The Boatyard Book - a boat owner's guide to yacht maintenance, repair and refitting - Safe Skipper Boating & Safety Afloat Apps for phones & tablets

“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 professionals – or even my ability to have a go.” – Yachting Monthly

The Boatyard Book is a fully illustrated 224 page practical reference manual that provides advice for boat owners on planning and carrying out annual maintenance, repairs, upgrades and refits of sailing yachts and motorboats, up to 20 metres in length.

What does caring for a boat involve?

Boat care requires understanding the importance of knowing how and when to carry out boat inspections in order to troubleshoot problems before they develop into major issues.

Boat care also entails understanding when and how to carry out essential annual maintenance tasks. If major repairs and refits become necessary, a knowledgeable boat owner with greater understanding of what needs to be done will be in a better position to remain in control of the process and be confident when dealing with boatyard managers, professionals and suppliers of services and parts. All these aspects of boat care are dealt with in The Boatyard Book.

What is covered in the book?

Beginning with all the information owners will need to care for their boat, including how to budget and plan tasks to be done through the year, The Boatyard Book goes on to help them choose the best boatyard for their needs, then provides essential how-to reference material and ideas for a comprehensive range of projects large and small to be carried out ashore.

There’s advice and tips from boatyard owners and managers, specialists and surveyors, as well as from the author’s own 25 years experience of boat ownership, all fully illustrated with step-by-step photos and illustrations.

Topics covered in the book include:

laying up
hull and deck care
mast and rigging
sail care
engines
electrics
maintenance of plumbing and gas systems
more complex projects, including re-wiring a boat, overhauling an engine, how to treat osmosis and how to go about a complete refit

Expert tips and advice

The inclusion of advice and tips from experts provides very valuable information for owners, whether they are hands-on DIY fanatics or are happy to pay others to do the work for them. The advice given will help owners to save money when any work needs to be done. This will apply to those who keep their yachts abroad as well as closer to home.

The Boatyard Book includes case studies of real life experiences, not just step-by-step instructions on “how to” but clearly demonstrating pitfalls, difficulties encountered along the way and how problems were solved and the work finally completed. This will help owners to manage their expectations, to expect certain types of work to be more difficult and take longer than they anticipate and help them decide whether they are able to undertake the work themselves or better advised to call in the professionals.

This is a book to be kept at the yard, or on the boat, and used time and time again by those who are either happy to keep things ticking along with the minimum of effort or by those who want to get stuck into bigger projects.

A lifelong sailing enthusiast, Simon Jollands has filmed many major sailing events as well as producing and directing several sea safety films for the RNLI. He is the co-founder of Safe Skipper Apps and is author of The Boatyard Book, Safe Skipper and Reeds Lights, Shapes and Buoyage Handbook, all published by Adlard Coles.

See more and buy the book here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/boatyard-book-9781472977106/

The Boatyard Book: A boatowner’s guide to yacht maintenance, repair and refitting: Amazon.co.uk: Simon Jollands: 9781472977106: Books

Product details

Published	02 Sep 2021
Format	Flexiback
Edition	1st
Extent	224
ISBN	9781472977106
Imprint	Adlard Coles
Illustrations	Colour photography and diagrams throughout
Dimensions	246 x 189 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

How a propeller works

Have a look around any boatyard and you will notice quite a variety of propellers – some have two blades, some have three and others have four or more. While most propellers are completely rigid some have blades that fold.

Safe Skipper – crew management tips

Effective crew briefings are a vital part of the good on-board communication that helps everything to run smoothly on a sailing vessel at sea, whether it is cruising or racing.

Boat maintenance log

Keeping a boat maintenance log is an ideal way of reminding owners what needs to be done to a boat and when. Read on for some tips,...

How to tackle osmosis

Many owners of old GRP boats live in fear of osmosis, but what exactly is osmosis and what can be done about it? Osmosis comes about...

Stress cracks on GRP boats

It is quite common to find cracks in the gelcoat when inspecting the deck and superstructure of a GRP boat. It is important to differentiate between a gelcoat crack and a scratch.

Feeling anxious at sea

Some people feel anxious at sea. Will they be seasick? What if they get caught in a violent storm? Could the boat...

Peer to Peer yacht charter – How can you monetize your boat?

There is a growing trend in peer to peer yacht charter. How does it work? People already rent rooms, cars and bikes from one...

Leaking decks

Leaking decks are perceived as a nuisance by some boat owners, but if leaks are ignored a much more serious situation may well be developing, especially in the case of boats with balsa or plywood deck cores. So deck leaks do need to be investigated and dealt with.

Medical Emergency at Sea

How to deal with a medical emergency afloat If you are planning a boating trip, it is important to have at least one...

Sector lights, directional lights, leading lights – how do they differ?

Sector lights, directional lights and leading lights guide vessels safely through hazardous waters or narrow channels at...

Boat interior inspection and checks

While a boat is ashore, the most critical interior checks to carry out are those that concern the safety of the boat. This entails the integrity of all through-hull fittings and seacocks, the gas system and the electrical system.

Points of Sailing

The course on which a boat is sailing can be described by its angle to the wind, not to be confused with its compass...

Boat engine cooling systems

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 system both when the boat is ashore and afloat.

Jester Challenge 2022 – Sailing single handed from Plymouth UK to the Azores: Part 4 – Navigation

Jester Challenge – A modern experiment in old-fashioned self-reliance, self sufficiency, and personal responsibility. This is the fourth of a 10-part post where solo sailor, Bernie Branfield, shares his first hand account of his single-handed, 2022 Jester Challenge, from Plymouth, UK to the Azores, in his 26′ Invicta Mk2, Louisa.

Antifouling for leisure boats – Part 2

To prepare for antifouling, as soon as your boat has been lifted out and pressure washed, you need to check all the surfaces of the hull below the waterline, remove any remaining barnacles and check for blisters.

Boat surveys

A full boat survey assesses the condition of the hull, mechanical gear and means of propulsion. The survey is carried out with the boat...

Safety Equipment Checklist for Boats

Safety Equipment Checklist for Boats Liferaft line attached The liferaft will not work unless the trigger line is...

Jester Challenge 2022 – Sailing single handed from Plymouth UK to the Azores: Part 2 – Weather

Jester Challenge – A modern experiment in old-fashioned self-reliance, self sufficiency, and personal responsibility. This is the second of a 10-part post where solo sailor, Bernie Branfield, shares his first hand account of his single-handed, 2022 Jester Challenge, from Plymouth, UK to the Azores, in his 26′ Invicta Mk2, Louisa.

Nautical paper charts – a reminder of the basics

The nautical chart is an indispensable tool for navigation. A chart is a graphic representation of an area of the sea which might also include coastlines, estuaries and islands. All cruising leisure boats should carry up-to-date paper charts.

Boat interior varnishing

Most boat interiors have a combination of varnished and painted surfaces including solid wooden joinery, plywood laminates with thin hardwood veneers and glass reinforced plastic. When making your assessment of what you are going to do, bear in mind that the varnishing process consumes a lot of time, especially if the existing surfaces are in poor shape.