Simon Jollands

The Boatyard Book – a boat owner’s guide to yacht maintenance, repair and refitting

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership

“This well-presented volume is a guide to making the best use of boatyard time and facilities by careful planning and good organisation…his examples and explanations helped reduce the fear factor and should improve my conversations with...

Boat batteries

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership

It is important for all boat skippers to have a basic knowledge of boat electrics and this includes understanding how batteries work. Under-sized battery banks are one of the key factors behind power failure at sea, as well as the premature failure of batteries. It’s...

Boat electrics inspection checklist

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership

With the boat ashore, here are some recommendations for carrying out a boat owner electrics inspection. Safety is always paramount so remember to do the checks with the batteries off. Wearing a head torch helps, make notes as you go and only tackle a repair if you are...

Boat electrics

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership

All boat owners should have a basic knowledge of electrics, both to avoid encountering electrical problems at sea and to stand a chance of solving them should they occur. It goes without saying that the marine environment is bad news for electric systems and all their...

Propeller care and maintenance

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership

Propellers are complicated and repairs should be done by specialists but owners can carry out checks and some routine maintenance themselves when the boat is in the boatyard. A propeller is critical to a boat’s performance, fuel consumption and ride, so it...