While conducting a Yachtmaster Instructor training course recently, I had to put my own teaching into practice in the most dramatic way possible. It was a grey day with intermittent rain, light winds and relatively calm sea.

We were 30 minutes away from port and one of the instructor candidates had just completed an excellent explanation of how to perform a man overboard (MOB) drill.

Having completed the explanation, the whole team did an excellent demonstration of exactly that process. At that point, our trainee instructor stood up and turned to leave the helm. As he turned, he lost his footing. His feet shot out from under him, and his body crashed to the deck.

By some miracle, his head was cushioned by the end of the seat next to me. Without a hint of pain or panic in his voice, he said, “I’ve broken my leg”. Incredulous at how calm he was, I said “You must be joking”. Then I saw a wave of pain cross his face.

So what did we do? First, a crew member positioned themselves by his broken leg to stabilise the foot and knee. I put in a VHF call to the Coastguard on channel 16, and another crew member went below to grab some cushions for the casualty’s head and leg.

As soon as he was reasonably comfortable, we turned for home. At this stage, my VHF call was not a Mayday as, whilst scary for all involved, it was not life- or vessel-threatening. However, the Coastguard was struggling to hear us from the fl ybridge VHF set so I went inside to try again. When this proved no better, I called 999 instead.

So, what did I learn from the experience?

• The safety briefing at the start of the day was invaluable; we all knew where to fi nd key equipment like the VHF radios, procedure cards and fi rst aid kit.
• Check your VHF at regular intervals; the boat’s owner had reported that he was struggling to transmit on a particular channel. It transpired that we were struggling to transmit at all.
• Liaise as early as possible with the coastguard and the harbour chosen for an evacuation; the early communications paid dividends as they were able to co-ordinate a land-based team to assist.
• The RNLI were superb. Most importantly they were able to assist with pain management and casualty reassurance. Both the Coastguard and RNLI were also much better equipped to move a heavy, injured casualty at sea.
• The UK emergency services are very stretched; we were initially advised it would take eight hours for an ambulance to reach us, which later grew to ten hours. We ended up taking the casualty three miles upriver to another marina and evacuating him in the owner’s car instead.

Never be complacent

It started as a perfectly normal day afloat – rather grey and wet, practising for the RYA instructor exams. From here we went out into open water for MOB training drills.

Slippery when wet

Despite an excellent safety briefing, our trainee instructor somehow managed to slip on the wet decks, falling down hard between the helm seat, my feet and the rails around the hatch to the cockpit.

Check your equipment

The built-in VHF set on the flybridge would not transmit effectively, nor would the set in the saloon, so we had to revert to calling the Coastguard on a mobile phone and a hand-held VHF.

Make them comfortable

Once safely off the flybridge and into the cockpit, the casualty was made as comfortable as possible and attended to by both the Coastguard and the RNLI with stronger painkillers.

Lift ashore

Once the casualty was positioned on the stretcher, they strapped him down for the lift ashore and along the pontoon. I was a little surprised by this. How, if they dropped the stretcher and he fell in, was he supposed to get out?

Seek professional care

Ultimately we needed to get the casualty to hospital. Thanks to a great team effort by all involved, we finally managed that. It turned out that his leg was broken in four places. Take care, this boating lark can be dangerous!!

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This article How to deal with a medical emergency at sea appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Inland boating has an additional hazard which isn’t nearly as prevalent as on coastal passages – locks. A lock is simply a way of enabling boats to ‘climb’ up or down a sudden change of water height, whether that’s on a man-made canal traversing hilly countryside or a river with natural hazards that need bypassing, such as fast-flowing rapids and falls. Sometimes a flight of several locks is required to allow for a particularly long or steep incline.

Locks usually consist of three main parts. The lock chamber, where the water level can be raised or lowered, the gates at each end of it and the paddles or sluices which allow the lock to be filled and emptied.

You can pass through most locks in both directions, depending on whether you are travelling up to a higher level or dropping down to a lower one. I find rising up rather easier than dropping down so that is what I will cover in this article.

On approach, if the lock is not manned or automatic, you will need to tie up and assess whether the lock is set to your direction; i.e. is the water in the chamber at the same level as the water around your boat? If not, go to the controls and empty the lock by using the paddles so that the water drops to the same level as your boat. Once empty, you can then open the gates, manoeuvre your boat into the lock (along with other waiting craft), secure in place, then shut the gates and close the downstream paddles.

Now you need to open the paddles in the upstream gates to allow water into the chamber until it fills to the same level as the water on the other side of the upstream gate. If the paddles are manually controlled, don’t open them too fast as the sudden inrush of water can cause the boat to bounce and get damaged.

Article continues below…

How to cruise rivers and canals

How to use buoyage to navigate

Even at a slower pace the boat(s) within the chamber are likely to move fore and aft a bit as the water bounces off the bottom gates, so the lines used to secure the boat need to be monitored as the boat rises. Don’t tie the lines off, however, as you may need to bring in slack as the boat’s cleats rise to the level of the lockside rings, and then ease them off again if they carry on rising above that.

In some lock chambers you may also need to adjust the height of your fenders so that they don’t end up being lifted above the sides of the lock. Once the rise is complete, you need to tie off the boat again, go to the exit gates, close all the paddles and open the gates to allow your passage to continue.

Don’t move off until any swirling water around the exit has subsided. Once you have exited the lock, it’s good practice to moor again and close the gates behind you so that the next vessel can begin its own process.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Upstream approach

Locate the waiting berth, stop and secure your boat so you can walk to the lock and see what level the water in the chamber is. If it’s set to the upstream level you’ll need to empty it first.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Lock controls

The gates and paddles on this lock are electrically controlled by this panel when it’s left unmanned. We need the gates shut, the upstream paddles closed and the downstream paddles open to drain the lock.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Lock paddles

The lock gate paddles on this one are controlled hydraulically. They are opened in four stages, so the water flow is controlled and doesn’t cause excessive turbulence for the boats.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Setting lines

Once inside the lock, if your boat isn’t too large or heavy, a single centre line is a good way to stop it moving fore or aft while still allowing easy adjustment of the slack.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Adjusting lines

As the sluices on the upstream gate open and the water level rises, you will need to take in any slack on the line. In this photo you can see the water level has risen by about a metre.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Exiting the lock

Before opening the lock gates to exit, it’s best to wait for the swirling water to subside. If you attempt to move off too early you may find yourself being swept towards the lock wall.

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Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

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This article How to use and upstream lock: Expert boating guide appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Boating inland on rivers and canals brings its own special set of circumstances that need extra consideration when afloat. Canals are generally man-made and have little or no water flow, as any level changes are done with locks. Rivers always have a flow of water downstream from the river head to where they either join another river or become tidal.

Again, locks are used to ease the passage of boats along stretches of river when the water level change is too great. These are usually accompanied by a weir and sluices to control the level and flow of the navigable river.

When boating inland, there are some special considerations that you need to take into account and that may affect your choice of vessel. The boat we used for this article was a Delphia 11 Flylounge powered by a single 150hp Yanmar engine.

Although this would allow for some coastal work, it was perfect on the river as it gave a tick-over speed of just under 2 knots, with good rudder control and added manoeuvrability from both a bow and stern thruster. Faster sea-going vessels aren’t designed to cruise for long periods of time at the inland speed limit of 5-6 knots and may struggle to maintain steerage.

We were blessed with a quiet, sunny autumn day but in the height of the season, dealing with traffic can be complicated, and some inland waterways, especially those with a lot of commercial traffic, have additional rules known as CEVNI regulations.

Both rivers and canals suffer from shoaling at the edges so care is needed when mooring along the banks or travelling around river bends where the inside of the turn is often very shallow, causing serious congestion on a narrow river. I like to travel roughly down the centre, moving to starboard when other traffic or moored boats mean that I need to move over.

Floating or hidden debris is another potential hazard, especially after heavy rain and flooding. Overhanging branches can also complicate things when manoeuvring. Other than locks, which we will cover next month, the main
feature you’ll need to deal with is bridges. These often cross the waterway at an angle, due to the direction of the road above, rather than at 90 degrees to the waterway.

The technique, especially if going downstream and with some current or wind with you, is to position your boat absolutely straight between the piers and then engage the minimum power that allows you to maintain steerage. Too slow, and any swirling water can easily push you towards the piers or arches; too fast, and if you do get it wrong, the consequences will be very expensive!

Stay alert

Here, the entrance from the river to the marina has shallowed dramatically and the red buoy is there to keep you away from the bank; the overhanging trees help focus whoever is at the helm!

Obey signs

The weir stream is used to divert the main flow of water away from the lock. Be really careful not to get swept into its path, especially after heavy rain when the flow can increase dramatically.

Deceptive conditions

While this was a slow-water-flow
day on the river, the volume going over the weir was still considerable. Getting caught in it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Floating obstacles

This large log was floating less than a metre from the boat. Not only could it damage the hull, but if it gets sucked into the propeller the repair bill could be substantial.

Negotiating bridges

You can see that this bridge is built at an angle to the waterway, so you need to control your speed carefully and get your vessel parallel to the arch before passing through it.

Rounding bends

All bends need to be treated with caution, as the inside often shoals and reduces the available depth. On this bend, the deeper outside line is further complicated by overhanging trees on the bank.

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This article How to cruise rivers and canals appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Understanding buoyage and how to use it is crucial for safe navigation. Most countries use an inland and coastal system. Inland is usually from above the first sea lock. Coastal systems are further split into IALA A and B. The main difference is the colour of the marks as the shapes remain the same.

Area B covers the Americas, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. In this area the port side of inbound channels is marked by green buoys, which are pillar-shaped, and show a green light (if lit). The starboard side is marked by cone-shaped red buoys and a red light.

Area A covers pretty much the rest of the world, including Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In this case the port side of inbound channels has red pillar or can-shaped buoys and red lights. Starboard has green cones and green lights. I find a simple reminder is that when your boat’s port and starboard navigation lights match the buoyage then you are travelling inbound into a port.

Both systems have safe water marks (red and white vertical stripes with a single red sphere on top and a white light) and isolated danger marks (red and black horizontal stripes with two black balls on top and a white light). They also have special marks (yellow with an X topmark and yellow light) and emergency wreck marks (yellow and blue vertical stripes with a vertical yellow cross as the top mark).

Article continues below…

Both systems have cardinal marks but they are rarely used in IALA B. Cardinal marks are used to show you where the safe water is around a potential hazard. They do this by the arrangement of the yellow and black colours, the cone-shaped top marks and a white light when lit.

At night they are differentiated by the timing of the lights. This is usually indicated by the small letters below the buoyage on a chart. On a plotter, you need to hover over the mark and press for more information.

If you are venturing out after dark, then a study of the light sequences is essential. The marks themselves are usually named or numbered and can be as small as 30cm high to 5m or more. Mostly they are floating cans but they could also be posts or even branches driven into the sea bed identified by the top mark and colour. Just remember, the smaller the mark, the less the channel is used, so always ask yourself does that confirm what I expect?

Buoyage is expensive to install and maintain, so, a bit like markings on the roads, the more markers there are, the more hazardous the area is and the more you need to pay attention.

The questions that you should ask yourself about every mark are: What is it warning or guiding me about? Does that apply to me? Where should I be in relation to it? And must I comply with the information given or is there sufficient depth for me to safely navigate outside of an area or channel. Here are the main buoys you need to be familiar with…

Channel choice

This chart shows the entrance to Poole harbour. There are two channels, the main Swash Channel (blue arrows) marked with large red and green buoys, and a smaller Boat Channel (red arrows) running alongside it marked with red posts. You can choose which one best suits the size of your craft.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Size matters

You can see that the main Swash channel is about 200m wide and suitable for large ships and ferries, so depth permitting if you’re in a smaller craft it’s often prudent to navigate in the Boat Channel.

Channel markers

Port hand marks are red and ‘can’-shaped. Starboard ones are green and ‘cone’-shaped. These ones are ashore for repairs. Note the size of them in comparison to the car – they are huge!

Cardinal mark west

This west cardinal mark is identified by the ‘waisted’ top mark and its yellow-black-yellow colour sequence. The safe water is to the west of it. East cardinals have an ‘egg’ shaped top mark and a black yellow-black colour sequence.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Cardinal mark south

This south cardinal mark is identified by its two top cones pointing downwards and yellow on top of black colour sequence, indicating safe water to the south. North ones have two cones pointing up and black over yellow.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Lateral mark

This starboard hand lateral mark could do with a lick of paint but it’s still a valid navigation tool. There is no topmark but it does have a newly installed green light for night- time navigation.

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Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

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This article How to use buoyage to navigate appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Trimming your vessel correctly is vital for comfort, economy, seakeeping and ultimately safety. Good boat hull design usually requires very little trim from the helm to keep the ride comfortable. However, having the ability to affect the trim both fore and aft as well as side to side is great for altering the attitude of your boat to the sea.

In a perfect world as you accelerate your well designed, perfectly balanced boat to its planing speed, the shape of the hull will naturally lift it onto the plane, allowing it to skim over the top of the water with the boat’s weight supported evenly on the surface.

However, a boat’s weight doesn’t always remain constant; adding passengers, fuel, supplies and kit all change that perfect balance. Additionally, sea conditions also affect how your boat rides; calm seas being ideal.

