Sailing is by far the easiest part of sailing. Once you’ve allowed for deviation, variation, tide, leeway and innumerable other factors such as psychotic skippers like Captain Ahab and neurotic crew like Fletcher Christian, it is in theory possible that – by means of waggling the tiller to and fro and pulling in various ropes and letting them out again – you may, with a little luck, arrive at your destination. Or somewhere similar.
If on the other hand, and through no fault of your own such as faulty dividers, a coffee stain on a chart, melting a plastic spatula while frying eggs (in other words doing exactly what you’ve been told to do, ie making breakfast) you end up being pounded to pieces at the foot of a 200ft cliff on a lee shore, all is not lost – unless it’s your own boat.
Esta historia es de la edición May 2023 de Practical Boat Owner.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2023 de Practical Boat Owner.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar
Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, has reported that a 15m (49ft) yacht sank in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar following interaction with a pod of orca.
No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash
A kill cord and lifejacket are useless unless worn-that's the warning from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), following its investigation into a powerboat crash that killed a 32-year-old woman and five-year-old girl on 2 October 2022.
Multihull sail work
Brush up on multihull sailing skills before heading off on charter with Gavin Le Sueur's guide to spinnaker handling, tacking and gybing
Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them
Jake Kavanagh talks to Sea Start marine engineer Nick Eales about how to avoid the five major causes of an engine breakdown at sea
Sail the Atlantic with strangers
Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that
IZIBoat: simple sailing
Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft
30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT
From tall ships to small dinghies, you needn't own a boat to sail. Ali Wood looks at the options, and how skippers can also find crew
Boats for restoring under £20,000
Duncan Kent picks the best sub-35ft sail and power boats to look for when aiming to undertake a restoration on a budget
Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500
For low cost traditionally-styled GRP trailer-sailers, consider the Foreland and the Otter available at bargain basement prices
Playing with coloured sails
Maintaining an hourglass-shaped balloon and ratcheting up the log numbers
