Subscribe
Author Articles
PMY Senior Editor:
Bill’s career incorporates a wide range of experience in both journalism and boating. He began his writing career in 1972 as a general-assignment reporter and columnist for the Watertown Daily Times in Watertown, New York. Later he went on to work as a feature writer and reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. Read more here...
Twin-inboard boathandlers! Here’s how to improve your docking visibility.
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted November 2010 | Add a CommentLook Ma, No Wires!There are two basic systems for maneuvering twin-engine vessels today. One’s conventional and somewhat old-fashioned—you simply use a couple of gear shifts to engage your propellers, sometimes in conjunction with a bow and/or stern thruster. The other is newer and decidedly slicker—you use a
Read Article
At Sea: October 2010
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted October 2010 | Add a CommentWheeeeeeee!!!!!!How Betty Jane became Florida's fastest trawler.After the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, it soon became obvious that vast quantities of toxic dispersants were being used to emulsify the errant crude whooshing up from the ocean’s floor. Moreover, the stuff bypassing the dispersants was
Read ArticleShaft Brush Boogie
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted September 2010 | Add a CommentA cheap and easy way to prevent costly prop damage.
Read Article
Mega Shift
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted August 2010 | Add a CommentPrincess and Viking Sport Cruisers launch a superyacht series and do some re-badging.Not quite 15 years ago, I sea-trialed the first Viking Sport Cruiser to hit the States, a sleek mid-ranger with euro-style cachet and lotsa performance pizazz. As the day unfolded, I remember feeling increasingly mystified about the “strategic alliance” behind the V52 Express’ Anglo-American
Read Article
PMY TRIES... Nautic Air
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted July 2010 | Add a CommentIt was an interesting suggestion, really. Some weeks before, Heath Schuman of Nautic Air had UPS’d me an experimental version of his portable NA20 air purifier to temporarily try out on my trawler Betty Jane. I’d placed the thing on the dining table in Betty’s saloon straight off, plugged it into a nearby 110-volt outlet, and after securely closing all
Read Article
A Sirius/XM Development
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted May 2010 | Add a CommentA Sirius/XM DevelopmentFinally—dependable, detailed, real-time weather info onboard.Sirius/XM services offer weather station and buoy reports (left), animated frontal boundaries (middle), and NexRad (right).Years ago, during one of the economic downturns that regularly plague the oil-and-gas business, I
Read Article
Battery Blasphemy?
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted April 2010 | Add a CommentA contrarian take on battery replacement All batteries have terminals and cable connectors that need to be periodically cleaned, preferably with a battery brush. I’m guessing I’m in the same boat as a few other folks these days. I’ve got three marine batteries salted away aboard my trawler Betty Jane...
Read Article
Glorious Imperfection
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted April 2010 | Add a CommentOwning up to your seafaring mistakesIt was refreshing, really. My wife and I were spending a winter Saturday at Port St. Joe Marina on Florida’s northern Gulf Coast with a merry band of people who were either cruising The Great Loop or planning to do so soon. The Great Loop, of course, is a circumnavigation of the eastern half of the United States via
Read Article
Vinyl Fever
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted March 2010 | Add a CommentIt was astonishing, really—the near-total absence of useful information on the Internet concerning the renovation and/or replacement of marine vinyl cushions. Sure, there were plenty of canvas and upholstery shops listed and some were even conveniently near where I keep my boat. But the related Web sites were pretty unsophisticated and, when I telephoned them, the results were often less than
Read Article
Clock Work
By Capt. Bill Pike | Posted February 2010 | Add a CommentA home workshop project evokes a little nautical nostalgia.I wasn’t sure what the trouble was, really. For some unknown reason, the forged-brass clock that usually hangs near Betty Jane’s lower helm station had started chiming with diminished fervor. Instead of a bright ting, ting, it was going tunk, tunk. So I removed the screws holding it in place
Read Article
Brokerage Listings Powered by BoatQuest.com
