Titanic II: Clive Palmer Reveals Plans for a Modern Replica Last spring, Australian businessman Clive Palmer attracted worldwide attention with an ambitious proposal: to create a near-replica of the legendary RMS Titanic. On Tuesday, Palmer publicly revealed the detailed design for “Titanic II,” a modern reproduction he intends to build in China and operate under … Read more

The Long Way Home: How the Tall Ship Europa Sailed 10,000 Miles During the COVID-19 Lockdown This is not how the voyage was meant to unfold for the Dutch barque Europa and her crew. In the southern summer of 2020 they had planned to continue west across the Pacific—visiting Easter Island, Tahiti and Tonga on … Read more

Lagoon 400 Catamaran: A Practical, Two-Person Sailing Cruiser The Lagoon 400 is a thoughtfully designed cruising catamaran intended for comfortable two-person sailing while also accommodating family or guest cruising with three- or four-cabin layouts. Its design emphasizes easy handling, good ventilation throughout the living spaces, and intuitive access to the key working areas on board. … Read more

Understanding the Local Notice to Mariners and Missing Navigation Buoys Right now, as you read this, dozens of navigation aids shown on charts are either missing or not where they should be. Between Eastport, Maine, and Shrewsbury, New Jersey, at least 40 buoys are completely missing and about 109 are reported “off station” — present … Read more

Chinese White Dolphins in Hong Kong: A Pandemic Respite Amid Long-Term Threats Chinese white dolphins, commonly called pink dolphins for the pale pink hue they can take on in warm waters, are native to Southeast Asia and are deeply associated with the waters around Hong Kong. These charismatic marine mammals attract public interest and conservation … Read more

Marine propulsion has changed dramatically over the past 60 years. In the early 1960s the sterndrive was a fresh innovation, a 100-hp Kiekhaefer Mercury was the top outboard, and diesel inboards commonly belched soot. Today’s marine engines are cleaner, quieter, more fuel-efficient and far more powerful than anything a boater of that era could have … Read more

About 10 percent of FLIR Maritime’s annual revenue is allocated to research and development, and a significant portion of that budget goes to on-water testing. Most marine engine and electronics manufacturers operate their own test boats. In a two-week span I boarded two such vessels: a 54-foot test platform owned by Cummins and a 42-foot … Read more

Modern life can be complicated. To reach my square-rigger that day I needed a car, a bus, a train and a taxi. When no cab appeared, a young police officer kindly offered me a lift. Reflecting on that last ride I thought, how a touch of gray can change your circumstances. It was May 6 … Read more

Superstorm Sandy left a trail of destruction that extended far beyond the New Jersey and New York coastlines. The storm’s force reached inland as far as Ohio, and the boating community suffered heavily: boats were torn from moorings and found strewn across highways, yards and parking lots. Thousands of damaged vessels entered auction catalogs, and … Read more

Wellcraft 355 — Wellcraft Reinvented as a Pilothouse Commuter-Adventure Boat Founded in the 1960s in Sarasota, Florida, Wellcraft built a reputation for high-performance deep-V boats with its Scarab line. The brand became widely recognized in the 1980s when actor Don Johnson drove a Wellcraft Scarab 38 KV on the TV series Miami Vice. For decades, … Read more