Practical Boating
The trusty barometer which has graced boat bulkheads for centuries is now gathering dust in favour of laptop computers and weather predictions from the World Wide Web
With a few basics sorted before you embark on the big tow, the trip becomes more comfortable for all involved
The new range of Projecta Intelli-Wave inverters safely powers household appliances when boating, camping or off-roading
February 1 marked the end of the line for the analogue 121.5MHz EPIRBs – and a new, exclusive era for the digital 406MHz EPIRBs. If you still don’t know what that means, and why it’s important, you’d better read on.
Bars are common around the country at harbours and river mouths – and for boaties, they can be extremely dangerous. Tackling one demands careful planning.
A day trip for two fishermen nearly turned tragic when their boat sank in the Manukau Harbour. Nobody knew where they were – and lucky for them, Fate stepped up in the form a passing boat.
Today’s fuel prices are forcing many boaties to look for alternative methods of battery charging – ones that don’t use fuel. Scott Fratcher explains how to build your own wind/trolling generator to produce “cost-free” battery charging.
Yachts have to lower their masts for all kinds of reasons. Maybe the mast step is corroded or the masthead has failed. But what do you do if you’re in a remote location, and no crane is available?
An innocent cruise on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour turned into a nightmarish adventure for a party of boaties when the vessel began flooding. A basic, pre-launch check would have spared the agony.
Most yacht and launch owners have a reasonable grasp of securing their vessels to a dock or jetty. Spring lines prevent the moored boat from surging forward or aft – but they are also useful for coming alongside or leaving a dock when space is tight.
When the worst happens and you desperately need to launch a flare to attract attention, Sod’s Law says it will be cold, raining, blowing a gale and pitch dark – and everyone’s panicking. Not the ideal time to work out how to operate the damned thing!
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