Practical Boat Owner – May 2018

Gareth Fuller/PA

Brenda Read

Next

month

BOATS

Weekenders

■ Duncan Kent

continues his search

for great trailable boats

■ Second-hand test:

Peter Poland compares

the Feeling 36 and 39

CRUISING

New horizons

■ A skipper seeks

experienced crew for

an Atlantic crossing

■ UK marinas in the

spotlight: which

locations suit you?

PRACTICAL

Building boats

■ The fi nal instalment

of the aluminium sloop,

plus we follow up on

this month’s Learning

from Experience with

the repairs to Zest

2017 was Loch Ness RNLI’s busiest year since it was formed

The wind farm is just over seven miles from the shore at Margate

There are calls for repairs to

the lift bridges at Twechar

and Bonnybridge on the Forth

and Clyde Canal to be made

a priority.

Scottish Canals has been

forced to close the bridges

after an inspection revealed

the operating mechanisms

to be unsafe.

The Inland Waterways

Association has written to

Scottish Canals asking it to

urgently make the repairs.

‘The two lift bridges, at

Twechar and Bonnybridge,

are situated around the middle

of the Scottish lowlands canal,

and their closure would affect

all local traffi c, the hire boat

JUNE

THURSDAY 19 APRILISSUE ON SALE

EAST COAST

YORKSHIRE MARINA

PROJECT ON HOLD

High costs mean plans for a

new 250-berth marina at

Bridlington in Yorkshire have

stalled. The £115 million

project would have seen the

existing harbour transformed

into a marina, with the local

fi shing fl eet being moved to a

specially constructed tidal

basin. Bridlington is one of the

UK’s largest shell fi shing ports.

The leader of East Riding of

Yorkshire Council, Stephen

Parnaby, said due to the

current fi nancial climate and

the information supplied by

the international professional

services fi rm, Arup,

‘indications are that the

scheme would be

unaffordable’. Arup carried

out all of the project design

and pre-construction work for

the scheme.

The council and Bridlington

Harbour Commissioners are

now looking at options to

modernise facilities for the

town’s fi shing fl eet and install

extra berths for visiting boats.

SCOTLAND

RNLI’S NEW BASE

AT LOCH NESS

Loch Ness RNLI has moved

into its new base near

Drumnadrochit and has taken

delivery of a new Atlantic 85

Class inshore lifeboat.

Investment in the branch

comes as volunteers

experienced their busiest year

to date with 33 callouts.

MORE BERTHS AT

TAYPORT

Tayport Harbour on the River

Tay, Fife, is to become more

accessible to visiting cruising

yachts. The Tayport Harbour

Trust is replacing and

upgrading some of its

pontoons, allowing for more

berths and reducing the

waiting list for places.

trade and any seagoing craft

wishing to traverse the canal

from one coast to the other,’

said the IWA.

A spokesman for Scottish

Canals said it was looking at

all the options and assessing

them with the priority being

safety to staff and users and

the best public value.

‘Last year, there were 50

sea-to-sea transits. The canal

does remain open for the vast

majority of people who use it,

which are walkers, cyclists,

anglers and commuters who

use the towpath. The canal

can still be used for boat traffi c

on either side of the bridges,’

added the spokesman.

FORTH AND CLYDE CANAL CLOSED

BIGGER KENT OFFSHORE WIND FARM

Plans to add 34 giant turbines

to the Thanet Offshore Wind

Farm in Kent are expected to

be submitted to the

government’s planning

inspectorate this summer.

It follows extensive

consultation with the local

community and stakeholders

by the farm’s operators,

Vattenfall, which led to

requests for more information

about the fi rm’s approach to

safety at sea, and navigation

for mariners.

Vattenfall will now consider

the feedback and the results

of its technical and

environmental studies before

it submits an application.

Thanet Offshore Wind Farm

already has 100 turbines,

each 115m high. The

additional 34 turbines could

be up to 250m tall, and have

the potential to double the

amount of energy produced

by the site. Vattenfall hopes

the extension will be

operational by 2021.

Orwell Yacht Club is

planning a series of

events to celebrate its

centenary. Ipswich’s only

sailing club has 424 voting

members and hosts

dinghy sailing throughout

summer and autumn.

Scarborough Yacht Club

has raised £920 for the

town’s RNLI station which

has been refurbished and

re-equipped to make way

for a new £2 million

Shannon class lifeboat.

Practical Boat Owner • http://www.pbo.co.uk 11