When it comes to selecting the best women’s sailing jacket, the first thing you will want to do is to weigh up the sort of sailing you are likely to be involved in. Women’s sailing jackets can vary greatly in terms depending on planned usage so it’s really important to…
Jeans and waterproof trousers may be enough for summer daysails, with thermal leggings under your trousers for windier days, but for anything more you really do need to consider picking up a pair of the best women’s waterproof pants, trousers of salopettes to properly keep you warm and dry. However,…
While most of us buy our boats for the enjoyment they provide out on the water, it’s an inescapable fact that virtually every leisure craft spends far more time on its berth than it does out at sea. It follows, therefore, that its dock lines – the ropes used to…
Anchoring – the act of holding something in place – is a simple of enough concept in itself. However, when it comes to securing the position of a vessel bobbing around in the ocean in a variety of sea states ranging from millpond to hostile, the subject is worthy of…
In many ways, Bluetooth has been manna from Heaven for the boating community. No longer is it necessary to struggle routeing wires from the stereo to the speakers, Bluetooth does away with that at a stroke. Just stream from your smartphone, tablet or other device instead. Depending on who you…
It’s not hard to find a sailing jacket that can serve multiple purposes, but if you want complete protection from spray in high temperatures, combined with excellent breathability, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat the Zhik INS100. Designed in Australia, where the mercury is normally on the right side of 20C,…
When it comes to sailing shoes, there are two directions you can go in – either do your best to keep the water out with a pair of waterproof boat shoes, or embrace it with a pair of lightweight sailing shoes. Zhik’s Fuze sailing shoes fall very firmly into the…
The knife. It’s one of the oldest and most valuable tools known to man, and for good reason. For, as our Bronze Age forebears discovered 4,000 years ago, with the right knife at your disposal a huge number of otherwise impossible tasks can be accomplished simply, quickly and efficiently. The…
‘Give ’em enough rope…’ You know the rest; it’s an expression that’s been around for more than 350 years. But there’s one place this time-honoured truism doesn’t hold true, and that’s on a boat, where not only do you need enough rope but also rope of the correct type and…
Over the last decade or so, there has been more and more emphasis on sailing kit designed for women, in particular women’s boating shoes. This is great news as, while some pieces of kit such as lifejackets are reasonably acceptable in unisex form, women wearing traditional leather deck shoes designed…
You can’t beat a good day’s trolling, (on a boat, that is, not the web), unless, of course, your trolling motor lets you down and you’re left huffing and puffing and faced with a long and strenuous paddle home. In such cases, the trolling motor battery is almost invariably singled…
For many in the boating community, boat solar panels represent something of a holy grail. They are, after all, the gift that keeps on giving, aren’t they? Free power forever, (or many years anyway), coupled with zero running costs – what could possibly be better than that? All you have…
‘Lost at Sea’ might be a great name for a video game, but in real life the prospect of losing one’s bearings on the ocean can be pretty scary indeed. Chartplotters can – and sometimes do – fail, (it’s happened to this writer), leaving you alone with a compass and,…
If ever there was an unsung hero in the world of boating, it surely has to be the humble fender. Ubiquitous and largely maintenance-free, fenders dangle fearlessly in the face of adversity, protecting the valuable and vulnerable hulls of their owners from miscalculations at the helm and the wayward actions…
It’s no understatement to say that drones have changed the moving image landscape in a more dramatic way than any other product since the video camera was invented more than 100 years ago. Why? Because a drone removes the limitations of fixed, or largely fixed, viewpoints at a stroke by…
When planning to fit speakers they need to be located at a safe distance from compasses and from any sensitive on board electronics. A distance of at least 1.1m (3ft 8in) is usually required. I’ve come across more than one boat whose speakers had to be moved after the cut outs…
We’re not suggesting for a moment that boating in the wet will result in trench foot, but anyone who’s been on the receiving end of a good soaking at sea will know just how unpleasant cold, soggy toes can be! So a good pair of waterproof boat shoes is essential.…
Every marina has one – that sad and sorry looking, covered-in-algae-and-seagull-poo boat tied up forlornly at the end of the pontoon. It doesn’t necessarily mean the vessel is unloved, but it does show it is not being cared for properly. In many instances, especially when it comes to smaller craft,…
But happily even the most irresponsible grown-up always seems to insist on any kids in their charge being fitted with a personal floatation device of one kind or another. And therein, with numerous options to choose from, lies a good question: What sort of kit should you buy to keep…
Prime Day can be thought of as another Black Friday. It’s a 48-hour flash sale from Amazon, where, for two days only, consumers can grab a whole host of bargains. In previous years Prime Day has not always offered a vast array of sailing-specific kit, but this has been gradually…