Anything from a Force 4 upwards (or less in a small boat) will change the comfort and sea keeping of that perfect balance.

The same holds true for direction of travel; going upwind means you are facing steeper wave faces, going downwind risks dropping the bow into deeper troughs, and beam seas can cause the boat to list away from the waves or lean into the wind due to the counter steer you apply to stop being blown off course.

Short of shifting weight around, there are two main ways of trying to recreate that perfect trim scenario. Outboard and outdrive craft have engine trim buttons, usually on one side of the throttle handle, that allow you to alter the angle of the drive/thrust.

This allows you to raise (trim up) or lower the bow (trim down) to try and keep it at its most efficient. However, this does not allow much lateral trim even with twin engine installations.

Article continues below…

How to drive a motor boat with a stepped hull

How to navigate overfalls in a motorboat: 6 top tips

Shaft and pod drives don’t have the ability to trim the propeller’s angle of attack, so they (along with many outdrive and some outboard boats) are usually fitted with trim tabs or interceptor plates on either side of the transom at the base of the hull.

They work by increasing the pressure as they are lowered into the water, which in turn creates lift. The more you trim them down, the greater the lift on the stern, which in turn forces the bow down.

Lateral trim is applied by using one tab more than the other, so more starboard trim down will lift the starboard corner, which will lower the port bow. This lateral trim is great for offsetting a beam-on side wind, or too many crew on one side.

Single-engined outboard and especially outdrive boats also have a different issue, the range of trim fore and aft is the same but that single prop is also causing a rotational motion as well as driving it forward. This can induce the boat to run with a slight propeller-induced list.

This is evident on some stepped hulls as they tend to run very flat, making the list more pronounced. To alleviate that, some manufacturers fit a single tab on the port side to counter the propeller’s rotational-induced list.

The key to comfortable boating is learning how your vessel responds to differing loads, sea and wind conditions and using the controls available to match that perfectly balanced boat its designer drew.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Trim tab down – The hydraulic ram on this traditional style trim tab is fully extended, deflecting the water down as it passes under it. This creates pressure or lift on the transom, forcing the bow down.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Trim tab up – This tab is fully up with the ram retracted. Now it’s not producing any lift, so the stern sits lower, keeping the bow high. Always leave tabs up and outdrive legs down after use to stop the rams getting fouled.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Single tab – This stepped hull boat runs very flat at speed. Trimming the outdrive leg in and out resolves any fore and aft trim, while a single tab on the port side offsets the torque of the engine prop.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Trimmed too high – The stern is digging in and we can see a large area of bow unsupported. Dragging the stern increases fuel burn, making it slower to get on the plane and less stable in turns.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Trimmed too low – Too much tab down is causing the bow to dig in and create a spray. This is inefficient and makes it harder to hold a straight course. However, it can be useful to prevent slamming when rough.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Trimmed just right – The bow is nicely clear of the water but without the stern being dug in too far. This is good for fuel efficiency and perfect for downwind or any direction on a pleasant day.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to master your boat’s trim for a smoother ride appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Putting a step into the hull of a boat is not a new idea, versions of it have been around for more than 100 years. Done well it can deliver the holy grail of greater speed and better fuel economy. It works by introducing air under the hull that acts as a lubricant between the boat and the water.

Some stepped hulls use deck-mounted scoops and ducting to funnel air into the hull steps, whilst others simply extend the steps out through the chines so they can suck air in from the side.

Traditionally, a single step was employed but these days two-, three- and even four-step hulls are increasingly common.

The desire for greater fuel efficiency is driving the latest trend, with everyone from princess to Axopar and Saxdor now adopting them.

Other benefits, aside from looking cool, is that stepped hulls tend to ride softer and flatter than a conventional unstepped hull. But good ideas often have a down side and stepped hulls can become unpredictable when turning at speed.

In the worst-case scenario they can even spin out during a sharp turn – often referred to as hooking – when the bow digs in and the stern swings violently round it.

This tendency can be exacerbated by trimming the bow down too far or by slowing down too quickly mid turn, especially if you’ve also got the drive trimmed out to increase running efficiency.

Both these actions cause the stern to lift, to the point at which it can lose grip and slide sideways across the surface.

Article continues below…

How to handle a single shaftdrive boat

How to navigate overfalls in a motorboat: 6 top tips

Stepped hulls are more prone to this because the steps break the contact with the water and allow the hull to ride on two or three small planing pads rather than one longer continuous one.

The safest option in most boats, but especially stepped hulls, is to avoid turning too tightly, be careful not to slow down dramatically, just before or during a turn, and to maintain a balanced throttle throughout, so the boat’s speed and angle of attack don’t change.

Every turn slows the boat to some degree, as the lean immerses more hull and causes more drag, so by using a bit more throttle through the turn helps counteract this and reduces the chance of dropping the bow and causing it to catch.

Good design helps as well. The Cormate Utility 23 we used to illustrate this article, for instance, has a ventilated Monostep in the centre of the hull. The vertical edges of this step add extra bite on the water that help prevent any stern slip. This section of the transom is also brought further forward and raised, allowing the engine to be mounted higher for extra enhanced efficiency.

At sea this translated to rapid acceleration with minimal bow lift needing almost no fore and aft trim on the outdrive leg once planing, as the efficiency was already designed in.

The very flat angle of attack meant that the step was able to introduce plenty of air under the hull, giving a really well controlled and cushioned ride. I could not get the stern to slide, let alone hook, even by adding excessive trim and pushing it irresponsibly hard through turns. Clever stuff.

Photo: Richard Langdon

First step

This first step cuts in a straight line right across the beam to the chines, and draws air in from the side.

Some boats have a scoop on the foredeck sending air down a tube to the middle of the step.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Second step

The second ‘monostep’ also draws in air from the side but the middle section extends further aft than the first one to increase the boat’s grip and stability.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Third step

This photo shows the third step and central tunnel.

Note the vertical hard edges on the outside of the central moulding and the inside of the tunnel, giving much greater lateral adhesion in turns.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Running angle

At speed the Cormate runs very flat and takes a bit of getting used to.

There is no hump speed as you accelerate and it pops onto the plane without any drama.

Photo: Richard Langdon

Turning

When turning, that same flat angle of attack is apparent and even with excessive use of the trim tabs and throttle i could not get the hull to unstick or slide out (hook).

Photo: Richard Langdon

Flat wake

Another characteristic of a stepped hull is a very flat wake, as the reduced wetted surface area causes less disturbance and allows the propeller to run horizontal to the sea surface.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to drive a motor boat with a stepped hull appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

A safety line or tether is one of those items you often see in the chandlers but rarely on a motor boat.

Sailors use them a lot, clipping on when it’s windy or at night when the consequences of falling overboard are that much more serious.

However, a recent Man overboard (MOB) training session with a life-sized dummy highlighted to me just how useful they can be on a motor boat as well.

Not only was the dummy very heavy but it was also unable to assist in any way – just like an unconscious MOB.

This really highlighted how hard it was to lift the MOB back onto the boat using my one free hand – my other hand was busy hanging onto the boat. Being safely attached to the boat with a lifeline allowed me to use both hands to help the MOB.

I could also use it to attach the MOB to the boat while I worked out how to lift them. For the exercise, I was using a standard tether with a clip at both ends.

These come in various lengths but you can also get elasticated ones with one, two or even three clips.

This enables you to attach one of the extra clips to the next point on the boat before removing the previous one so you’re always tethered when moving around.

That could be useful if, for example, you needed to venture onto the foredeck to sort out a loose anchor on a rough day.

There is always a clip attachment at one end of the tether to attach it to the boat but the person end can be either another clip or a loop that you thread back on itself. This does create an additional problem if you need to un-tether in a hurry.

Article continues below…

How to Check Your Boat Engine Cooling System

How to plan a safe passage at sea: An expert guide

This is one of the reasons why I always carry a sharp knife on my person when at sea so I can quickly cut through anything under load.

Try a tether out before buying – check that you can operate the clips one-handed, some are quite heavy and stiff. You also need to consider how to attach the tether to yourself.

One option is to buy a lifeline harness but I prefer to wear a lifejacket that has a designated clip-on point. This can either be a metal ring or a reinforced fabric loop. I prefer the fabric ones as it can’t scratch the boat.

You also need to consider what part of the boat you are going to clip yourself to. Sailing boats often have dedicated safety lines running along the deck but motor boats rarely do. Ideally, look for something inboard that will prevent you falling overboard but do check that it is through-bolted.

Cleats and side deck guardrails won’t stop you falling overboard but will at least keep you attached to the boat.

Choose with care and talk through what you have chosen, and why, with your crew.

Tether options

There are three main styles of tether attachments: a fixed length of rope with a loop at one end and a clip at the other (left); an elasticated cord with a one-handed clip (middle); and a fixed-length strop with an overload strain indicator (right).

Harness options

There are also three types of lifejacket clip point.

No strong point provided so the tether has to be clipped around the straps (top).

Metal D-ring (middle) – this is strong but can damage the boat.

Reinforced fabric loop (bottom) is strong but soft and comfortable to wear.

Tether length

A tether can be shortened by doubling it back on itself.

The clips shown above are designed to be released one-handed but you need fairly strong hands so check you can open it one-handed before buying. one.

Emergency knife

When using a tether, always have a means to cut yourself free.

I carry the yellow knife clipped onto my lifejacket.

Some lifejackets also have a built-in hook knife, like this green one, to cut a tether.

Outboard clip point

Here I have attached myself to the guardrails.

This isn’t ideal as I could still fall overboard but by doubling the line it has reduced the length of the fall so I would be suspended in the air.

Inboard clip point

This inboard deck fitting is a better solution as it’s through-bolted for strength and allows me to use both hands, safe in the knowledge that the tether will prevent me from falling overboard.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

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This article Why a safety tether is one item every motor boater should carry appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Anchors aren’t just useful for lunch stops, they are also a vital piece of safety equipment that in the event of an engine failure could save your boat from being blown onto rocks. So knowing how to maintain and service your anchor winch is an important skill to have.

On a bigger boat, the rode is likely to be all chain, rather than a mixture of rope and chain, so always remember to wash it off after every use, preferably with fresh water, but if that’s not available, a good few buckets of sea water will suffice. This will at least remove all the dirt and sand deposited by the chain on the winch and gypsy – the part that rotates to move the chain and anchor.

I also recommend a yearly clean and lubrication of the winch parts above the deck. The one in our photos has a rope drum for hauling either anchor rope or mooring lines, and a chain gypsy below. These can work independently of each other or be locked together. Your anchor winch may just have the chain gypsy, in which case the clutch part works the same but just on the gypsy.

The first step is to insert the winch handle in the star drive mounted on the top. This controls the clutch, which is a really important but often forgotten part. The clutch consists of a pair of metal cones above and below the part that is being turned. When tightened down hard, the plates bind, and the motor shaft turns the whole thing. When loose, the chain gypsy is free to rotate on the shaft.

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On our winch, the rope drum is permanently driven by the motor, but the chain gypsy only turns when you tighten the clutch. If you loosen the clutch, the gypsy will rotate freely, allowing the anchor to fall to the sea bed (or the end of the chain). This is important to know, as it allows you to anchor even without electric power.

It’s also important to understand that the only thing holding the anchor against its rest is the two metal plates in the clutch, which is why I always insist on a safety line to keep the anchor in place should the clutch fail.

Most anchor winch designs are similar, but it’s worth checking your own winch’s operation manual first in case it’s different. Anchor winches are a service item and some parts will need replacing from time to time – especially the clutch plates.

Be sure to take care – winches can also cause serious injuries, and as many systems have both deck and helm switches, either isolate the breakers or turn the battery switches off before working on them. Also, make sure that you take the weight of the anchor off before you remove the chain, so it can’t slip or move on its own while you are working on it.

Safety measures

The first step is to remove the weight of the anchor and chain from the winch. Here, I have threaded a line through the chain and tied it off on a cleat. Now I turn the power off.

Remove cover

Now remove the chain pipe cover. The cover feeds the chain off the winch, through the deck and into the anchor locker, so you need to remove the cover before you can lift the chain off the gypsy.

Lift chain

Now lift the chain off the gypsy and inspect the chain for damage. It has a hard life and is prone to wear, especially where it’s regularly in contact with the gypsy. I use a cloth to protect the teak deck.

Remove stripper

Next take off the chain stripper, the metal finger lying face down in this image. Take care to lay out all the parts in the order you remove them. This makes reassembly much quicker and easier.

Remove drum

Next is the gypsy and drum. Undo the top and pull. You can see the clutch parts in the gypsy and the base plate. Use a toothbrush and a mild detergent to clean out any dirt and debris from the corners.

Lubricate and reassemble

Lubricate all parts that move, including the shaft, clutch plates, washers and all the bolts. Reassembly is just a reversal of dismantling. Lastly, replace the chain and test all the switches.

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Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

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This article Expert guide to anchor winch maintenance appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Unlike cars, which use air to cool the liquid coolant flowing through the engine and radiator, most boats rely on the water they’re floating on to keep their engines cool. Some use this ‘raw’ water (be it fresh or salt water) to cool the engine directly, continually drawing in water through an impeller pump and circulating it around the engine before expelling it out via the exhaust. This is called ‘raw water cooling’ and is the simplest, most basic cooling system.

