Features

• A sort of paradise
  Peter Bonsey and his wife Sylvia crossed the Atlantic looking for a landfall far from the madding crowds

• Seeking sanctuary
  Julian Mannering faced a family mutiny aboard his 30ft yacht when a spell of bad weather put the dampeners on a summer cruise

• Mirabella V: launching
  a luxury leviathan James Jermain checks out the vital statistics of Mirabella V, the tallest boat ever built and the largest sloop

• Rallying call of the East
  Toby Hodges sails on two of the 49 yachts on the East Mediterranean Yacht Rally and has cocktails with the president

• The Ghost of Christmas Past
  YM cartoonist Mike Peyton confesses that his annual Christmas cruise is not always plain sailing

• Destinations: London
  Dick Durham discovers the London Boat Show?s new home at ExCel nestles between traditional East End coster mongers and the ?shock of the new? ? Canary Wharf
  PLUS: your free pull-out chart of the River Thames

• A family?s first boat Survey! Survey! Survey!
  Paul Jeffes lines up four boats for a family of seven with a budget of £55,000

• London Boat Show 2004
  New gear and new boats in a new venue: we preview the biggest ever UK boat show
  PLUS: your free pull-out ExCel guide

• The damp busters
  How to banish moisture and keep your boat dry over winter ? Simon Jinks reports

• Taming the diesel workhorse
  Toby Hodges signs up for the RYA?s one- day diesel engine trouble-shooting course

• Radar on target
  Mike Balmforth examines the safety advantages of radar target enhancers

Sailing Skills

• Mastering exam nerves
  Despite 40 years? sailing experience Richard Morley still got the jitters when it came to taking his RYA Yachtmaster

• Sailing Quiz
  Answer the questions correctly and you could win £200 worth of books from Fernhurst

• Yachtmaster Class
  Tom Cunliffe describes a windy night when lateral thinking helped reef a boat with a jammed headsail furling system

• Better Boat Handling
  Simon Jinks on the art of anchoring ? the first of a two-part article

• Any Questions?
  VAT, EC directives and gun law
  

On Test

• Dehler 34
  The elegant but powerful new Dehler design is given a run for its money by James Jermain

• Chart plotters
  Mid-range colour chart plotters offer significant advantages over traditional charts as James Jermain discovers

• Be seen on screen
  Radar target enhancers by Mike Balmforth

Every Month

• Next month/YM Books
  Sneak preview of next month?s YM

• Editorial
  The true mark of good seamanship?

• On Watch
  Wanderer III almost wrecked on reef

• Readers? Letters
  Busy shipping lanes and radar; French Customs; RNLI rescues and a yacht delivery disaster

• This Cruising Life
  When it comes to finding gear, Libby Purves says you reap what you stow

• YM subscriptions
  Save up to 30% each month

• Blue Water Letter
  Rod Heikell heads west through the Med with shipmate and bride-to-be Lu, in readiness for the Atlantic and a wedding in Antigua

• A-Z of Second-hand Boats
  The last of the S?s with Sweden Yachts, as well as Tamarisks and Tradewinds

• Around the Coast
  Local news round-up from our coastal correspondents nationwide

• Property
  Living with a sea view at Brighton, Bude and Bodanna near St Ives in Cornwall

• Confessional
  The latest Certificates of Absolution