Recent content by ProMariner

I find it sad that the owner isn't taking the lead on cleaning up their mess, It's going to end up as an environmental hazard, it'll cost more to clean up the mess once it gets burst open in a storm. The owner expecting the insurance company to come in and sort it out seems a little naive and...

I wouldn't be put off a boat just because it has 12v and 24v, one mans overcomplexity is another mans redundancy. You can usually find good deals on 24v equipment, which is often higher spec than the light duty yachty / caravany 12v equivalents. We already have 12v and 230v, the addition of...

Racing is great, while it's not for everyone, it's one of the few sports anyone of any physical ability, size, and level of fitness can do, from eight years old to eighty plus. You can race, and find a group to race against, everything from a carbon fibre sword weighing less than a space...

Boats used to have their masts removed for winter, maybe yards stopped doing this because masts take up a lot of room, maybe because of damage stepping and unstepping, or cars reversing into the masts in storage. I had my halyards stolen from my mast on a rack once. But when you see this...

There is probably one guy in a luxury car complaining that the Monte Carlo Police Service is stopping him from taking his usual Sunday drive round the bay this weekend. I've been that guy in a RIB tasked with keeping an area of water clear for a world championship, or for big boat races, it's...

You might occasionally get a freak gust that can carry a cloud out a couple of hundred meters, otherwise boats are usually pretty safe. They can't survive for long inside a boat, so even if you find yourself under attack, you can take refuge below. If it's very light winds, overcast, and damp...

The power of its own engines plays a part, but the energy is mainly kinetic energy from the tow. With a dumb barge, like the clip, the barge is going too fast for the tug to control it in a turn, had the tug allowed the barge to slow down before commencing the turn, there would have been less...

For a little background reading, the MAIB report of a similar sized tug doing similar work. MAIBInvReport-10_2016.pdf A good tug has its towing point about midships, to allow the tug to manouver. If you try and tow anything bigger than you with the towline attached to the stern, the thing...

Ex laser sailor, hate rivets in aluminium. I would use machine screws (coated in tefgel) with nuts and washers on the inside. Take the mast step off to access inside the mast, tape a ring spanner to a batten', tape a nut and washer into the ring spanner, and use to put the nut onto the threads...

Very sad, thoughts and prayers. Usually, it's when the tow overtakes the tug, sometimes a back eddy, sometimes the tug runs aground, sometimes the tug gets out of alignment, or suffers a breakdown or control failure. It's more critical when the tow line is short, like it has to be when...

We have a couple of paddle boards we use mainly when it's flat calm, for an evening trip around the bay. They are ridiculously poor at efficient propulsion, compared to a kayak or rowing boat, but they are good full body exercise, it's nice not having to sit on a wet arse all the time like...

Replacement mast = £10000 Softwood bung = £2, I would do the rigging this year, and just inspect / service the seacocks. I've been sinking offshore, and bunged it. I've lost a mast offshore, and jury rigged it. The broken transducer mount was a minor inconvenience, caught it before we got...

It's a good option, have spent a few nights feeling happy at Sanda. But once was there in borderline conditions (6/7 from the SW) and wished I was comfortably tucked up in Campbeltown instead. Part of the pain, is if you have to up anchor and flit into the night, you're on a runaway train to...

Had 3 pairs of Dubarry, First pair were good value and great quality, and more comfortable than carpet slippers, dry for 1 year and lasted 3 years. Sent them back for resoleing, but they came back smaller and didn't fit anymore. Second were from after offshoring production, dry for half a...

UAE, or pretty much anywhere in the Arabian Gulf, can't understand why anyone would choose to go there, it's just the heart of darkness. A place where they'll smile to your face, stab you in the back, and rob you, all at the same time.