One step up from this is a raw water system with a thermostatic valve. This opens and closes as required to maintain the engine’s temperature at or near its most efficient operating range before discharging it. On outboard engines, the hot water is mostly discharged underwater through the propeller hub along with the exhaust gas, although a thin stream of water, known as a tell-tale jet, is dispersed separately above the waterline so you can see and feel that it is working correctly.

Smaller inboard engines often use a similar direct raw water cooling system, albeit with a single exhaust/cooling water exit above the waterline instead, allowing easy visual inspection to check that everything is working.

Larger inboard engines tend to use a more complex indirect cooling system. This has a closed circuit for the engine coolant – a special mix of fresh water and antifreeze to circulate around the engine – linked to a series of one or more heat exchangers.

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These heat exchangers have the coolant passing through one side of the system, and ‘raw’ fresh or salt water from outside the boat passing through the other, so the heat from the sealed side is transferred to the raw water and expelled
along with the exhaust as usual.

This system has several advantages. It allows much finer control of the temperature while enabling multiple engine parts and ancillaries to be cooled by a single passage of water. It also reduces the chance of corrosion (as no saltwater is passing through the engine) and it reduces the risk of trapped water freezing over winter and damaging the engine block.

However, it does have a number of disadvantages, as there are far more elements to go wrong. So knowing how your system operates and understanding what to check can make it much easier to spot any form of trouble.

Most overheating issues result from a lack of cooling water flow around the engine. On outboards and small inboards with above-water exhausts, this is fairly easy to spot, as you will see a reduction in the flow of water being expelled and you can test its temperature with your hand (be careful, it could be hot).

For inboard engines with underwater exhausts, a visual check isn’t possible, so they have gauges to monitor the temperature of the closed-loop coolant. If you’re lucky, they might also monitor the temperature of the raw water exhaust.

The downside is that you are only made aware of the problem once the engine has overheated. I prefer to be more proactive and use a heat gun to measure the temperature as it enters and leaves each cooler. This gives an early indication of a problem before it causes a bigger issue. On a vessel with a well maintained cooling system and new impellers, I would expect a doubling of the temperature in the cooling water system between entry and exit.

Above water exhaust

On some inboard boats the exhaust and water mix are discharged above the water line, allowing a simple visual check that all is well.

If the flow of water looks slower or steamier than usual, you could have a problem.

Tell-tale sign

Outboard engines use a combined system with most of the cooling water and exhaust gases being discharged below the water line. However, they also have a small tell-tale stream above the water, which makes it easy for you to monitor and spot any problems.

Water strainers

Inboard engines need a large supply of outside cooling water. This is filtered through raw water strainers to prevent debris entering the heat exchangers. These need cleaning out on a regular basis to maintain the flow.

Impeller check

If the hose temperature on the entry and exit of the raw water pump is the same, the impeller should be working as intended. If the exit temperature is higher or the face plate of the pump feels hot, you may have an issue.

Spot checks

It’s sensible to work your way around the cooling system and check the temperature before and after each cooler to check everything is working as it should. I find a heat gun is invaluable for this task.

Exhaust check

Lastly check the water temperature just before it enters the exhaust system. On this engine, the sea water inlet temperature was 14°C and the exit temperature was 22.5°C – less than double so everything’s working well.

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Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to Check Your Boat Engine Cooling System appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

There are no kennel or cattery fees to worry about if you choose to take your pet to Europe by boat. They’re also great company and dogs make great walking companions when you get to your destinations. However, the rules and regulations of travelling with pets are very complex.

Are there any requirements for travelling with pets within the British Isles?

If you’re traveling with your pet between Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands or you are entering GB from Northern Ireland, there are no pet documents or health requirements for travel. You do not need to use an approved route or port of entry and you are free to take your pet on your private boat with you.

What about travelling to Northern Ireland from Great Britain?

From 4 June 2025, pets travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are required to have a Pet Travel Document. This is issued free of charge and lasts the lifetime of the pet. Your pet will need to have been microchipped but it does not need a rabies vaccination or tapeworm treatment. You can apply for the document via the Government Gateway service at www.gov.uk.

You should wait 21 days after a rabies vaccination before travelling

Can I take my pet to the EU on my own boat?

Yes, you can but there are a number of rules you need to follow and you must enter the EU via a designated Traveller’s Point of Entry (TPE). These are specifically for animals rather than the usual Ports of Entry, which are for people and goods. France has 33 listed sea port TPEs, Holland just eight and Belgium just one. You can find a full list of the various European TPE sites on https://food.ec.europa.eu

Have the rules changed since the UK left the EU?

Yes, the old EU pet passports issued in the UK are no longer valid for travel to the EU and haven’t been since 1 January 2021. You now need an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) instead of a pet passport. An AHC is only valid for a single journey and a maximum of four months from the date of issue. It typically costs more too.

EU pet passports issued in the UK are no longer valid when cruising from the UK to the EU. They have been replaced by the Animal Health Certificate (AHC)

Are EU Pet Passports still valid?

Yes, Pet Passports issued in the EU and Northern Ireland are still valid for travel to the EU.

What do I need for an Animal Health Certificate (AHC)?

Before your dog, cat or ferret (the only three animals that legally qualify as pets) can travel to the EU, you’ll need to take the following steps:

• Ensure your pet has been microchipped.
• Ensure your pet has an up to date vaccination against rabies. (Pets must be at least 12 weeks old before they can be vaccinated and it needs to be kept up to date with a booster vaccination every one to three years).
• Wait 21 days after the primary rabies vaccination before travel.
• Apply for an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) from your vet no more than 10 days before travel to the EU.

Dogs make fantastic boating companions, but you must ensure they have all the correct travel documentation

Is this the same for all EU countries?

Yes. These requirements are the same for all EU countries. However, if you’re travelling with your dog directly from another EU country to Finland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway or Malta, it must have treatment against tapeworm. This will need to be done 1 to 5 days before arriving in any of these countries. Your vet must enter full details of this on the AHC following treatment.

How much does an AHC cost?

An AHC typically costs around £220-£250, although some providers offer AHCs for as little as £99. Rabies vaccinations cost around £50-£90. Not all vet practices offer an AHC service as not all vets are qualified to sign an AHC, so make sure you call and check in advance. You will need to take proof of your pet’s microchipping date and its vaccination history.

You may be able to ask a friend with a car to take your pet on a ferry but you will need to sign a declaration giving them permission to do this

How long does an AHC last?

An AHC lasts for 4 months from the date of issue but it must be used to enter the EU within 10 days of the date of issue.

What about coming back to Britain?

There is no change to the health requirements for pets entering Great Britain from the EU post 1 January 2021 so EU pet passports issued in the EU or GB before January are still valid for return journeys.

However, your pet must have one of the following three documents when returning to Great Britain from the EU:

• An EU pet passport (issued in the EU or in GB before 1 January 2021)
• The AHC issued in GB for travel to the EU can be used for the return journey up to 4 months after it was issued
• A GB pet health certificate for travel into GB only – for example, when you have exceeded the 4-month validity of the AHC.

Whichever document you use must show that your pet meets the same requirements as those required for travel to the EU, plus it must have had treatment against tapeworm 1 to 5 days before arriving in Great Britain with the details entered onto the AHC or Pet Passport by a vet. However, there is one other very important difference when returning to the UK from the EU…

The typical cost of an AHC is around £220-£250, but you may be able to get one for as little as £99

Can I bring my pet back to GB from the EU on my own boat?

No. You cannot bring your pet back from the EU on your own boat. It must travel on an approved ferry or air route so your pet’s documents and microchip can be checked when entering the GB. Most ferry operators to and from France only allow pets to be taken on board in a vehicle.

DFDS do allow foot passengers to travel with dogs from Newhaven to Dieppe and on some other routes but it is advisable to check before travelling.

What if I don’t have a car?

You may be able to ask a friend with a car to take your pet on a ferry but you will need to sign a declaration giving them permission to do this.

Are the rules different for cats?

The rules for cats are the same as for dogs and ferrets. The only exception is that cats and ferrets don’t need treatment for tapeworm before entering GB and certain other EU countries.

Cats (and ferrets!) are subject to the same rules when entering GB – although unlike dogs, they don’t need to have undergone tapeworm treatment

What if I don’t have the right paperwork?

If you do not have the correct, valid paperwork your pet could be refused entry and may be required to go into quarantine. You would then be responsible for all associated costs.

Is all this really necessary?

The rules are in place to protect the health of animals and people in GB and the EU so they clearly serve a purpose. However, things were simpler when we were part of the EU.

The Government has recently struck a new deal with the EU, which will include the reintroduction of EU pet passports

Might the rules change in the future?

Yes. In fact, following an announcement by the Prime Minister on 19 May 2025, a new deal between the EU and the UK will include the re-introduction of EU pet passports. This should mean that for travel between the EU and the UK, you can apply for a lifelong passport, rather than a one-off Animal Health Certificate. There are currently no more details or timescales for the change.

These developments may also lead to changes to the Pet Travel Document process for travel from GB to Northern Ireland.

Where can I find more advice about this?

The government website covers most of the information you will need in relation to travelling with your pet. Visit www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad for full details.

You can also contact the pet travel helpline if you need more help by calling them on 0370 241 1710. You can also email them at pettravel@apha.gov.uk. However, you may need to allow up to five working days for an answer.

Thanks to the Cruising Association for their help with this article. Additional information is available at www.theca.org.uk/pets

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article Everything you need to know about taking your pet to Europe by boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Last month I explained why it’s important to make a proper passage plan for every boat trip, however small, and how to do that by using the recommended APEM mnemonic (Appraise, Plan, Execute and Monitor). To illustrate the Appraise part of it, we looked at how you might go about preparing for a cross-Channel passage from Poole to Honfleur. This month we’ll be looking at the Plan stage of this trip; specifically choosing waypoints and working out tides and timings.

Most people only use waypoints when a change of heading is required, but they can also be used as reminders to do something. In our route from Poole to Honfleur, for instance, I might add a waypoint as we leave UK waters on the edge of the 12-mile limit; then another to let me know we’re approaching a traffic separation zone (we don’t actually cross the formal TSS on this route but we’ll still need to check for traffic); then another on our arrival into French waters to remind me to put up our courtesy flag; and finally a radio check-in point for the port of entry with the right VHF channel number and so on.

The next stage is to decide on your passage date and time. This may be determined by tidal constraints. Most of the ports along the Normandy coast have tidal restrictions on entry. The only exception is Cherbourg, much further west.

Technically, Honfleur has a 24-hour lock but at low tide the approach channel is so shallow and silted at the edges that you need to hold a very central line for entry. To be safe, I’d aim for an arrival window on a rising tide, with at least half the tide already in.

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The tidal port for Honfleur is Le Havre, which, according to the almanac, is about an hour earlier than Dover. Honfleur itself is about an hour earlier again. So High Water Honfleur is roughly two hours earlier than Dover in the UK. Based on that, a Dover high tide in the early evening, say 1900, would give a Honfleur High Water of 5pm so our planned mid-tide arrival would mean reaching Honfleur from1400 onwards.

Based on the seven-hour passage time we calculated during the Appraise stage, that would require leaving Poole at 0700. There is a slight catch, though, as France is one hour ahead of UK time so with a 0700 departure our actual arrival time will be 1500 local time. I’m happy with that as it’s still two hours before HW.

Lastly, we need to factor in the conditions as seven hours at sea is a long time in a small boat, which could easily be aggravated by any wind against tide. A check of the tidal almanac shows that on leaving Poole, the tide would initially be flowing west, Slack Water would be roughly five hours into the journey and then the tide would turn and flow east.

This means at least part of the passage is likely to be wind against tide so I’d aim to make the passage when the forecast is for less than a Force 4.

Research – The first step is to check for any tidal limitations at the port of entry. The port’s own website should tell you this along with a mine of other useful information. Often this includes a live webcam showing the current conditions.

Timing – Honfleur’s website even has the facility to place your own minimum depth line through the lock’s tidal curve, showing what your earliest and latest arrival and departure times should be.

Conditions – Honfleur’s webcam shows live images of the entrance, which is a great way to familiarise yourself with how it looks at both low and high water and in different wind states.

Tides – I find a printed tidal atlas is quicker and easier to use than the plotter as you can see all the hours at once. We are aiming to leave at HW+1 Dover so we have a West-going tide for the next five hours.

Arrival –  It’s also worth checking the tidal flow at your destination. At the time of our planned arrival at the entrance to the Seine, where Le Havre is situated, the tide will be with us and will help carry us towards the harbour.

Waypoints – I find the simplest way of recording a route plan is by using a screenshot. This one is from an iPad but I can save it to multiple devices and share it with the crew to build in a degree of redundancy.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

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This article How to plan a passage across the English Channel appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Passage planning is a key part of any boater’s skillset but there’s more to it than just entering some waypoints in a chartplotter. Both the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have made it very clear that every boater should use ‘APEM’.

It’s not the catchiest of acronyms but it stands for Appraise, Plan, Execute, Monitor and even as leisure boaters we should follow it every time we put to sea.

That might seem like overkill for a quick potter over to a nearby bay for lunch but if you do have an accident and can’t demonstrate that you’ve adhered to it, you might end up on the wrong end of the law. Every trip you make, even to a local anchorage, needs the same considerations, but clearly you don’t need to put the same effort into that as you would for a more demanding cross-Channel passage.

