Farr 50 Pilot House: A Classic Pilothouse Sailing Yacht For many years pilothouse sailing yachts often looked ungainly—salons that rose awkwardly above the deck and interrupting otherwise sleek offshore lines. The Farr 50 Pilot House, Design #373 by Bruce Farr and his team, introduced in 1997, changed that perception. This design combined true offshore capability … Read more

Sea Trade — Humboldt Bay, 1898 On May 27, 1898, the busy waters of Humboldt Bay, California, formed the backdrop for an era of transition. Euro-American settlement in the region began less than fifty years earlier, when the first ships arrived from San Francisco in the spring of 1850 carrying passengers bound for the gold … Read more

Maryland Dove Replica Arrives at Historic St. Mary’s City After five years of planning and nearly three years of construction, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, Maryland, has completed and delivered the new Maryland Dove to its permanent home in Historic St. Mary’s City. The reproduction arrived on August 27, 2022, escorted … Read more

I met Mary and Chris Kelleher aboard their Krogen 36 Manatee, Manatee named Cashelmara, on a hot, sunny afternoon in Annapolis, Maryland. They were only days away from completing a longtime goal—crossing their own wake in New York Harbor to finish their first Great Loop, a voyage they began in May 2021. Both raised near … Read more

Rick and Suzanne Rosenwald: Harbor Hosts Helping Loopers on Lake Michigan Rick and Suzanne Rosenwald have spent their lives helping others—he as a retired firefighter and she as a retired paramedic and healthcare worker—and that spirit of service continues now on the water. After completing America’s Great Loop aboard their DeFever 44, the couple began … Read more

Preparing to Go Offshore: Lessons from a South Pacific Circumnavigation In 2018 Jeff Bolster and his wife, Molly, left Portsmouth, New Hampshire, aboard their Valiant 40, Chanticleer, intending to circumnavigate. After stops in the Caribbean, Panama, the Galápagos, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and Tonga, they reached New Zealand to wait out the South Pacific … Read more

Calling All Readers: Tell Soundings Which Classic Boats Deserve a Feature Ten years ago, Soundings introduced a new department in its fall issue dedicated to celebrating boats from another era. The section, titled “Classics,” was created to spotlight antique and classic craft — both power and sail — and to tell the stories behind the … Read more

Pursuit OS 445: Pursuit Boats’ New Offshore Flagship Pursuit Boats has entered the yacht market with its new flagship, the OS 445, revealed to dealers and the media in Tampa, Florida. Known for building smaller center-console and dual-console fishing boats, the Florida-based company stretched into larger territory with this roomy express-style cruiser. Measuring 46’6” with … Read more

McCollough Yachts of Newport, Rhode Island, has introduced the Hope 40, a 43-foot power catamaran that pairs classic New England styling with modern hydrofoil technology. The design aims to deliver a smoother, more efficient ride while preserving an elegant, familiar aesthetic rather than the futuristic appearance common to many foil-assisted vessels. At 43 feet overall, … Read more

Andrew Cooley always planned to take on classic boat restorations. “It’s something I was always planning for,” says the owner of Cooley Marine Management in Stratford, Connecticut. Cooley’s life has long revolved around boats. By age six he was navigating Maine’s fog by compass, and after college he crossed the Atlantic with his father aboard … Read more