Marine Engines – Antifreeze Afloat

Marine Engines – Antifreeze Afloat

Marine Engines - Antifreeze afloat – all about marine cooling systems. Antifreeze used to be simple – you just mixed the lurid green stuff 50:50 with water and chucked it in. You changed it every two years if you were feeling indulgent and the world was a simple, kindly place… Then it all got complicated, and it really is complicated now. In the name of extended service intervals the manufacturers got all fancy and started messing with antifreeze. Antifreeze basically has two components, three if you count the water. The actual non-freezing quality of antifreeze comes courtesy of glycol, either…
Read More
Marine Engines – Raw Water Pump

Marine Engines – Raw Water Pump

Marine Engines - A short video on the raw water pump. The raw water pump is the most failure prone part of any marine engine. Raw water pump failure can result in failure of the engine through overheating, it can cause the exhaust pipe - and thence the boat to burn - these are not good things. Learning how a raw water pump works is an important part of any sailors education.    
Read More
Sailing Etiquette – Life Skills for Yotties

Sailing Etiquette – Life Skills for Yotties

Yacht Etiquette… or what your mother would have taught you - if you had grown up on a boat… There is no great mystery to yacht etiquette - like all sailing matters it is essentially common sense - plus a spot of respect for boat and skipper. Many people come to sailing via corporate events or sailing school courses which set a poor example in terms of respect shown to the vessel. A privately owned vessel is someone’s pride and joy – things will go better if you treat it appropriately. An excellent mind-set is to think of the yacht…
Read More
Winter Sailing

Winter Sailing

Cold Weather Sailing Tips... We sail the Solent all year round and over the years have developed strategies to ensure cold weather sailing is thoroughly worthwhile. This article is about preparing yourself, crew and boat for winter sailing in sheltered waters. Extending the season to include the shorter, colder days makes a lot of sense if the experience can be made agreeable. It does require some planning and expense but the rewards are huge. Sparkling winter days on empty seas can be the best of all sailing. No crowds, no plonkers - just you and your crew on a well…
Read More
Know Your Boat

Know Your Boat

  This article originally appeared in Sailing Today magazine as Blue Water Diesels - an article about preparing a boat and her crew for long distance cruising... Man has long been inclined to head off over the horizon and explore. The motivation and the risks have changed over time - today it is about adventure and fulfilment rather than empire building and wealth creation - and your crew probably won’t get scurvy and teredo navalis isn't going to compromise your yacht. Technology has mitigated many of the challenges faced by mariners of old and has made passage making easier and…
Read More
Yacht Cooling Systems

Yacht Cooling Systems

All about Antifreeze Afloat...   The use of antifreeze in yacht cooling systems used to be simple – you just mixed the lurid green stuff 50:50 with water and chucked it in. You changed it every two years if you were feeling indulgent and the world was a simple, kindly place… Then it all got complicated, and it really is complicated now. In the name of extended service intervals the manufacturers got all fancy and started messing with antifreeze. Antifreeze basically has two components, three if you count the water. The actual non-freezing quality of antifreeze comes courtesy of glycol,…
Read More