So what does APEM actually look like in practice? Let’s take a more challenging example of crossing the Channel from Poole to Honfleur.

It starts with Appraise – which covers a multitude of sins including the route, the boat, the crew and, in this case, the paperwork. But for me, I always begin with the destination.

I want to know whether there are any tidal constraints, whether it’s well-lit if we arrive after dark, if it requires tricky pilotage to enter and if it’s a big commercial port with lots of shipping. That always used to be Almanac territory; now I simply check the destination’s website for all the latest information and contact numbers. A lot of them even give a live tidal height.

Next I’ll do an overview of the intended route. I still prefer to do this with a paper chart as it gives a better sense of scale. All I want at this stage is a rough distance so I can calculate a passage time based on my boat’s cruising speed.

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Poole to Honfleur is roughly 120 miles, so assuming I can cruise at 20 knots that’s 6 hours cruising, plus an hour for some slower speed work at each end and a comfort break en route, giving a total passage time of 7 hours. I’ve also researched that Honfleur has a large lock to negotiate that opens on the hour for entry, so that needs to be factored in too.

The second part of Appraise is the boat and crew. I am basing this example on a Botnia Targa 27.2, which is small but has excellent seakeeping, so in my appraisal I will consider when it was last serviced and check that it has suitable spares and a toolkit.

I’ll also check the fuel capacity and level to ensure it has sufficient range with at least a 20% reserve, as well as the safety kit and lifejackets (all in date and serviced). There’s also my crew to consider. Can we cook on the move or do we need flasks and pre-made sandwiches? How many of us are travelling and can we all sit comfortably facing forward? Another often ignored factor is whether you can actually use the bathroom facilities at sea.

Finally, there’s the paperwork involved in leaving the UK and entering the EU.

Do I have the necessary ship’s papers, including insurance, passports and proof of VAT status? I’ve already checked that Honfleur is an official entry point (it is) but we also have to submit a ‘pleasure craft report’ (C1331) for our departure from the UK (you can do this online at www.gov.uk) and a second one for our arrival into France.

Lastly, I will research alternative ports in case weather or mechanical difficulties disrupt our journey. If this were to happen, during the first third of the journey I would return to the UK. For the middle part I would divert to Cherbourg in France, as entry is possible in any weather. In the latter stages, if the wind had picked up from the west and the tides were right, I could divert to St Vaast on the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsular as it’s tucked away and completely sheltered when inside.

Appraise – Traditionally passage planning was just paper based and started with an overview of the chart and a good look at an Almanac but it should take in all the following steps.

Passage duration – The first step is to check the distance involved, in this case about 120 miles. That, along with your intended passage speed (20 knots) will give you the time: approx 6 hours plus 30 minutes at each end.

Destination – Then I look at the destination. Is it difficult pilotage? Is it well-lit at night? Is there an access window for the lock? An Almanac or the port’s website should provide all this information.

Departure point – Then I come back to the starting position, in this case Poole harbour, with a similar set of questions about tidal restraints, shipping movements, areas to avoid when setting out and so on.

Boat – Your appraisal process should also include the vessel. Is everything working as it should? Have you got enough fuel? What about spares like fuel filters, belts and a toolkit? Food and drinks?

Paperwork – If you’re leaving UK waters the correct paperwork is also essential. You’ll need passports, vessel insurance, entry and exit forms and a crew list. Much of this can be done online but paper copies can be used too.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to plan a safe passage at sea: An expert guide appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Whether you’ve left your boat in the water over winter or tucked it away ashore, the beginning of a new season is always an exciting moment. But before you take to the water once again, it always pays to run through a pre-season checklist to make sure you don’t get caught out by any unwanted surprises.

Most boaters tend to remember the obvious items – servicing the engines, gearboxes and drives, antifouling the hull, changing the anodes – but smaller tasks sometimes get overlooked. Fire extinguishers need their gauges and service dates checking, both the handheld ones (the powder variety benefit from a good shake to stop them solidifying) and fixed ones hidden in the engine bay and bow/stern thruster compartments.

These often have a shelf life of around five years and may need replacing altogether. The same applies to lifejackets and liferafts, so check when they were last serviced too.

Hopefully, you remembered to leave your fuel tanks full over winter, as this reduces condensation and the possibility of diesel bug, but if not, or if you’ve got a petrol boat that you’ve deliberately left low, then a dose of treatment and plenty of fresh fuel should ward off any future issues.

Steering systems often get overlooked too. Some may need the pressure reserve re-pumping, and they will all benefit from winding the wheel from lock to lock to help lubricate the parts (don’t forget the flybridge helm too, if you have one). Outdrives often have a fluid top-up tank buried in the engine bay, as do hydraulic trim tabs, so check the fluid levels on them, and while you’re there, look for any loose wiring and exercise all your seacocks to prevent them from seizing.

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Hopefully, you drained down the water system at the end of the previous season, but if not then open all the taps and let any remaining water work its way out, then refill the tank with fresh water and flush it through again. If it still smells or tastes bad, then add some water purifier solution and flush it through again. Several flushes of the toilet systems should also ensure they are nice and fresh for the season ahead.

If you have aircon or heating, run the systems up and leave them on full for a couple of hours to circulate the air and/or fluids and ensure they are working as they should. A customer of mine complained that their heating was not as good as they remembered and sure enough, a search revealed a split pipe.

Fridges and any freezers will need to be run up and temperatures checked too, and if you have an ice maker, switch it on and discard the first two loads of ice, as they often taste stale.

Lastly, I like to update all my electronic chart systems. Some of these are easily done over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth but some older models may need the chart chip removing and taking to the chart agent for updates. It’s also worth having a play with them before you set off, as any updates to the operating systems may mean a new look, new features and a slight change in how you use them.

You’ll also need to update your printed charts and almanacs. We may all ignore the warning on our chartplotters saying, “Do not use as your primary means of navigation,” but maritime law for any boat without a full ECDIS display (and the small print of most insurance contracts) dictates that we should have access to up-to- date paper charts and know how to use them.

Be prepared

Now is the time to check all your boat’s systems and equipment to ensure it’s ready to go as soon as the new season starts. And don’t forget to add fresh fuel to your tender’s outboard, start it up and check the gears are working.

Safety gear

Most leisure-use lifejackets are designed to be serviced every two years to ensure the inflation mechanism is primed and the bladder is airtight. You won’t want to be without it when the season starts, so get it done now when you won’t miss it.

Exercise seacocks

Make sure you open and close all the seacocks to keep them moving freely. This will also ensure you remember to open them before starting the engine(s) for the first time after being laid up for winter.

Fire extinguishers

Check the pressure gauges and service dates of all fire extinguishers. Powder-type ones should be shaken to redistribute the powder. The gas type will need their levels checked.

Plotter updates

Update the charts and/or software of any plotters or MFDs fitted to your boat. For older plotters, give the chart card to a chart agent for an update. More modern versions can be updated over the internet.

Chart updates

Any boating apps on iPads and smartphones that you use as a back-up will also require updating. The same applies to any paper charts. Check the supplier’s website for the latest Notices to Mariners.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to carry out pre-season motor yacht checks appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Every motor boat owner knows the drill if someone falls overboard. Ask someone to point at the casualty, press the MOB button on the plotter, throw a life-ring to them, slow the boat right down and travel back the way you came. In the meantime ask one of your crew to prepare the recovery equipment while you position the boat across the wind and drift sideways onto the casualty.

This is all well and good if there are other people to help but what if you are the only person left aboard, especially on a large boat of 50ft or more?

I would prioritise my response by pressing the MOB button on the plotter whilst slowing in a straight line. Once stopped you know the casualty must be behind you in your wake. Now turn the boat round and point it at them. If you can see them clearly and they are face up, lifejacket on and airway clear, then whilst it may seem harsh, take a moment to consider asking for help.

If there is any chance you may struggle to get them back on board then press the red DSC button on the VHF and/or make a voice Mayday call. The Coastguard will ask lots of questions. Briefly tell them what they need to know, then ask them to stand by while you secure the casualty.

At this point, take the boat back towards the MOB, positioning it across the wind, upwind of them and about two boat lengths away so that you drift sideways towards them roughly in line with the boat’s stern quarter.

Article continues below…

How to ferry-glide sideways in a motor boat

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Remember that, unless they are unable to move, most people will swim towards you, so practise to be accurate, but anywhere aft of amidships is fine. The hardest part is judging when to leave the helm, making sure you leave yourself enough time to grab some recovery equipment on the way.

Once alongside the MOB, use any means at your disposal to secure them and manoeuvre them into place; a boathook, lasso, life-ring or my preferred option of a safety lanyard, as it’s easy to clip on and remove.

Once secured, consider turning off the engine nearest them as the exhaust may be venting in their face. Next, unless you are strong and they are light, you are unlikely to be able to pull them out so try to get them to the bathing ladder or, failing that, attach a rope ladder or a loop of rope to a cleat that acts as a foothold. On larger craft you may even have a hydraulic passerelle or hi-lo bathing platform you can lift them with.

If you can’t get them out, make sure they are safe and secure then can go back to the VHF and get the help you need.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Prioritise your actions

The MOB (represented by a fender) has fallen off the starboard side while you are at the helm. Slow down but keep going straight so the casualty stays in your wake and press the MOB button on the plotter.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Make a distress call

Stop and turn the boat round, while keeping eyes on the casualty. Even if they are face up and the lifejacket has worked, press the MOB button on the VHF DSC and/or make a Mayday call. Always keep a prompt card to hand.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Position the boat

Return down your wake and position the boat across the wind so that you drift sideways towards the MOB. Be accurate as every use of the controls slows down the drift.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Leave the helm

Judging when to leave the helm is crucial and will depend on the size of the boat and the speed of the drift. I have left with about 2m to go so I can grab a boathook and a lifeline from the cockpit.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Secure the man overboard

Once alongside, secure the MOB to the boat using some form of lifeline. If they are struggling to stay afloat, pass them a life-ring while you work out how to get them back on board.

Photos: Richard Langdon and Graham Snook

Recover the man overboard

If the casualty has the strength to help, the bathing ladder is the quickest way to recover them. If not, use whatever is at your disposal (such as the passerelle) or go back to the VHF to ask for help.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to recover a man overboard single-handed appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Using a tidal current or river flow to move your boat sideways is called ferry-gliding. The term comes from the traditional practice of using the flow of water on a river to move a ferry boat sideways across it. When a good flow of water is present, it provides ‘free’ sideways propulsion with barely any need for oars or an engine.

It works by simply pointing the boat, either bow or stern first, into the flow of water (bow first usually works best due to the pointy shape) and then turning it at an angle across the flow so that one side is receiving more flow than the other. This puts more pressure on the up-tide side, creating sideways movement. The steeper the angle the greater the sideways force.

Of course the flow will also start to push the boat backwards, which you will need to counter using small nudges of ahead or astern so the motion is only sideways and not fore and aft.

It works on all vessels as the hull shape and keel (if present) are what create the sideways motion. On a single-engine shaftdrive craft, such as the Duchy 27 in the photos, control of the angle is done with the rudder alone. On twin-engine craft, this can be enhanced by using alternate engines.

Larger rudders make fine-controlling the angle easier, but all boats can keep control by using some helm combined with clicks of gear, usually just in ahead but also in astern if you inadvertently use too much ahead.

Our Duchy 27 has a relatively long but shallow keel, a single prop, and a fairly small motorboat- style rudder. This allowed us to keep good control at very slow speed in ahead. In astern, the rudder worked to some degree, but being a single shaft-drive boat, the prop walk always wanted to push the stern to port.

This meant that it was very hit or miss – if you got it set up perfectly on approach it would just about work, but any adjustments mid-approach quickly ended in an abort as the boat would always pull to port regardless of rudder position.

So, if your vessel is compliant when bow-to the elements but a little ‘interesting’ in astern, I would only use this very elegant technique when the bow is facing into the wind and/or tide.

Face the flow

Position the boat facing into the tidal flow. You can see this from the back eddies and smoother water at the stern of the moored boats. The aim is to ferry-glide across into the marina to starboard.]

Angle into flow

By turning the wheel to starboard, the water flow over the rudder turns the boat and presents more of the portside to the flow, causing the whole boat to start crabbing sideways to starboard.

Balance tidal flow

The flow will also start to push the boat astern, so use a click of ahead with the wheel still to starboard to keep the boat stationary fore and aft while still ferry-gliding across to starboard.

Increase angle

The steeper the angle the more the boat gets pushed (or ‘ferries’) to starboard. Be careful as it can move quite quickly. Another click of ahead may be needed to keep the fore and aft transit.

Slow down

If you feel the movement is too fast, all you need to do is put the wheel to port to reduce the angle of attack. If that’s not enough, one click ahead and the boat will straighten and stop.

Come back out

Keep that wheel to port to change which side of the boat is facing into the flow. Now the starboard side is facing into it and the boat is moving to port. Maintain the fore and aft transit using clicks of ahead.

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Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to ferry-glide sideways in a motor boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Like many people, I’m not in a position to change my boat even if I wanted to. Bohemian Girl is a 22ft Karnic Bluewater, which my three brothers and I bought brand new in 2006 for around £35,000 complete with an SBS road trailer. It’s not particularly flash but it does everything we want it to (day boating, watersports, occasional overnighting) and it has been mercifully reliable, easy to maintain and inexpensive to run.

These days the nearest equivalent Karnic costs around £55,000 and stepping up to something usefully bigger and better, such as an Axopar 29, would require another £100,000 on top of that. So unless all four of us come into a windfall at the same time, it’s not going to happen.

For that reason, I’ve gradually been pimping up our existing boat instead. Over the years I’ve added Flexiteek decking, Garmin nav gear, a Fusion sound system and Ceramic Pro coating. I’ve also had the cockpit reupholstered in Silvertex fabric. But the most pleasing upgrade was having it vinyl-wrapped way back in 2014. The metallic silver colour I chose instantly made the boat look younger, prettier and more upmarket.

At the time I was told it would last around five years. In fact, as of May this year it had already done ten years and still looked better than it did before the wrap. The colour hadn’t faded, the vinyl still retained its glossy sheen and best of all it never needed polishing.

How it looked once the previous silver wrap had been removed. Photo: Hugo Andreae

However, it had started to peel a bit around the transom and waterline, where the combination of hard-to-shift barnacles and over zealous pressure-washing had begun to lift the edges. And if you looked closely enough there were a few small scratches and self-applied vinyl patches covering various minor parking mishaps.

So when Tom Lovesey from Generation Graphics offered to take off the old wrap and replace it with a new one, I leapt at the chance. Not only would it demonstrate how easy it is
(or isn’t) to remove an old wrap, I could also change the look once again.

Before the new wrap could be applied, Chris had to remove the old silver one. Photo: Hugo Andreae

Blue is the colour

That just left the small issue of choosing a new colour. Replacing the previous silver wrap with a similar one was the safe but boring option – been there, done that, got the t-shirt. This time
I wanted to go for something more daring. After all, one of the joys of a wrap rather than a paint job is that you can always take it off again if you get it horribly wrong or tire of the colour.
The book of Oracal 970 colour samples Tom sent me didn’t help.

Instead of the 20 or so options I was expecting to pick from, there must have been nearer 200 in every conceivable colour, shade and finish, from a glossy metal-flake orange called ‘Tangerine Dream’ to the rather less invitingly named ‘Taxi Beige’!

Tom and Ash hang the vinyl from the rub rail before cutting it roughly to shape. Photo: Hugo Andreae

I narrowed it down to either a metallic ‘Azure’ Blue’ with a very on-trend matt finish or a solid ‘Ice Blue’ with a conventional glossy sheen. After much umming and ahhing, I finally settled on the latter in the hopes it would make my humble Karnic look a little like the turquoise coloured Cormates I’ve always admired.

Given how busy Generation Graphics are during the pre-season rush, we decided to wait until June when I could lift the boat on its trailer and take advantage of the more reliable weather to do the work outside rather than trying to photograph it inside a cramped, poorly lit shed. This also allowed us to split the process in two, with half a day allocated to removing the old wrap and another to wrapping it a week or so later in case of any issues.

Pushing the vinyl hard up against the rub rail to leave a nice clean edge to cut. Photo: Hugo Andreae

Off with the old

In fact, the removal process went remarkably smoothly. Any concerns that the old vinyl might have gone brittle or the glue dried out after ten years of exposure to UV rays were soon dispelled as Chris set to work.

By running a scalpel along the length of the topsides at 50cm intervals (just firmly enough to score the surface of the vinyl without penetrating the gelcoat), he divided the wrapping into manageable-sized strips. He then lifted the rearmost corner of the vinyl using the scalpel blade and started to work his way along each strip using a heatgun to soften the glue before gradually peeling it away from the gelcoat.

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Even after a decade the vinyl proved remarkably strong and stretchy, requiring considerable effort and skill to peel it away without tearing it or leaving too much glue behind. Any adhesive that did remain was then dissolved with a solvent spray and wiped away with a clean cloth.

The whole process took around four hours and left my boat looking as clean and shiny as the day it was wrapped back in 2014. You could just make out where the old wrap had stopped short a few inches above the waterline due to the inevitable algae stains on the exposed gelcoat but there was no obvious change in whiteness or glossiness from UV bleaching. It just left the whole boat looking a bit bland and boring without its silvery skin.

Peeling off the cutting tape along the waterline. The fittings are trimmed by hand. Photo: Hugo Andreae

On with the new

Phase two was booked for the following week and this time Tom himself turned up along with his colleague Ash to apply the new wrap. After another wipe down to remove any surface dust, grease or grime, they set to work laying a very fine cutting filament just above the waterline before hanging the vinyl from the rub rail using strips of sticky tape to hold it temporarily in place.

Once they were happy with the approximate positioning, Tom cut the vinyl to length, trimmed off the obvious excess and started to peel off the backing paper around the mid-point before sticking it to the gelcoat.

Using a plastic scraper to work outwards from this first contact point, the two of them then took turns to hold the unstuck vinyl taut while the other one smoothed it into place, ensuring any air bubbles were pushed out as they went. This whole process has been made a little bit quicker in recent years thanks to the introduction of microscopic channels on the vinyl backing that allows the air to escape.

The end result looks like a brand-new boat for a fraction of the cost. Photo: Hugo Andreae

Once the bulk of the wrap was in place, they then had to stretch it into the knuckle half way up the topsides using the heat gun and scraper to push it into the gap. But by far the trickiest part was easing it around the tapering bow without inducing any wrinkles. Only when Tom was 100% satisfied with this did he pull the cutting tape to leave a perfectly straight edge along the bottom before manually cutting around the various skin fittings and bow clip.

It’s an immensely satisfying process to watch (check out the timelapse video on our YouTube channel), and seeing your boat change colour in the space of a few hours is genuinely thrilling.

Verdict

I have to admit that at times I did wonder if I’d gone for too strong a colour but once the finishing touch of a thin white styling line had been added just below the knuckle, I was convinced I’d made the right choice. It looks superb on the water, and the novelty of having a different coloured boat, not just to what it was but also to every other Karnic I’ve seen, still gives me a buzz every time I catch sight of it. It may not be quite as exciting as upgrading to a bigger, newer boat but I reckon it’s the next best thing.

Boat vinyl wrap costs

Vinyl: Oracal 970 Ice Blue
Removal: Approx £500 inc VAT
New wrap: £1,900 inc VAT
Contact: Generation Graphics

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article Boat vinyl wrap: How to make your boat look like new again appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Single shaftdrive boats are relatively rare these days but the reduced costs of buying, servicing and fuelling such a simple but reliable drivetrain does mean they are making a bit of a comeback. The main disadvantage is that single shaftdrive boats aren’t as manoeuvrable as twin-engined ones or those fitted with sterndrives or outboards.

There are millions of yachts out there with this set-up, and they seem to manage okay, so what’s the difference? Well yachts usually have deep keels and larger rudders to give maximum stability and steerage at speeds below 10 knots.

Motor boats on the other hand tend to have shorter keels and smaller rudders to reduce drag and steering effect at speed. The flipside of this is that they also have less directional stability and steering effect at lower speeds, making them more sensitive to being blown about by the wind.

So before helming a single shaftdrive boat, it’s worth finding out a bit about its hull shape. It may have no keel at all, a small stub keel or, like this Duchy 27, a longer keel which protects the propeller. This will give the first clues as to how it’s going to handle.

Look out for unwanted stern movement when using the bow thruster

Your next job is to establish which way the propeller turns. If the shaft is easily accessible, you can simply watch which way it rotates, or if that’s difficult, you can watch which way the stern moves and how water exits from the hull when the engine is engaged.

All propellers have something known as prop walk or transverse thrust. It is most apparent in astern gear, as the blunter transom makes it easier for the propeller to move the boat sideways rather than backwards. So as astern gear is engaged, you can usually observe the stern of the boat moving to one side and the wash from the propeller exiting amidships on the opposite side. This turning effect can be harnessed to give you a ‘best’ direction when attempting to turn the boat.

Your next job is to find out how well the boat steers astern. On some, the rudders will steer the boat in both directions. On others, the prop walk overpowers the rudder and it will only steer in the direction the prop wants.

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You also need to see if a ‘dab’ of power helps the situation by making the turn tighter or if it makes it worse. Having established the propeller rotation, try going ahead with the helm hard over to starboard and then to port.

Complete a full circle in both directions and look carefully at how they differ to see if it turns quicker one way than the other. Now see if you can combine this with the astern prop walk to get a nice tight three-point turn working in both ways or just one. This knowledge will aid the approach to every manoeuvre you make.

One technique that is useful in ahead gear is to use a small blip of power after engaging, as you can then squirt water directly onto the rudder and really aid turning without too much forward momentum. Lastly, if you have a bow thruster, see how powerful it is. Does it move the bow much? Does the stern go the other way and if so, by how much?

Check hull shape

The shape of the hull plays a large part in how your boat will handle. This Cockwells Duchy 27 has a shallow but almost full-length keel, which aids directional stability in ahead but makes steering astern more difficult.

Propeller rotation

The Duchy has an easily visible shaft, which makes it easy to see that it rotates clockwise in ahead and anti-clockwise in astern. This means that it will pull the stern to port in astern gear.

Static test

If you can’t see the shaft, you can still check it when tied up by engaging astern gear and seeing which way the boat moves. Here you can see the stern has moved to port, pushing it against the pontoon.

Straight astern

With practice, you can go in a fairly straight line astern by using a burst of power to get the boat moving backwards, then going into neutral so the rudder can work without fighting the prop walk effect.

Turning ahead

Try turning ahead in both directions to see which is tighter. In this case, our circle to starboard is slightly tighter than to port, aided by the propeller turning to the right in ahead and hence moving the stern to port.

Bow thruster test

When the bow thruster is used, you can see that although it moved the bow very nicely to port, it also moved the stern to starboard. That could make it hard for the crew to get a stern line ashore.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to handle a single shaftdrive boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

When I wrote an article a couple of years ago about my annual boating costs, I remember closing the piece with the caveat that my expenses excluded upgrades and toys, as these were discretionary spends. As if to prove the point, this year’s winter projects alone have exceeded my usual total annual spend – but they’ve all been by choice rather than necessity.

I blame the weather. A long grey winter meant I needed a project to cheer me up. Just to reinforce the situation, my boat, Greyfin, was laid up for the winter in a magnificent position with glorious views over Mylor Marina in Cornwall, which encouraged me to spend far too much time in the cockpit, drinking cups of coffee and dreaming up jobs to do.

Very often, they are jobs I can do myself, like adapting the galley with extra cupboards or modifying the helm seat to flip up. This year though, it was going to involve a significant upgrade to the nav equipment, with new and rearranged instrumentation underpinned by the addition of an autopilot system – and that’s work that sits squarely outside my capabilities.

The rationale for getting an autopilot was to assist me as a single-handed boater. I like to potter along, taking in the sights and sounds but if I’m doing that for two hours straight, clinging to the wheel can get a bit tedious. Although I live in a popular Cornish boating location, I’m often the only one out and there is very little to avoid or alter course for – in other words, ideal autopilot country! I could just let the system take care of the steering while I focused on navigation, scenery and comfort.

Billy of BT Marine gets the project under way

Picking my autopilot

The first job was to engage Billy, an electrical engineer who runs BT Marine in Falmouth. He did a quick survey to ensure that it was a viable project on my boat with accessible cable runs and suitable locations to fix the hardware.

Greyfin is an 8m Beneteau Antares with a single shaftdrive and rudder. It has hydraulic wheel steering, aided by a pump and a steering cylinder to make light work of moving the rudder. It was a thumbs up from Billy, who selected the appropriate components for my boat, and also suggested a reputable hydraulic engineer to ‘plumb in’ the new system.

I chose a Raymarine Evolution Autopilot because it would integrate seamlessly with my existing Raymarine equipment – but I was surprised by how much kit was in the box! Firstly, there is the display screen or Control Head to be fitted at the helm station.

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Behind the scenes, there is also a Sensor Core, the ‘brains’ of the system, which sends commands to all other components. It’s essentially a clever 3D compass, acting gyroscopically, cleaning up data and allowing for the boat’s pitch, roll and yaw, so it can take account of different sea conditions without overreacting. Then there is the Actuator Control Unit, which interfaces with the existing SeaTalk network on Greyfin and acts as the power supply to the drive unit.

The fourth and final component is the drive unit, which in my case is the Hydraulic Pump. That would get connected to my existing steering cylinder and ultimately the rudder. Critically, these last three components were selected specifically for my boat’s size, type and speed.

New couplings fitted to existing steering hoses

Fitting the components

Apart from the Control Head, which was fitted at the helm, all other components were mounted on the forward bulkhead in the lazarette. The Sensor Core needed to be located away from other equipment like pumps and electric motors, as well as big lumps of metal, such as the engine, which might interfere with the compass.

Fortunately, Greyfin’s lazarette allows for a fairly simple wiring run back to the Control Head and chartplotter and also to the fuse board, which is located within easy reach, behind a hatch at the helm.

The new system was linked to the chartplotter via the SeaTalk network, allowing the autopilot to tap into the plotter’s navigational functionality, using stored routes and waypoints. Although following a course is not a priority for my particular type of boating, it would be if planning a long passage.

