I come from a family of engineers, but I’m the outlier: a journalist who, despite being handy enough to restore a Whitehall skiff and five houses, has always avoided electrical work. Aside from installing an auxiliary power outlet on my boat years ago, I left electronics to the pros—until my 14-year-old handheld Garmin became impossible … Read more

It doesn’t matter which dock you walk down—Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Port Townsend, Washington; Newport, Rhode Island; or anywhere in between. Every boat you see—the styling cues, hull shapes, sheer lines—started as a concept in a designer’s studio. Over the past six decades, certain naval architects and yacht designers shaped the look, performance and culture of … Read more

When people discover I’m a licensed charter skipper, the first question is almost always, “Where’s the best place to go?” There’s no single answer—everyone wants something different from a bareboat charter—but I enjoy sharing lesser-known destinations that consistently deliver exceptional cruising experiences. The places below have secluded coves, memorable anchorages and unique local flavor that … Read more

Read the U.S. Coast Guard’s annual boating statistics and you might assume medical emergencies at sea are uncommon — but that’s misleading. Collisions grab headlines, yet for offshore cruisers they are relatively rare and often avoidable. Fires, flooding, or mechanical breakdowns tend to get more attention, but the single most frequent cause of distress calls … Read more

Many factory marine alternators are not up to the task of charging the large battery banks and meeting the electrical demands of modern boats. Often adapted from automotive designs, these alternators can struggle when paired with deep-cycle batteries and frequently fail to serve as a reliable primary charging source. While true high-output alternators exist that … Read more

Rolling swells slid beneath the hull as Capt. Brandon Ballay eased the boat past the mouth of South Pass, one of the main outlets that funnel water from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. A third-generation guide, Ballay knows the Delta like the back of his hand. We began the morning fishing near … Read more

The moment I scrambled across the seaweed-covered rocks onto Eastern Egg Rock and spotted Theresa Rizza’s hat, I realized I was in for an ordeal. Rizza, a 28-year-old bird researcher from California and the seasonal supervisor on this seven-acre seabird sanctuary off the coast of Maine, wore a wide-brimmed hat completely plastered with bird droppings. … Read more

Lauren Tolla struggled to process what her senses were telling her — the sight, the smell, the feel. It was October 2021 when her husband, Tom, convinced her to go see a boat he’d found on Facebook Marketplace. They drove from their Guilford, Connecticut home up to New London, where rain from the previous day … Read more

David Szewczul, 29, is a principal specialist in engineering and finance at Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, where he manages budgets and financial planning for a team of jet propulsion engineers in both commercial and military aviation. Meticulous and hands-on with numbers, he is also an avid fisherman with a deep passion for tuna fishing. … Read more

Why Lyman Boats Endure: A Legacy of Craftsmanship on Lake Erie Jude Guerra grew up with a Lyman in the family almost as soon as he could walk. His grandfather owned several wooden Lymans from the original Lyman Boat Works, passing them to Jude’s father, who passed the passion on to him. Over time the … Read more