With Calor discontinuing some of its gas cylinders, Barry Pickthall looks at the options available for boat owners with older vessels
Peter Spreadborough, the marine gas fittings expert at Southampton Calor gas centre (SoCal), recommends replacing the redundant 4.5kg Calor cylinders either with the taller 6kg Calor propane container (red) or the smaller 2.72kg Campingaz R907. Credit: Barry PickthallCalor Gas alternatives for boat owners
The Calor decision to discontinue refilling its Cube, 3.9kg Propane, 4.5kg...
A Plymouth shipwright is attempting to sail through the notorious ice-bound Northwest Passage in a 43ft wooden ‘gentlemen’s cutter’ that he designed himself.
Will Stirling and three crew set sail on 1 June aboard Integrity, a new boat built to an 1880s Victorian cutter design by his team at Stirling & Son.
Their 6,000-mile east-west transit of the Passage began in south-east Canada and will pass through western Greenland, northern Canada to Alaska, where they hope to finish in mid-September.
To put the Northwest...
Sprinkling sand around the rudder is now a recommended deterrence of orca – which have damaged more than 250 yachts and sunk three – in the Strait of Gibraltar since 2020.
A family of orca in the Strait of Gibraltar, between Europe and Africa. CREDIT: Arturo de Frias/AlamyCruisers are being advised to stow bags of sand to protect themselves when sailing off the coast of Spain and Portugal.
Fifteen orcas of the region’s 35-strong population are thought to be responsible for rudder damage, and whilst the cause of...
"I worried the film might be a hagiography of Don McIntyre"... our resident YouTube aficionado reviews The Voyage of Madmen
I write this with my head full of images from the arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne of Michael Guggenberger (Austria), the third and final finisher of the 2022 Golden Globe Race, after runner-up Abilash Tomy (India) winner...
Peter Poland looks at the history of keel design and how the different types affect performance
The Twister is a well-proven example of a generation of production yachts with ‘cutaway’ full keels and keel-hung rudders. Credit: Graham Snook/Yachting MonthlyKeel types and how they affect performance
Having been a boatbuilder for around 30 years until the very early ‘noughties’, I’ve already witnessed – and even taken part in – a lot of changes in the world of yacht design and building.
Yacht design originally...
Berth holders at some Aquavista coastal marinas are angry over boat selling rules changes introduced by management
Aerial view of Dell Quay, with Birdham Pool in the foreground. Credit: Sealand/PPL‘Berth holders are revolting.’ That could be an observer’s view following a clash between the senior management of the Aquavista waterside marina group and its berth holders over the right of berth holders to sell their boats themselves or via independent brokers at coastal marinas in Chichester, Portsmouth and Hull.
Aquavista operates 29...
Rory Church’s much anticipated visit to his beloved boat doesn’t go quite as planned when he discovers evidence of a squatter onboard
Credit: Jake KavanaghHow would you deal with a squatter onboard? Rory Church shares his story
Buckler’s Hard on the Beaulieu River was to be our destination and my wife and I were looking forward to taking our Channel Islands 22...
Jimmy Cornell explains how he dealt with grounding, prop entanglement, collision, lightning strike, a carbon monoxide scare... and more!
Left: Before diving down to tackle a propeller entanglement, Jimmy would suss out the situation using a GoPro camera on a pole. Right: Aventura IV in the height of a stormPerhaps it is inevitable in my long and eventful sailing life that I’ve faced a number of emergency situations. In every case I was able to deal with them successfully.
People ask how I managed to complete all these thousands of...
Both the European Chemicals Agency and the UK's Health and Safety Executive are examining proposals to ban the use of the synthetic chemicals PFAS, which could have implications for the marine industry
PFAS is found everywhere, including in waterproof clothing, but companies, like Musto, are taking steps to find PFAS-free alternatives ahead of any PFAS ban. Credit: MustoThe proposed PFAS ban and the implications for the marine industry
PFAS – Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are found everywhere...
Rupert Holmes looks at options for monitoring of boats that will warn of intruders, change of location and impact from other vessels
Yacht Sentinel 6 remote boat monitoringSome aspects of marine electronics have changed out of recognition over the past few years. Security cameras for boats and remote monitoring are two examples.
With Zest, my partner’s 36ft Rob Humphreys-designed one-off, for...