Neat hydraulic drive unit for the autopilot

Final jobs

With all the hardware in, it was time to call in the services of the hydraulic engineer to connect the new pump. They measured up the runs and made up hoses and connectors off site. My system now had to be drained before new couplings were fitted to my existing hoses at the steering cylinder, where the new hoses would link in. The system was then refilled with hydraulic oil, before being bled and tested. With no hint of a leak, the system was good to go.

The final bit of onshore work was for Billy to run through the dockside set-up using the software wizard. This calibrates the system, accounting for the type of drive and factoring in the rudder travel limits and the hard-over timing from lock to lock. With all the professional jobs completed, it was time to launch Greyfin and complete the final set-up on the water.

The basic user set-up was simple. You simply select your responsiveness, boat type, typical speed and display options and then allow the system to automatically run a compass linearisation process to compensate for any local magnetic variations. And there it is. Job done.

Raymarine autopilot actuator control box

Was it worth it?

I’ve been using the autopilot for a few months now and I already find it invaluable. I use it at some point on every single trip I undertake.

It keeps a far straighter course than I can and it does so without over-correcting the rudder. Admittedly, I have a tendency to overuse it now. In fact, I’m continually tempted to leave the helm. But having just done an RYA powerboat course, where keeping your hands on the wheel and throttle are drummed into you, I’m able to resist – for now!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article Installing an Autopilot: A step-by-step guide appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

The vast majority of boats are made of GRP, a highly flammable material, so prevention is far better than cure. With that in mind, it’s worth having a walk through your boat, considering what your plan of action would be if you do have a fire and how you would escape if you can’t put it out.

If not contained, a fire will spread quickly so speed of action is vital. Fire and carbon monoxide alarms in every cabin and enclosed space will give you the best chance of spotting it early, followed by immediate shouts of fire to alert your crew. Your immediate priorities should be to get everybody to your muster point, put out a Mayday call and grab any available extinguishers to try and fight it.

The most likely sources of fire are engines, fuel and electrical systems, so ensure you know where and how to trigger the engine room extinguishers, the fuel cut-offs and the battery isolator switches. Some electrical bow and stern thrusters also have a dedicated extinguisher, so add it to your annual check sheet. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries in water toys, bikes, drones, phones and computers are another potential fire hazard if overcharged or exposed to water, so make sure you know what’s on board and don’t leave them charging unattended.

Boats built within the last 30 years will have at least one manual fire extinguisher fitted and if it has an enclosed engine space, a fire suppression system too. Most extinguishers have a maximum life span of ten years so portable ones will need to be replaced and larger ones serviced, preferably annually.

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I’d also add a portable extinguisher to each cabin and a fire blanket for the galley.

If you need to use an extinguisher, aim it at the base of the fire and use it in short bursts. Always try to have an exit behind you so you can escape if it gets out of control.

Planning your exit is vital. On a small boat it’s pretty obvious but larger craft with multiple decks and cabins present a much bigger problem. Do you have escape hatches fitted? Do you know where they are? And can you actually fit through them? Older or larger guests may not be physically capable of using them.

Amazingly, despite being surrounded by water, most craft I go on either don’t have any buckets or have buckets but no lines attached, so you can’t easily haul up water to put out a fire. Lastly, if you have to abandon ship make sure you can access and launch the tenders/liferafts quickly. Consider launching them early as a precaution and keep them tethered alongside on the windward side (on the downwind side they risk being damaged by the flames or filled with smoke) until you know whether they are needed. You can always recover them if not.

Get to know your extinguishers

Know where your extinguishers are kept and how to use them – these ones had quite different pull-pins. Buckets for collecting sea water are also a useful extra resource but they need a lanyard to reach the water easily.

Switch off the fuel supply

In the event of a fire the fuel supply will need to be switched off, otherwise you are literally adding fuel to the fire. Then manually pull the engine room fire control.

Engine room extinguisher

Many engine rooms have automatic extinguishers like this one, which also cut the engines. The little switch allows you to restart the engines, once you have put out the fire.

Check the pressure gauge

The engine room extinguisher is auto and manual but the pressure gauge is placed where it’s hard to see, so I use my phone to check what it reads – in this case, it’s nicely in the green.

Test exit routes

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I fit through this foredeck escape hatch, especially as there is no extinguisher in this cabin to aid my escape back through the boat.

Plan your escape

If the fire envelops the boat and you can’t fight or extinguish it, how are you going to exit the craft? This boat has a liferaft and an easily launched tender.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to guard against fire on board a boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

This article was supposed to be about the installation of 3D RealVision Sonar – only it isn’t! As it turned out, time, money and emotions would engage in a battle that made everything far more complex than I had anticipated. But let’s rewind to the very start.

It all began during the winter when I decided to upgrade the navigation equipment on Greyfin, my Beneteau Antares 8. At the time, it only had a small Raymarine multifunction display (MFD) and a few analogue dials at the helm.

The plan was to replace the MFD with something larger and then have a second MFD for data and to install an autopilot. I had been to the Southampton Boat Show in September and had broadly decided what I wanted, but one bit of tech that really caught my eye was Raymarine’s 3D RealVision sonar.

The fishfinder function on my chartplotter is probably the one I use the most, as a lot of my boating is done locally and involves anchoring up river or on the coast. I don’t do long passages, my engine doesn’t talk to the MFD and I don’t have radar, so with a lot of functionality wasted, I really wanted to exploit the part geared to my needs – namely, enhancing the sonar image with a sub-surface 3D view of what was all around me rather than what was directly under me.

That would be particularly handy because when I anchor, I often swing through 180 degrees, so it would be reassuring to know that the chain is not likely to snag on a submerged log or an unmarked lobster pot that a standard down-vision fish finder would only see if you passed directly over it.

Replacing the original MFD with a larger one wasn’t an issue…

Early obstacles

I chose to stick with a Raymarine MFD as not only would the functionality be familiar to me but it would also ensure compatibility with the wiring and other equipment. I selected the top-of-the-range RealVision model, as this would give me the 3D capability I wanted.

I was advised right from the outset by Raymarine that I would need to upgrade to a pair of through-hull transducers because on a hull with a 20-degree deadrise, you need one on each side to avoid a blind spot created by the angle of installation and the keel. But this immediately gave me pause for thought…

I’d have to drill through my precious hull! Could I bring myself to inflict this pain on my beloved boat? And it was also becoming apparent that I was going down a very expensive rabbit hole. Not only was this going to add significant complexity but it was also going to come at a considerable cost. The transducers alone cost as much as the chart plotter and then there would be the fitting costs incurred by the appointment of both an electrical engineer and a shipwright.

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Undaunted, I engaged Billy from BT Marine Electronics in Falmouth to give me a quote and to investigate possible options. Could I use a simple transom-mounted transducer like you would find on a RIB? After all, my boat is pretty small.

Billy strongly advised against it. Unlike an outboard-powered boat, my shaft-driven boat would see the propeller positioned ahead of the transducer, which would mean the water turbulence at the transom would be too great and would compromise the sonar image. So with the simplest option falling at the first hurdle, I was back to the twin transducers.

The hole for the old transducer hole was too close to the keel

I persevered and got a quote from a shipwright. He took one look, drew breath in through his teeth and told me that it wasn’t as straightforward because Greyfin had a twin-skinned hull. That would apparently involve a couple of days’ work just to cut out and make good the new holes for the transducers. “Can’t we find a location that doesn’t have the inner moulding?” was my desperate plea!

Well apparently not, as the transducers have to be placed in smooth water flow, not too far forward where the bow might rise out of the water, and not too far aft where you’ve now already passed over the seabed you wanted to see. I was advised that the best place to locate them is in the same area the manufacturer had chosen for the original transducer, as with a clean sheet they had obviously selected the optimum location.

A second, smaller MFD displays data

Hole positioning

Okay, time for a deep breath. All the simple options had been eliminated. But even with the extra cost of the chartplotter, the cost of the twin 3D transducers and now the shipwright cost, I was still determined to plough on. I instructed Billy, who had been very patient during my deliberations, to proceed with the installation.

But no sooner had he started than he realised the existing transducer hole could not be used on one side as the new transducer’s external component was marginally wider and would impinge on Greyfin’s short keel.

That meant the old hole would have to be filled and moved away from the keel. Time was running out before my mid-April relaunch and the warm, dry days necessary for reliable glasswork were few and far between!

Installing the new RealVision 3D transducers proved challenging

Time to compromise

So with my head now ruling my heart I decided to delay the installation of the 3D transducers until the autumn and link the new MFD to the existing transducer for this season. After all, the rest of the equipment went in as planned so I’ve got enough new toys to play with for now, and in the meantime I hope to get feedback from people who’ve installed 3D sonar to get a true idea of its performance, especially in shallow water.

But probably the most significant hurdle for me is not the expense involved but the simple concept of adding extra holes to my hull. It goes against the grain, so if anyone can reassure me that it’s fine, then your moral support would be most welcome!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to install Raymarine 3D RealVision Sonar appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Keeping your boat’s anchor secure and attached to your boat depends on the size of the boat and sometimes the designer’s whim. Most smaller craft, in which the anchor is relatively light and the warp is chain and rope, have a manual deployment method and keep it stowed in a bow locker to be brought out and used when needed.

Medium to larger craft, in which the anchor and chain has moved up in size and weight, tend to keep it stowed on a bow roller and use a manual or electric winch to raise and lower it. The clutch in the winch motor, which usually relies on the friction between two metal plates, is often all that is holding the anchor in place.

A securing clip and strong point bolted to the deck, along with a short tether line, means that if the winch slips, the anchor can’t go very far. Photo: Richard Langdon

Unfortunately, lack of maintenance, wear and tear and insufficient tightening of the winch, means the clutch is prone to slipping under the constant pull of the anchor. Inevitably, this will happen on a rough day, when the last thing you want to be doing is scrambling around on the foredeck trying to sort the issue.

If the anchor does pull out, the best you can hope for is surface damage to the hull, at worst it could go right under the boat and cause havoc with your stern gear.

So how do you prevent that from happening? The simplest way is to put a line through the chain and secure it to a cleat. That’s all well and good but if left for a while the line can become difficult to untie and may be problematic if needed in a hurry.

Article continues below…

Some boat manufacturers are already wise to the danger and provide a secure locking mechanism in the shape of a metal brace or a sturdy clip that you can attach to the anchor or chain.

This boat had a lock to take the pressure off the chain when anchored but no clip to keep it securely stowed when underway, and a recent slippage of the winch had resulted in a deep scar on the blue gel coat. A securing clip was deemed to be the answer, with a strong point bolted to the deck and a short tether line so that if the winch slips, the anchor can’t move far and the action of it wobbling can be seen by the crew. The only downside is that someone now needs to go forward to release the clip before lowering the anchor – it can’t simply be done from the helm.

Tools required. Photo: Richard Langdon

1 Tools required

To make your own anchor tether, you are likely to need a drill, a U-shaped deck-plate, through-hull bolts, a stainless-steel clip, some line and whipping, a hot knife, pencil and umbrella.

Photo: Richard Langdon

2 Temporary fix

After the winch had slipped causing the anchor to damage the hull, the owner had improvised with this short length of rope tied to the chain stopper. However, they now wanted a quicker, more secure arrangement.

Photo: Richard Langdon

3 Tool catcher

Before starting, I hung the opened umbrella from the bow anchor to catch anything I dropped. It helped ensure I didn’t need to make any unplanned trips to the chandlery later on!

Photo: Richard Langdon

4 Prep work

Work out where you want to place the U-bolt deck fitting and what length of line you need to hold the anchor in place. Use masking tape to mark the drill points and prevent the bit slipping.

Photo: Richard Langdon

5 Deck fitting

Start by drilling in reverse – this grinds the gel first to leave a small indentation, then switch to forward to drill through. Secure it with thru-hull bolts, not self-tapping screws which could pull out.

Photo: Richard Langdon

6 Finishing touch

Don’t forget to whip the open ends of the line together before you screw it down – much easier! I added a small black line to the pull clip to make it easier to release with cold, wet hands.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article How to keep your boat's anchor secure appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Anchoring in a pretty bay is one of boating’s greatest joys but it can also be a cause of considerable angst: How much chain should I put out? What’s the seabed like? Will I get stuck? What if I drag?
Many of these concerns can be solved by laying the correct amount of cable (called scope) for the depth and conditions.

There are many possible configurations of anchor rode: all-chain (recommended for boats over 40ft); a mix of chain and rope (usually the boat’s length of chain plus 10 times the amount of rope); or 5m of chain and 20 times the boat length of rope. It doesn’t matter too much what you have as long as you let out enough of it to hold you stationary.

With an all-chain set up I find that four times the depth gives good holding without excessive snatch if the wind picks up. With a combination of chain and warp, I find six times the depth has the same effect.

In both cases, you need to know the depth, calculate how much rode you need to put out and have a means of counting it. There are several ways to gauge this; the simplest is to use time – if it takes 1 second for your windlass to let out 1m of chain then it will take 20 seconds to let out 20m of chain etc. This works well if your anchor windlass runs at a consistent speed and you have an accurate means of timing it.

