An experienced boater mucks up a fancy meal.
I’ve been fascinated with charts since I was a youngster. When I look at one I see adventure, places where no one else goes. So it’s all the...
The further adventures of our sailors-turned-powerboaters.
We were taking our first cruise after making the switch from sail to power. We were certainly nervous about handling our new Marlow 57...
How do life-long cruising sailors switch from a much-loved Beneteau 423 to a Marlow 57E motoryacht after just three months of boat shopping? We aren’t entirely sure ourselves, but we do know...
There are no Jetways at the Antigua airport. As soon as the doors of my plane opened, I plunged directly into the warm Caribbean air. A man sang greetings, and a woman distributed plastic cups of...
Still WatersAmong Alligators and the Ghosts of Mad Men on the Mighty St. Johns.The Betty Jane pushes up the St. Johns to ports unknown, at least to a lifetime Yankee like me.Late last summer an email...
The author (in the green shirt) and his brother Mike. “Seasick?” I asked in a tone that mixed sympathy with infernal edginess. My brother Mike looked straight back at me and, as if the possibility of...
A Rolls-Royce for the water, complete with the gorgeous wooden dash.
England is probably best known for Big Ben, The Beatles, and of course, the Queen.
But the region of Northamptonshire offers...
It is often said that couples who play together, stay together. My parents, for example, have been happily married for nearly 40 years. And while it would be a gross overstatement to claim that it...
My nephew Liam has always been what you might call an old soul. He is as comfortable with my friends as he is with his own, speaks multiple languages, practices the piano without argument, and...
Some spots like sunny San Diego will begin welcoming more yachts in the mega size range.Something started bugging me shortly after I started working here more than a decade ago: Given the variety of...
PMY has had a different company boat every year since 1988—most christened Office Ours—and every year they get a little bigger and a little more luxurious. In 2005 we added a twist....
At some point every skipper dreams of making a long offshore passage—maybe across an ocean, to paradisiacal tropical islands, or to the Arctic. But when dreams close in on reality, mundane...
Running a sporty planing boat at dead slow ahead for 23 hours nonstop?! I know it sounds plumb crazy, but I'm hoping that once you understand my strategies and the results, you'll conclude, "Yeah,...
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: