helm

20 How Mini Transat racers

influence cruising

Fresh ideas from the cutting edge

61 Innovative lifting keel

Practical improvements to a gaff cutter

66 Rhyl life

Times are changing for this

historic harbour in North Wales

98 Cape of Storms

200 miles from Cape Town, a reader prays

for a change in wind strength or direction

2016

Marina

Price

Guide

Costs and

facilities

near you –

see page 34

SAVE

MONEY AND

SUBSCRIBE!

Great offers on

page 25

GEAR

26 Flip-down dinghy wheels
Which wheels are best suited to
different types of terrain?

53 New gear
PBO looks at the latest marine products

92 Rig tension gauges
DIY rig tweaks with repeatable results

PRACTICAL

Cover photo: Cascadeur, a Jeanneau Sun Voyager

6 6

Rhyl

life

20

How Mini Transat racers

influence cruising

Welcome to the April 2016 issue

74

70

90

20

34

82

28

92

61

26

96 Budget dinghy repairs

Transforming a neglected, rotting, 12ft sailing

dinghy into a perfectly safe and serviceable craft

110 Anchor locker design

Hints and tips from the PBO Sketchbook

(^34) Practical Boat Owner 598 April 2016 • http://www.pbo.co.uk
T
he PBO Marina Price Guide provides comprehensive
England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, Shetland regional listings of annual berths around
Islands, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Since it began in 2009, the guide has
grown from 219 to 266 listings, which enable you to compare and contrast marina charges, as well as the facilities and services
offered by each marina. We only list walk-ashore berths with mast-up access from the coast.
In order to compare the pricesprovided by the hundreds of marinas, with varying pricing structures, we requested the annual
berthing costs for yachts of 7m, 10m and 13m LOA, and worked out an average per-metre price.
The sums we quote, which include VAT, may not be exact for yourparticular boat but are intended to be representative overall.
most expensive. To help you plan your access, we give the depth of National rankings start at 1 for the
water at the pontoon and in the approaches at Mean Low Water Springs, allowing us to include drying marinas.
What’s new?Marina upgrade works at Scotland’s Campbeltown Loch,
Marina, with an angled concretecompleted last June, have resulted in the new 54-berth Campbeltown
breakwater to protect the more northerly berths and new onshore facilities. This represents a huge
improvement to the previous facility, which provided alongside berthing for up to 18 vessels or up to 38 when triple-rafting: it was also open
to strong easterly winds and had very limited onshore facilities. The marina at Portavadie has
and leisure experience at its Loch Fyne location. The latest features in the £10million development include expanded its offering with a spa
The 2016
Marina Price Guide
a 16m indoor pool, outdoor spa pools, a Scandinavian sauna, a gymnasium and the largest heated
outdoor infi nity pool in Scotland.changed hands in September 2015 and is now run by The Marine In Wales, Aberystwyth Marina
have announced plans to expand into another boatyard nearby, and Group. On the south-east coast of England, Peter Leonard Marine
are investing in a new slipway on the Denton Island site, which once complete will be able to slip boats
up to 50 tons.invested £6million in development projects across its eight South Last year, Premier Marinas
Coast marinas, including a new self-storage facility at Swanwick, and a new dry stack service for
RIBs and boats up to 8m (26ft) at Falmouth Marina, while Gosport Marina’s dry stack was extended from 80 boats to 148 boats.
Southsea Marina was updated with spa-quality facilities, and Brighton Marina became home to a new
£1million fl oating yacht club and saw the refurbishment of its West Jetty facilities. There was also a £75,000 pile replacement scheme
at Swanwick Marina, a pontoon refurbishment at Port Solent and a raft of security and equipment
upgrades at Brighton, plus boatyard resurfacing at Eastbourne Boatyard. Plans for 2016 include the building of 19 short-term-let
holiday apartments at Chichester Marina, due to be fi nished in March. Nineteen new berths have been
Havens Group, to accommodate an increased demand for larger created at Lymington Yacht Haven, the fl agship marina for Yacht
berths. Lymington Yacht Haven has also completed a large dredging operation and has installed a live
weather system: it was awarded
UK Coastal Marina of the Year 2016 (over 250 berths) by the Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA).
were open to all Gold Anchor-accredited marinas both in the UK Now in its third year, the awards
and overseas, and saw marina customers cast 4,500-plus votes online. Poole Quay Boat Haven was crowned best small marina
‘under 250 berths’, while Overwater Marina was named UK Inland Marina of the Year 2016.
and marinas are joining TYHA’s voluntary Gold Anchor scheme, which awards between one and Increasing numbers of harbours
standards of facilities and quality of service. Another scheme gaining in momentum is the Royal Yachting fi ve anchors depending on the
Association’s (RYA) Active Marina programme, which encourages training, cruising and social
opportunities for berth holders.
Your comprehensive guide to 266 coastal marinas around theBritish Isles. Listings compiled by Laura Hodgetts and Roz Jones
St Peter Port Marina on Guernsey: annual berths are just for island residents
82
Keeping your
engine cool
96
Budget dinghy
repairs