by Simon Jollands | Boat Handling, Crewing skills, Preparation
Essential yacht tender safety – the dangers inherent in using a dinghy to get ashore from a moored or anchored yacht are all too easily underestimated. A recent experience caused me to have a serious think about essential yacht tender safety. Recently I faced...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance, Preparation
Skippers need to have a basic knowledge of boat electrics, to avoid potential problems and to be able to solve them when they happen. The basic principles are easy enough to grasp, but as I have discovered, the challenges involved in rewiring a boat are more...
by Simon Jollands | Boat Handling, Boat Maintenance, Emergencies, Preparation, Yacht ownership
Safety equipment is an important part of boat preparation and it is advisable for all pleasure craft skippers to check their vessel is properly equipped. Below are some useful pleasure craft safety equipment recommendations from the UK’s Royal Yachting Association...
by Simon Jollands | Crewing skills, Navigation, Preparation
What are the differences between the two IALA buoyage systems, IALA Region A and IALA Region B, and where are they used? As recently as the 1970s there were more than 30 buoyage systems in use around the world. This caused confusion and accidents and it was after...
by Simon Jollands | Communications, Emergencies, Preparation
There are many ways to communicate with others at sea. What makes the VHF DSC radio the best form of short range communication and why is it recommended? The controls of a basic VHF DSC radio There are many ways to communicate with others at sea, ranging from signal...