Sailing Skills

Expert on Board: Seamanship in small harbours
Safe mooring tactics and tips from Ken Endean for havens on exposed coasts

Learning Curve: Coping with engine failure in strong tides
Mechanical problems leave one family sailing in a 7-knot tide with an unreliable engine

Any Questions?
• Where can I buy a Tudor axe? • Do VAT rules in Europe vary? • Why did my stainless chainplates corrode? • Why the safety forms?

Pitfalls of yacht registration explained
The bureaucracy can seem arcane and confusing. The Cruising Association explains the options

Cruising

‘Sailing round Britain save me from PTSD’
When ex-Royal Marine Chris Craven was hit by post-traumatic stress, he sailed his way free

Caledonian Canal tips & transit guide
Maeve Bell shares her tips on the short cut across Scotland through this monumental canal

Anchorages
Jim Mottram stops for a quiet lunch in Tazones, northern Spain
Port Quin, Cornwall: Dag Pike shares an idyllic spot to lie afloat

Cruising Albania’s rugged coast
Sailing from Greece, Chris Smith and Cocky Taanman find a warm welcome on an inhospitable coast

Explore offshore reefs
Using three-dimensional pilotage skills, Ken Endean finds lovely anchorages in Chausey amid a jumble of rocks

Cruising log
Readers share their adventures large and small in the Netherlands, Norway, the Clyde and a wintry Thames Estuary

Boats and Gear

New boat test: Elan GT5
We got the first test of this eye-poppingly innovative yacht from Elan. Graham Snook discovers her appeal

New Gear
• Multi-purpose downwind sail • Battery monitor  • Independent AIS • Emergency laddder • Easy-service water filter • Plotters

A better way to fit a storm jib
Before setting off to cross the Pacific, John Marley found a smart way to rig a storm jib on a sloop

Tried and tested
• Forward-looking sonar • Weather sensor