Investigation Underway After 33-Foot Sea Ray Burns to Waterline; Six Injured The cause of an explosion that engulfed a 1995 Sea Ray and burned it to the waterline is under investigation. The blast, which occurred May 9 in shallow water near Pine Key (commonly known as Beer Can Island) off Apollo Beach, Fla., sent six … Read more

Typhoon Haiyan: How Warm Western Pacific Waters Fueled a Record-Breaking Super Typhoon The unusual warming of western Pacific waters to depths approaching 100 meters supplied the energy that allowed Typhoon Haiyan to explode into a catastrophic storm. On Nov. 8, Haiyan made landfall at Guiuan on the Philippine island of Samar with sustained winds of … Read more

Plunger: Theodore Roosevelt’s Close Encounter with an Early U.S. Navy Submarine Plunger may not be the most elegant name for a warship, but it was an apt label for one of the U.S. Navy’s pioneering submarines. Launched in 1902 from New Jersey’s Crescent Shipyard, the 64-foot A‑Class boat—originally designated SS-2 and later renamed A-1—represented the … Read more

If you love historic boats and maritime museums, the watercraft collection at Mystic Seaport is likely one of your favorite attractions. For nearly four decades, Dana Hewson was the steady hand caring for that fleet—overseeing repairs, restorations, and daily maintenance that kept the collection seaworthy and accessible to the public. Dana Hewson began his career … Read more

Flares: Important Safety Clarifications and Best Practices After publishing a short piece titled “5 Things You Should Know About Flares,” a longtime friend and colleague, Andy Chase of the Maine Maritime Academy, pointed out several important caveats I omitted. Andy has more than four decades of professional sailing experience, so when he raised concerns I … Read more

Lyman-Morse Rebuilds Camden Waterfront: A Modern Working Boatyard and Harbor Hub When Drew and Mackenzie Lyman bought the Wayfarer Marine property on Camden’s inner harbor in 2015, they envisioned improvements rather than a full transformation. Everything changed in June 2020, when a fire destroyed most of the buildings where Lyman-Morse now stands. The loss gave … Read more

Hybrid technology has moved beyond cars and into the marine world. Hybrid boats promise lower fuel consumption, reduced carbon emissions, and a quieter, cleaner ride—appealing qualities for environmentally conscious boaters and regulators alike. With gasoline and diesel prices high in many regions and stricter local restrictions on combustion-powered vessels, a hybrid marine drive offers practical … Read more

SeaVee Boats: Miami Builder Innovates with Pod Propulsion and New Models When Ariel Pared bought a 31-foot SeaVee in 1993, he was so impressed with the build and performance that he ended up buying the company a year later. Pared, then 26, joined childhood friends Ralph Torres and Moises Rodriguez to acquire SeaVee in 1994. … Read more

Charles W. Morgan and the Rise of Historic Ship Preservation Worn and weathered, a sailing ship squeezes under a drawbridge on the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, in 1941. The image of that tired hull and rigging makes it difficult to imagine that the vessel would later become an American icon—one of the most recognizable … Read more

Coast Guard Decommissions Loran-C at Jupiter Inlet: Why Losing a Terrestrial Backup Matters On January 7 the U.S. Coast Guard announced it will decommission the Loran-C navigation program and terminate the Loran-C signal broadcast from Jupiter Inlet, Florida, effective February 8. Federal leaders cite technological progress—most notably the widespread use of the Global Positioning System … Read more