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How to check your chartplotter’s accuracy

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Some boats have an automatic anchor chain counter fitted, sadly I have yet to encounter one which works reliably without constantly needing to be recalibrated. So, my preferred option is to mark the anchor chain.

There are various ways to do this but your first task is always to empty the chain out of the locker and lay it out on the ground or pontoon, taking the opportunity to clean out the locker and check the bitter end is lashed to the U-bolt with strong but cuttable cord rather than a rusty shackle that could prove difficult to undo or cut in an emergency.

Now measure from the anchor fitting to the water, as you shouldn’t include this in your calculations. For instance if your anchor is 2m above the waterline when stowed, you need to add that 2m to your first measure. Then you just mark it at 5m intervals, so in this case make your first mark at 7m, then measure another 5m and mark it 10m, 15m, 20m etc.

The simplest way to mark the chain is by painting the links with a different colour for each depth, but if you anchor often, this soon wears off. Coloured cable ties are another cost-effective and easily replaced method.

Better still are the coloured plastic anchor chain markers you can buy online and in some chandleries, although you do need to know your chain link size for them to fit correctly. If in doubt let out more rode than you think, as it’s no use left in the locker.

1 Tools for the task

The simplest and cheapest method is to use a handful of different-coloured cable ties but you can buy proper plastic chain markers if you know how what size your chain links are.

2 Remove the chain

Carefully take the chain out of the locker and lay it out on the pontoon so it’s easy to measure. Now is a good time to clean out the locker and check the state of your chain and fixings.

3 Find the starting point

Measure the distance from the anchor stowage point to the water so your starting point is where the chain touches the water rather than end of the roller – in this case, 1.4m.

4 Make your mark

Mark the starting point clearly so that when you are retrieving the anchor you know when it is clearing the water and can slow down the winch accordingly. I used red cable ties for maximum visibility.

5 Colour coding

Now mark it every 5m with either a different colour each time (if you can find and remember them) or alternating colours for every 5m. I chose orange for 5m, 15m, 25m and 35m, and blue at 10m, 20m and 30m.

6 End marker

I finished with more red ties at 40m to show me that the chain is almost all out. Lastly, I produced a little table to stick next to the helm and help me remember.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to mark your anchor chain: 6 top tips from our expert appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Knowing how much water is below your boat is vital to safe boating. No-one ever wants to unintentionally ground their boat but if you are going to do some experiential ‘learning’ then it’s far better to do that on soft mud rather than rocks or even sand, which can be surprisingly hard.

Knowing exactly how your depth sound is set to read is key to this – is it showing you depth under the transducer, under the lowest point of the boat or from the waterline?

If you’re not sure, best practice is to double check before you set off. I do this using a weighted line with knots at 1m intervals. Once I have confirmed my depth set up, I like to be prudent and place my boat over a spot depth, checking the charted depth, adding on any tidal height to give a total depth of water and comparing it to my depth screen. If they pretty much agree, I feel confident to continue.

The next step is to decide on a sensible limit for how shallow you are prepared to go. I generally aim for a safe limit of 2m below the boat’s lowest point – often the propellers on a planing craft. This is usually called under keel depth.

Now I might well need to relax my set limit, if I am absolutely certain of what I am about to do. So, for example, going into a shallow area to anchor, or to explore further up an estuary.

Article continues below…

How to set up depth sounders: Everything you need to know about sonar

How to check your chartplotter’s accuracy

However, I will only ever do this after studying the chart to see what the sea bed is composed of. I usually find this is easier to get from physical charts than digital ones, although that is beginning to change. If you are relying on digital ones, make sure you know how they display rocks and shallows, as they don’t all follow the Admiralty standard settings.

The great thing about depth as an aid to navigation is that it’s often the closest point of land, it just happens to be straight down, rather than far away in the distance. That knowledge allows you to eliminate huge areas of the chart very quickly, as there simply won’t be enough depth to navigate there safely.

Many modern plotters allow you to configure the depth contours and colours to suit you, so if the draft of my vessel is 1.5m and I have set my transducer to read under keel, I like to set the plotter with the contours changing from white (deep water) to pale blue at either the 2m or 5m contour, depending on sea bed type, progressively darkening to the zero contour.

This means I can be relatively relaxed when cruising in the white and light blue areas but the moment I approach a darker shade of blue my focus on the depth display is greatly increased. Just be super careful as not all plotters use the same colour palette.

Lastly, adding an alarm to the depth sounder at 2m under keel, so you have an audible reminder that the depth is shallowing, is a sensible precaution, especially if you’re cruising shorthanded.

Depth gauge setting

Most modern depth gauges have different settings. I like mine to display depth under the keel. On more basic sounders you should still have an offset function allowing you to subtract the distance from the sounder to the keel/propeller.

Plotter settings

Here I have set the Navionics plotter to read progressively darker blue as it shallows from the 5m contour. This gives me a quick visual reference that I need to start keeping a closer eye on the depth gauge as soon as I stray outside the white area.

Know your colours

Imray electronic and printed charts use a reversed colour scheme. This image shows exactly the same area but here the blue represents deep water, whereas white is below 5m.

Depth alarm

You can set the depth alarm to any depth but I usually set it to 2m below the keel. This gives me an early warning that I’m drifting out of the channel while allowing sufficient time to change course if needed.

Nav aid

The alarm can also be used to assist navigation, for example if you want to anchor with 2m below the keel it will let you know when you’ve reached the right depth. Here we have gone too far at just 0.7m.

Helping hand

Here, I was looking for the next port channel marker but as it was masked by the harbour master launch, I nearly cut across a shallow patch to the next red buoy. Luckily, the depth alarm alerted me in time.

This article Expert skills: How to get more from your depth sounder appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Knowing the depth of water around your boat is critical, especially in shallow areas. Depth sounders have made this a lot easier in recent years but you need to understand what they are actually telling you.

When the transducer is installed (the device that sends and receives the sound waves), it doesn’t arrive ready calibrated to your boat, so the depth being displayed is from wherever the transducer is fitted down to the sea bed – I call this the ‘out of the box value’.

That’s all well and good but it is NOT the true depth of water (from the surface to the seabed), nor is it the depth of water under your boat (the distance between the lowest part of your boat and the seabed).

Measurements for setting up depth sounders

Most depth sounders have an offset setting in the menu, allowing you to add or subtract a fixed measurement to take account of where the transducer has been mounted and whether you want it to show true depth or depth below your boat.

Before doing this you first need to know three measurements:

1. Your boat’s draft (measured from the waterline to the deepest point – usually the tips of the propellers or bottom of the keel on a shaftdrive boat or the bottom of the skeg on a sterndrive/outboard one);
2. The distance from the waterline down to the transducer;
3. The distance from the transducer to the lowest part of the boat (you can calculate this by subtracting the second figure from the first).

Once you know these measurements you can go to the settings menu of your sounder and input one or both offset values.

To show the true depth you will need to add the distance from the transducer to the waterline, to show depth under the boat you will need to subtract the distance from the transducer to the lowest part of your boat.

There are times when I like the sounder to show the true depth, usually when using depth as a primary source of navigation, such as following a charted contour line.

However, in this mode you must remember to factor in how much your boat draws to ensure you don’t run aground.

When set up like this, it is also worth checking the sounder’s readings match the total depth by using a weighted line, knotted at 1m spacings.

However, most of the time I prefer to have the sounder displaying the depth of water under the boat, so if the sounder is showing 2m, I know I have a full 2m of water under the keel/propellers.

To do this you need to use the same offset settings menu but this time deduct the depth from the transducer down to the deepest part of the boat.

This will now be displaying a lower value than both the out of the box setting and the true depth but crucially it will be an accurate reading of what’s below the lowest point of your boat.

1. Locate the transducer

Before measuring the offset, you first need to locate your boat’s transducer. On larger craft this is usually a circular through-hull fitting somewhere under the boat.

Photo: Richard Langdon

On smaller boats like this one it’s often attached to the transom instead.

2. Measurements

When your boat is out of the water, measure the draft with the drive in its down position, the transducer distance below the waterline (blue line) and either calculate or measure the transducer distance above the deepest part of the boat.

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3. Standard setting

When first fitted, depth sounders will measure the depth from the transducer (red dot) to the sea bed. This is really unhelpful as it is neither the true depth nor the depth of water under the boat/propeller.

Photo: Richard Langdon

4. Applying offset

The safest setting is to show the depth of water under the lowest part of your boat. To do this you need to apply a negative offset equivalent to the transducer distance above the lowest point (red line).

Photo: Richard Langdon

5. True depth

Sometimes you want to show the true depth, for instance when following a charted contour line. This time you need to apply a positive offset equivalent to the transducer distance below the waterline.

Showing the true depth is helpful when following a charted contour line. Photo: Richard Langdon

6. Physical check

Either measure the true depth using a weighted line or position the boat over a charted depth at a given state of tide. The figure should match the true depth shown by your sounder.

Photo: Richard Langdon.

This article How to set up depth sounders: Everything you need to know about sonar appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

With ten years of boating and a Day Skipper qualification under my belt (not to mention being an avid viewer of Saving Lives At Sea and the equally gripping Deadliest Catch), I thought I was fairly well aware of the potential hazards of putting to sea.

But of course accidents pay scant regard to all that, and the night my wife and I found ourselves bobbing around in the pitch black after a poorly executed transition from a tender to our boat was something of an epiphany for us.

It wasn’t so much that we had lost our footing and gone in. We know that’s always a possibility, so we were both wearing lifejackets. It was two other factors that really took us by surprise.

After an unnerving incident on his boat, Phil enlisted the help of Steve Nottingham

Firstly, we had never experienced our auto-inflating lifejackets in operation; and secondly, we had no real plan for how to get out of the sea and back onto our boat.

In the event, our lifejackets certainly did their job. The buoyancy they provide is more than adequate but that only served to highlight the fact that our crotch straps were far too loose.

As a result, our jackets rose up above our ears, which is by no means that useful in an emergency. After tightening our cords (which is simply a matter of tugging the forward strap downwards) we realised the only way to board the boat was to deploy the bathing platform ladder. And it was at that point, as I was fumbling in the darkness, that I vowed to sign up for the RYA Sea Survival course.

Taking the plunge is a key part of the course

Lessons learned

The course I opted for was delivered by the Hamble School of Yachting (HSY). This was partly because the timing suited me and partly because they are based in Mercury Marina, just down the road from our Hamble base. Despite its name, HSY also caters for motor boaters.

That said, of the 15 delegates on my course, every one of them except me was a yachtie. Some were on a 17-week Yachtmaster course, some were in training for the annual trans-Atlantic ARC event and some were simply attending in a bid to refresh their sea survival skills.

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In addition to examples of best practice and lashings of common sense, the course syllabus draws heavily on the lessons learnt from past maritime disasters, most notably the 1979 Fastnet race. That year, 15 yachtsmen lost their lives, seven of them after taking to their liferafts.

Subsequently, it was discovered that all seven came from yachts which were still afloat, leading to one of the course’s key takeaways – your boat is your best liferaft. Do not abandon ship unless it’s sinking or is uncontrollably on fire.

Righting and climbing on board is a major mission

Liferaft etiquette

In spite of the advice above, liferafts do still form an integral part of the RYA Sea Survival course and after a couple of hours in the classroom, instructor Steve Nottingham led us to the local swimming pool for a two-hour encounter with an eight-man raft.

Togged up in wet weather gear, we undertook exercises on how to work as a group to deploy, right and board our floating refuge and how to rescue an unresponsive casualty.

Conditions on a raft are far less pleasant than the smiles suggest

It proved to be an obstinate brute (the liferaft that is, not the casualty) which appeared to do everything within its power to repel invaders. Nonetheless, we all eventually managed to scramble aboard into a decidedly unwelcoming environment.

It is said that there is no etiquette on a liferaft and after a few minutes on board, you can see why. Lord alone knows how Dougal and Lynn Robertson, plus their three children and Robin Williams, coped when they spent 38 days in a dinghy and a liferaft back in 1972.

Back to the classroom

After lunch, it was back to the classroom for another intensive session. Such was the level of engagement, with numerous questions and discussions, that we overran by an hour and a half.

Testing the raft in non-emergency conditions is a valuable exercise

To his great credit, our instructor didn’t rush as the clock ticked away, and at the end of the day, receiving our RYA course certificates felt like a genuinely worthwhile achievement. It would have been nice to have had a few more motor boaters around to share the moment, but having finally got the course done, it’s certainly something I would recommend.

Whether you’re a seasoned boater or not, having that first-hand experience of what to do when things go wrong adds a fresh level of awareness and confidence to your boat life that you really can’t put a price on.

This article 'We had no real plan for how to get back onto our boat' - lessons from a man overboard appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Commercial shipping has been moving away from paper charts and onto a plotter-based system called ECDIS for more than 20 years, and the Admiralty’s recent decision to stop printing charts by 2030 indicates the passage of travel for the leisure world as well.

Many in the leisure world have already moved almost exclusively from paper chart based navigation to GPS plotters known as Multi-Function Displays (MFDs). That’s all well and good provided that you have a reliable means of checking that your plotter is as accurate as it appears to be.

Tidal information is a good case in point; we used to scour the Almanac for the day’s tide and height and then calculate what the difference would be at the secondary port we were heading to.

