How a Seattle Couple Turned a Pandemic Quarantine into a Liveaboard Adventure Heather Brewer and Paul Bultema, both based in Seattle, Washington, met on the dating app Bumble in March 2020. Heather noticed Paul’s profile right away—he had visited 91 countries, while she had seen 72—and she liked the idea of traveling with someone equally … Read more

Cousteau’s 1972–1973 Antarctic Expedition Aboard Calypso In 1973, legendary French explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau was concluding a four-month scientific and film expedition to Antarctica aboard the 141-foot research vessel Calypso, a former British Royal Navy minesweeper converted for oceanographic work. Departing Marseille in September 1972, the expedition combined scientific observation, wildlife study and pioneering cinematography to … Read more

Pilot Whales Off Great Round Shoal Lightship, Vineyard Sound — A Maritime Painting by William Davis On a choppy day in Vineyard Sound, two sailors make their way past the Great Round Shoal lightship, one of the distinctive light vessels that appeared in the 19th century to mark safe passages through the sound during seasons … Read more

Antigua’s Varnishers: Caribbean Craftsmanship at Work in Newport Every winter, yachts from around the world migrate to the warm Caribbean, drawn by favorable weather and a mature service infrastructure. Owners use the season to repair and refresh their vessels—and few tasks receive as much attention as brightwork. Antigua, long regarded by many as the “Varnishing … Read more

Life Proof Boats: Engineering, Safety and Purpose-Built Design Micah Bowers, CEO of Life Proof Boats, has a talent for making memorable videos that demonstrate his company’s product philosophy. Early on, to prove the durability of the company’s foam buoyancy collars, he shoved a pocketknife, a speargun, a machete and an arrow into one of the … Read more

Stephen and Debbie Gratton had already sailed more than 70,000 miles in their Oyster 53, Amelie—including a circumnavigation with the 2012 Oyster World Rally, two voyages to French Polynesia, and a cruise from Alaska to Mexico and back—when they arrived in Port Townsend, Washington, in the spring of 2021. They intended to undertake a major … Read more

Markley 46: The Fiberglass Evolution of the Chesapeake Deadrise The Chesapeake deadrise is a workboat tradition born on the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and the Markley 46 represents a key evolution of that lineage. Originally built by and for commercial watermen harvesting crabs, oysters and finfish, traditional deadrise boats were rugged, practical wooden … Read more

As consolidation reshapes the marine industry, family-owned boatbuilders are increasingly rare. Cutwater Boats of Auburn, Washington, is one of those exceptions — a company still guided by the Livingston family and their long history in boatbuilding. Dave Livingston, chairman of Fluid Motion LLC, is the founder and a driving force behind Cutwater. A marine veteran … Read more

What We’re Watching Eight-Legged Teacher Octopuses rank among the most intelligent of the ocean’s invertebrates. These eight-armed cephalopods, with rows of suction cups on each limb, display remarkable problem-solving abilities, camouflage skills and independent limb coordination. Many species live relatively short lives—often one to two years—and spend much of that time avoiding predators while hunting … Read more

How to Handle a Grounding: Practical Advice for Boaters Every experienced boater has, at some point, run aground. It’s an embarrassing, sometimes frightening event, and odd things can happen—like the time my 57-foot ketch came to rest on a submerged cypress stump in the Intracoastal Waterway. We were off-watch when a loud thud woke me. … Read more