by Simon Jollands | Boat Handling, Communications, Crewing skills, Emergencies, Navigation, Preparation, Yacht ownership
Safety at sea is not as simple as just spending money adding shiny new emergency equipment such as liferafts, danbuoys, distress flares, EPIRBs and so on. While these items are important, it’s better to view them as an insurance that offers a potential lifeline when...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership
As their name implies, dripless shaft seals are designed to completely stop water from entering a boat’s hull via the stern tube. There are two main types of dripless seals known as face seals and lip seals which many boat manufacturers now fit to production...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership
The term “stern gear” encompasses propellers, propeller shafts, shaft couplings, rudder tubes, rudder assemblies, propeller shaft brackets, propeller shaft seals, stern tube assemblies, bearings and more. The stern gear of a boat needs to be checked...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership
Boat owners who grew up sailing boats without engines often treat the idea of boat engine maintenance with a fair amount of trepidation, whether inboard or outboard varieties. This trepidation has a tendency to go up a notch when the subject of maintaining an...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation, Yacht ownership
Some boat engine breakdowns are unavoidable but those caused by lack of maintenance or regular checks can be avoided. Failure to maintain an engine’s cooling system is a well known example of this, so it is well worth spending time checking over the cooling...