Red herring

Seaspiracy is righteous rather than right

Restoring Andromeda

Clive Robertson swaps a London media career for four years in a boatyard and restores a wooden gaffer from scratch

Steam-bending a new toe rail

Greg Manning shows you how to laminate and steam a plank so that it can be to be bent across its width

The right look

Peter Poland tests the second-hand Swedish production powerboat that just looks ‘right’ to so many ex-sailors

Fleeing a volcanic eruption

Kia Koropp and family up-anchor and grab their face masks when a cloud of black ash descends on the Grenadines

Make or break situation

How you can get snookered when sailing

Old gaffer to Ushant

Max Liberson suffers concussion, ghostly apparitions and crew desertion on a tiring voyage to France

Fitting a new water tank gauge

Measuring your boat’s water capacity is essential for any cruiser, yet is surprisingly hard to get right, discovers Roger Hughes

Fast track to Yachtmaster

When Covid scuppers Josh Lindley’s gap year, he takes on a demanding 5-month sailing course instead to qualify as a skipper

Weather forecast models and apps

Rupert Holmes unpicks the tech behind the data that underpins all weather apps and highlights his favourite software

Short-handed harbour manoeuvres

Øyvind Bordal has some tips for single- and double-handers

Reach for the pie

A new year: how to get fighting fit for sailing

The long port tack to Antigua

Hermione Pattison’s family endures a tough passage when they leave the US on a tumultuous 1,600-mile beat to windward

Becoming a boat owner

Scott Opie buys a £1,300 trailer-sailer and discovers the ups and downs of sailing

The gospel...

Anyone can find themselves out of their depth

Shipwrecked in a 12ft keelboat

Despite a sinking off Portugal, French sailor Yann Quenet hasn’t been put off his microyacht circumnavigation dreams. John Jameson reports

For the simple pleasure of sailing

Looking for performance, elegance and impeccable manners from a weekender? Then the Rustler 33 is your sort of boat, says David Harding

Low-tide checks

Spring tides offer the chance to check out what lies beneath the usual low water mark

A week on the Thames

Bill Howlett recalls a blissful holiday filled with gymnastics, locks and a very curious cow

The power of observation

Rupert Holmes explains why, despite the advances in forecasting, your own observations on the weather are still vitally important

Return to Ailsa Craig

Andrew Morton and daughter spend an idyllic day island hopping in the Firth of Clyde

Swing keel calamity

Terry Abel repairs his Pandora 700 after a sobering shakedown sail

Refit for colder climes

Richard Rogers and Alice Sanger reconstruct their Morgan Giles 30 for some serious expedition sailing to high latitudes

Ocean racing... who'd do it?

Margaret Norris muses on what it takes to sail around the world – from the first 1968/9 Golden Globe Race to the current Vendée Globe

Keep your cool

Roger Hughes vents his engine room

What to do when lightning strikes

Alex and Daria Blackwell offer some valuable tips for protecting yourself and your boat

Engineless cruising

Follow creek-sailor Tony Smith’s tips for a slower, quieter pace of life

Back to the future

Peter Poland tracks the development of modern British gaff riggers

A boat for our time?

The ‘less is more’ philosophy is beautifully encapsulated in the Hunter Ranger 245, which later became the Channel 245. David Harding reports

Liveaboards In Autumn

Hermione Pattison’s family make the most of the Chesapeake before winter draws in