The first thing some people do when they buy a new piece of equipment is study the manual. Others fall back on the old maxim of not reading the instructions until all else has failed. Many of today’s …
Easy on the tide
Novice skippers have lots to think about, but if secondary port tidal heights are making you doubt whether you are ready to take a yacht to sea yet, stop worrying! Remember for now that only in …
Look out for the cook
Safety equipment doesn’t always come pre-packed and labelled with an MCA sticker. More accidents happen in the galley of the average cruising yacht than ever occur from crew tumbling over the side ─ …
Bleeding obvious
You don’t have to be a mechanical genius to know that if you run out of diesel or the engine stops because of a clogged filter, you are probably going to have to bleed it to get it going again. Most …
Creative courtesy flags
It’s well-known that all yachts must fly the ensign of a nation they are visiting from their starboard cross-trees (spreaders to us). However, if you’re cruising an area with a strong ethnic presence, …
All hands to the plotter
Running a plotter isn’t all that hard. Even if some of your crew aren’t officially navigators, teach them at least to use the plotter as a common-sense visual tool. Show them how to pan and zoom and …