Nowadays a couple of quick touches on the MFD screen and it will give you a real time height or direction at any given place or time. It’s the same with some smartphone- based apps. But how do you know that all these navigational sources are using accurate data in the first place? One simple way to check is to look at the marina ramp or harbour wall to see how much water there actually is compared to what your screen is telling you.

Article continues below…

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Out at sea, you can check the accuracy of the GPS by looking at the ‘accuracy’ information screen. This will show a number based on HDOP: 1 is great, between 1 and 2 is fine, anything above that needs treating with caution. It’s also worth checking the date of the charting system by looking at the data screen. Another simple way to check it is to pass a known point or navigation mark and see if the view from the window matches what the screen is telling you.

If slightly further away from land you can check it by using the MFD’s range and bearing function to a visible object or headland and comparing that with a physical bearing taken using a hand-bearing compass, the boat’s compass or even a compass app on your phone. If that feels a bit simplistic then take three bearings for a three-point fix. Use the MFD to give you three bearings to objects, then compare your compass result with the MFD’s. It only takes seconds and you have confirmed your position and the accuracy of the system.

Some systems now allow you to draw lines on the screen. This has huge advantages, especially if the weather is poor or it’s night-time, when you can easily become overloaded with navigation and helming duties.

These lines can be used as clearing bearings for a difficult approach or by giving the helm a heading and then marking a safety line on the screen which they must not cross or even drawing the transit you want on the screen as a ‘to follow’ guide. Perhaps their greatest aid is to use a heading sensor to assist with a ‘course to steer’ simply by bringing the double headed ‘course over ground’ arrow to align with the intended heading.

MFD or Almanac?

MFDs are far quicker at sourcing information. For instance, the Almanac only shows tidal heights for main ports like Southampton, so for secondary ports such as Warsash you have to do calculations. The MFD gave me the Warsash tidal station with one click.

Check chart dates

Having up to date charts is vital. These Raymarine Lighthouse charts were created on 20/09/2023 and can be relied upon for all but very recent changes. If your plotter was installed a while back and the charts haven’t been updated, it could jeopardise your safety.

Checking accuracy

An easy way to check your plotter’s accuracy is to click on a visible known object and see what its bearing gives. You can then check this bearing by using a handheld compass.

Triple bearing check

If you’re still not sure or want a higher degree of accuracy do three bearing lines on the MFD and check them by hand – almost like a three-point fix but quicker and with no calculations.

Placing lines

Placing lines on the screen for the helmsperson to follow or avoid crossing is very handy. Here I have placed a do-not-cross line in front of the shallows to guide the helm away from this potential danger.

Adding a waypoint

Doing this allows me to improvise a course to steer by keeping the double-headed arrow over the bearing to our waypoint. I’ve also placed a line on the transit we wish to turn in on.

This article How to check your chartplotter’s accuracy appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

verfalls are areas of broken or rougher water caused by tidal currents flowing past or over geographic features. This may be an obvious visible feature, such as a protruding headland or an invisible one such as sudden change of depth in the seabed, especially if that area coincides with a headland. Overfalls can vary dramatically depending on the strength and direction of the wind and tide.

Most overfalls are well marked and easy to see on printed charts but can be hard to spot on electronic charts, particularly on smaller screens or when zoomed out to a smaller scale. The good news is that overfalls tend to be localised to one specific area and some can be avoided altogether by detouring around them.

If you do need to navigate through them, the general principle is to look further ahead and reduce your speed to one at which you can steer around the worst parts.

Article continues below…

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In this episode, we guide you through how best to trim your boat if you are having to helm downwind

Video: How To – Berth single-handed

Leaving or arriving at at a berth is one of the biggest boating challenges. In this video we show you

If your direction of travel is against the direction of the waves, consider tacking through them at an angle of 30/40 degrees either side of dead ahead. This elongates the wavelength and makes them less steep to climb over. If you have trim tabs or outdrive legs, you should also consider using them to push the bow down and allow its sharper v-shape to cut through the waves. This may make for a wetter ride but it should also be a more comfortable one.

If you are running with the waves on your stern or stern quarter then the technique is to keep the bow raised so it climbs over the rear of the wave. Retracting your boat’s trim tabs will help but you can also use the throttle to your advantage.

A bit of extra speed will lift the bow and allow you to sit on the rear of the wave before pushing through it as it breaks. Going too slowly, by contrast, may allow the waves to push your stern around and even risk broaching it (when the bow digs in and the stern pivots around it) so be prepared to counteract this by using the helm to keep your boat running true.

1 – Study paper charts: The paper chart clearly shows the overfalls with a warning of where to expect them and when.

2 – Be wary of digital charts: On this digital version it’s not as easy to spot the overfalls or find out when to expect them

3 – Against the waves: When travelling against the direction of the waves, it helps to trim the bow down so the finer section can cut through them and reduce slamming.

4 – With the waves: When travelling with the waves it pays to raise the bow by removing all trim and using the throttle, so the boat can travel comfortably at speed over any waves it catches up.

5 – Adjust your speed: Here the boat has slowed down, allowing the bow to ‘stuff’ into the back of the wave it is trying to overtake. The solution is either to speed up and raise the bow or travel even slower.

6 – Tacking across the waves: Sometimes it pays to take the waves at an angle rather than running directly into them. By tacking one way then the other, it may allow for a faster, drier ride.

This article How to navigate overfalls in a motorboat: 6 top tips appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Correctly sized and positioned, boat fenders cushion the initial impact and dissipate the kinetic energy of your boat’s momentum, thereby avoiding costly damage to your own or other people’s craft.

The first task with all fenders is to attach them to the boat. Unless you have built-in fender buttons or use aftermarket clips, this usually involves tying the fender lines to a guardrail.

There are two boating knots I find suitable for this; the clove hitch, and the round turn and two half hitches. I always seem to find myself using clove hitches, as they are simple to do and easy to adjust.

However, they do have drawbacks, namely they are prone to slipping unless you add an extra locking hitch to make them secure for the longer term. A round turn and two half hitches is more secure and therefore better suited for occasions when you plan to leave the boat unattended.

They are also easier to tie when attaching them to the base of vertical stanchions, particularly when stretching up from the dock. There’s another good reason for doing this, as the lower the attachment point, the less stress they place on the guardrails.

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So, I usually tie them to the top of the guardrails when coming in to moor but then lower them to the stanchion bases before leaving the boat so they put less strain on the deck joints.

I am also a fan of having the fender closest to the stern hung off a deck cleat using a loop, as this allows for quick deployment and leaves more room on the cleat for stern lines and cross springs. It also means that it’s easy to grab if you need a ‘roving’ fender in a hurry.

The type of fender used is often dictated by how much room you have to stow them on board; cylindrical fenders are easier to stow in lockers and look neater when tied in a row on the stern.

Ball fenders, whilst a pain to stow, offer more protection for awkward stern quarters, and where the shape of the bow makes a vertical fender harder to deploy accurately. Being round, they are also very handy for pivoting the boat on or around to assist with exiting an awkward berth.

How you position your fenders is also vital. For coming onto a pontoon, I like them to be positioned with about a third of their length (around 6in/15cm) below the edge of the object they’ll be touching.

This allows them to roll a bit as you dock without being dislodged. Too high and they can pop out, too low and they can be pushed under the pontoon. For contact with quay walls, or if rafting onto another vessel, you want them to be protecting the widest point of the boat, usually the rubbing strake where the hull and topsides meet.

On a motorboat, the relatively square stern is often the most venerable spot, so position your biggest and best fender there. Then, I generally go for three more cylindrical fenders along the flat mid-sections of the topsides, with a ball fender just as the curve of the bow moves away from the dock.

The ball allows a slightly bolder approach when coming alongside without the aid of thrusters or IPS. They also make leaving with a wind-on situation easier as you can pivot around the ball fender and reverse away.

Lastly, keep them clean, as any dirt, grit or salt they collect will be ground into your hull, wearing away the polish and eventually the gelcoat, causing dull patches where the fenders have been hanging. Fender covers help but will need periodic washing to avoid the same fate.

First published in the January 2024 issue of MBY.

This article How to set up your boat fenders correctly appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

As a result they tend to handle very differently too, so making the switch from something like a single-engined planing sportsboat to a twin-engined semi-displacement cruiser requires a certain amount of readjustment from the skipper too.

So how do you go about doing that? For me, having a clear understanding of what’s happening when and why is vital to grasping what steering and throttle inputs are needed. This particular boat is a perfect example.

It’s a brand new Dale Classic 37 with a semi-displacement hull driven by twin Volvo engines on shafts and rudders. There’s a shallow keel running the length of the hull, which gives it slightly better grip on the water than a full- planing hull, but the tall bow means it’s likely to have a reasonable amount of windage too.

The drive system’s power delivery to the water and how to use it can be split roughly into thirds. Both propellers turn outward in ahead gear and inwards in astern.

However the positioning of the propellers, offset to either side of the centre line, gives one third of the turning ability; put port ahead and it will induce a turn to starboard and vice versa, with a pivot point about a third of the way back from the bow.

Putting that same port engine in astern will produce a similar turning motion by pulling the stern to starboard but this time with a pivot point closer to the stern. It’s a bit like pulling or pushing on one side of a shopping trolley’s handle.

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The second third of our turning ability comes from the ‘paddle wheel’ effect of the large propellers. As well as driving the boat forward or astern, at slow speeds the shape of the blades also paddle the stern of the boat sideways.

In this case both propellers are paddling in the same direction as the offset – outwards in ahead and inwards in astern – helping the boat to turn to starboard when the port engine is in ahead or to port when the starboard engine is in ahead.

The last third comes from the rudders. Motor boat rudders are relatively small (when compared to sailing yachts’) as they are optimised for high-speed cruising efficiency rather than low-speed manoeuvring.

One way to increase the turning effect is by accelerating the flow of water past the rudder with the aid of the propeller in front of it; by throwing water at the rudder in this manner it dramatically increases the rate of turn – a technique that is often forgotten by the person at the helm.

Forget it at your peril, as on a windy day you will struggle to get the bow round and through the wind without using the rudder and the propeller in unison – or a lot more power! Lots of power can work but it also greatly increases the risk of things going horribly wrong.

Just remember that this technique only works in forward gear – when going astern the effect is negligible. The final tool in your locker is a bow thruster, which when used at slow speed (less than 2 knots) helps move the bow in the direction it is pushed but don’t forget that it also makes the stern move the opposite way.

First published in the December 2023 issue of MBY.

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Firstly, store it correctly; older 2-stroke outboard engines can usually be stored at just about any angle, provided the fuel is turned off and the breather is shut, but 4-strokes either need to be stored upright or laid down on the correct side to prevent oil running into the wrong parts of the motor.

Some (but not all) engines have special little lugs to rest on but if in doubt check the owner’s manual as it’s not always obvious. Modern engines like clean, fresh fuel. It sounds obvious but these days petrol contains up to 10% bio-ethanol, which has a shorter shelf life, so try to use Premium E5 rather than regular E10 when filling up.

My 20-year-old 4-stroke does not run reliably on E10 fuel as it gums up the carburettor. Above all don’t expect the fuel to last from one year to the next, as it will go stale over the winter and any fuel left in the engine’s filter, pump and injection system will slowly evaporate and leave behind contaminants, which can clog the system and make starting difficult.

The cure is very simple – before you finish for the season, turn the fuel off at the fuel cock and run the engine until it stops. I am pedantic about outboard maintenance, so I run it dry every time we use the engine, even if we intend to use it again tomorrow.

Plans change and tomorrow’s outing may not happen, leaving me with an engine that won’t start. I try to judge it so that I turn the fuel tap off as I arrive back at the boat and then leave it running at a fast idle until it stops.

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If you are not going to use it for a few weeks, I also like to flush it through with fresh water. Most small outboards are raw water cooled, using sea water to cool the engine and the exhaust.

This means that the salt water, whilst providing cooling, is also slowly corroding your engine’s internals, so flushing it through with fresh water will help prevent this. You can either use muffs clamped over the water inlets attached to a hose or run it in a tank of fresh water.

Most marinas have one but I often take it home and use a garden bin. I like to let it run for a good 10 minutes so that the engine has time to warm through and flush out any salt deposits before turning off the fuel and letting it run dry.

If you are finished for the season it’s also worth draining any fuel from the tank. This can be quite tricky if it’s an integral tank so I try not to fill it too much and either run it dry, tip it out or use a syphon hose to pump it out. I don’t like leaving an engine in an unvented locker with fuel in it as petrol vapour is highly explosive.

Tender engines often run less than 20 hours a season, so barely enough to warrant a full service with an oil and impeller change but lack of use over a longer period can cause other issues, so I use two simple steps to extend its life.

First, when used at sea the engine’s air intake system is likely to ingest salt spray, so I like to add a touch of lubrication to stop further corrosion. Some people use fogging oil, which you spray in the air intake whilst it’s running, but you can achieve almost the same effect by removing the spark plug, adding 2ml of oil down the spark plug hole then pulling it over a couple of times with the starting cord to circulate it through the engine.

Now put the plug back in and cover the air intake with a plastic bag and a rubber band. This prevents damp winter air getting into the engine. Lastly, lubricate the swivel points with a grease gun.

First published in the November 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article Outboard maintenance: How to keep you tender engine in great shape appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.