When a boatbuilder replaces its best-selling model, it must ensure that her replacement not only incorporates all of the positive features of her predecessor, but surpasses them. Grand Banks has...
Not your average boat test. Not by a long shot. Way back in 2001, off the coast of California, I'd sea trialed a raised-pilothouse motoryacht that would set a new course for Grand Banks. Called the...
There's nothing like a boat-show breakdown: big guys swinging giant hammers knocking out the massive pins that connect the floating docks and staffers in single-outboard-powered skiffs with bow-...
There’s nothing half as exciting as being aboard a big, beautiful cruising boat in South Florida in the springtime with the sun coming up when it’s still cold up north. You feel privileged,...
Grand Banks dealer Jay Bettis is a tall, lean fellow. And, although he's one of Seabrook, Texas' tried-and-true old-timers, with a waterfront operation that's been going strong since 1973, he's about...
Ever wonder where your marina fees go—maintenance, repairs, maybe a new dock cleat every now and then? In Hawaii, about $100,000 in docking fees went to lining the wallet of a state boating official, according to police.
A few weekends ago, I was elbow deep in Betty Jane's annual oil-change (a day-long extravaganza that usually entails, besides the oil deal, a total swap-out of coolant and filters) when I heard something strange and seemingly far off.
A bagpipe? Playing The Marine's Hymn?
On the wall of my office, right above my desk where I have to look at it every day, hangs a large black-and-white photograph of a ship. It lends a nautical ambience to what would otherwise be a cold and sterile space. But this isn’t a photo of just any ship. It’s of the RMS Titanic, as she’s leaving Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage, almost exactly 100 years ago.
The picture has been with me for a long time and adorned many offices because it has been a constant reminder of two rules that have been important to me, not only in magazine publishing but in life: Expect the unexpected, and you’re never as smart as you think you are.
If you’re headed to Miami this week to buy a boat, you know everybody and their brother has plenty of advice on how to spend your hard-earned money. We say: Why bother? All that planning and careful consideration don’t sound like fun. Just go—it will all work out for the best. Here are five ways to waste your time at a boat show: