At Sea

Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!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

Owning 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

A 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

Twisted souls who help out, even when help’s not wanted.Truth to tell, I’m still suffering from a pesky old resentment. It originated several years ago at a marina in South Carolina when a stubborn youngster who was trying to be helpful snatched one of Betty Jane’s bow lines, and despite protestations from yours truly who was

I grew up a few milesfrom a little miningtown in northernNew York State, andon Friday evenings,shortly after the paychecks came out,our family went to town to do ourgrocery shopping. We’d park our Chevyon Main Street to, as mom used to say,“watch the people go by.”Don’t laugh—this customwas the highlight of ourweek. Folks came frommiles around to

The first time I really put boats and music together was when I was a kid just back from Vietnam and my mind hadn’t quite settled down yet. Credence Clearwater Revival was topping the charts with “Proud Mary,” which had a refrain that went, “rollin’... rollin’... rollin’ on the riverrrrrrr.”