From Ship’s Chandlery to Editor: A Maritime Career Forged in Annapolis In 1990 I returned from a gap year after high school, drifting from one friend’s couch to another and searching for direction. That year I’d learned to sail with my father—the sailboat arrived with his new marriage—and the hobby quickly became an obsession. My … Read more

Family Memories Made on the Water Ask a group of boaters about their favorite family memories and you’ll rarely hear them start by naming a specific boat. Instead they recall the child who caught their first fish, the teenager who learned to dock, or an unplanned stop in a quiet harbor that turned into a … Read more

U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record Lowell’s Boat Shop: The Birthplace of the New England Dory Lowell’s Boat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts, has crafted seaworthy wooden boats for more than two centuries. Founded in 1793 by Simeon Lowell, it stands as the oldest continually operating wooden boat shop in … Read more

In an old speedboat book I came across a chapter about marinizing aircraft engines for marine use. It may sound surprising, but after World War I the practice of converting surplus V-12 Liberty aircraft engines for boats became widespread. Those engines were light and powerful for their time—roughly 400 to 500 hp depending on the … Read more

Gunnar Christensen will sail his Hans Christian 34 around the world in the Golden Globe Race, which begins Sept. 6 in France. Jason Ludlow On a blustery, overcast late-spring day in England, I stand in the yard at Lymington Yacht Haven and look up at a boat propped on jackstands. She is an orange-and-white Hans … Read more

For decades, recreational boaters treated life jackets as a basic obligation: carry the required number, keep them serviceable, and put one on when conditions deteriorated or a marine patrol was nearby. Yet emergencies often unfold too quickly to don bulky flotation, which helps explain why roughly 87% of drowning victims are recovered without a life … Read more

Finding Space and Comfort: The Carboccis’ Grand Banks 46 “Good Enough” Boating is, in many ways, about perspective. For Pete and Rose Carbocci, upgrading their cruising lifestyle meant finding a boat that offered more space and conveniences than the small V-berth and ice hunts they endured while sailing a 30-foot O’Day without refrigeration. Years of … Read more

Courtesy Ocean House Chanticleer: A Classic 108-Foot Burger Motoryacht Returns to Watch Hill Any experienced boater navigating the waters off Watch Hill, Rhode Island, recognizes a true classic when it appears on the horizon. This summer, visitors to the harbor should keep an eye out for Chanticleer, the 108-foot Burger motoryacht whose history and thoughtful … Read more

Courtesy Jan Min, watercolorsjanmin.c0m Dutch watercolorist Jan Min discovered the inspiration for his painting Morning Mist while traveling on Vancouver Island two years ago. He encountered a quiet dock shrouded in fog and backlit by a pale sun — the kind of scene that immediately captures his imagination. “If I see boats in the mist, … Read more

Boaters docked at Constitution Marina have many options within easy reach: step next door to the 305-foot USS Constitution, first launched in 1797; follow a portion of the Freedom Trail to visit landmarks from the American Revolution; or take the kids to the marina pool and introduce them to the famous line, “One if by … Read more