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“I spent uncounted hours sitting at the bow looking at the water and the sky, studying each wave, different from the last, seeing how it caught the light, the air, the wind; watching patterns, the sweep of it all, and letting it take me. The sea.” — Gary Paulsen April is not, despite T.S. Eliot’s claims, the cruelest month. Not even close. (It’s January, hands down.) While it’s true that late winter’s lingering snow, sleet, slush and gray skies are particularly stinging to the winter-weary soul, April — no matter how disappointing its actual appearance — is springtime’s vestibule. The pale yellow sun has already warmed our upturned faces with its wan rays, the first purple crocuses have pushed through the snow, and we feel in our bones that we…
Bill Sisson could not have been more on point! He captured the very essence of our 31 years together [“A good, long run for this band of boat show brothers” Underway, December]. I laughed till tears, just like when our group gets together. Many thanks for an outstanding job. “Old Bob” Brann Jensen Beach, Florida FOR COD’S SAKE “There are none so blind as who will not see” could have been the headline of this great article [“The collapse of cod: Will we fillet the last fish?” February]. I own a boat, and I fish out of Montauk, New York. I fish inshore and offshore. As an observation from one who has been on the water for years as a recreational fisherman, the stocks of almost all fish are depleted.…
Enough is not enough when it comes to outboard horsepower — at least that’s the consensus among Mercury Marine’s customers. The push for more ponies prompted the engine manufacturer to hit the water with its most powerful outboards yet: the 350 Verado and Mercury Racing 400R Verado. “We take a bit of pride at Mercury in being about high performance, and with these engines, we have the fastest, lightest, most fuel-efficient, quietest and highest performing products on the market,” says Mercury Marine president John Pfeifer. Introduced at the Miami International Boat Show in February, the new engines will be available in March. For the 350 and 400R, Mercury re-engineered the 2.6-liter engine it uses for its 225-, 250- and 300-hp Verado outboards. The 400R falls under the Mercury Racing umbrella,…
1. INTERNATIONAL RULES: Whistle signals that are sounded in meeting, crossing or overtaking situations are required to be of what duration? A. 5 seconds B. 9 seconds C. 3 seconds D. 1 second 2. INTERNATIONAL RULES: Vessels are deemed to be in sight of one another only when: A. one is observed from the other visually or on radar B. one can be observed visually from the other C. there is no fog D. all of the above 3. INTERNATIONAL RULES: Two black balls in the rigging indicates: A. a moored dredge B. a long tow C. a vessel fishing D. engines are inoperative 4. INTERNATIONAL RULES: Which of the following is not a distress signal? A. mayday B. green star shells C. “N,” “C” flags D. continuous fog signal…
Virginia Wagner was a pioneer among professional female captains during a 28-year career in which she logged more than 400,000 nautical miles. She earned licenses in two countries: a 3,000-ton Coast Guard license and a Class 4 Ocean Master license in Great Britain. Wagner died of mesothelioma cancer Jan. 30. She was 58 years old. Sailing had a profound effect on the life of this self-proclaimed “misfit,” who came into her own on the water and under sail. She was a strong advocate for teaching proper seamanship and integrating sailing as a mentoring tool for youth. “If you can just help one kid, it’s worth it,” Wagner said last November at a ceremony where a scholarship in her name was announced. “I was one of those kids — I was…
The first salvo in the 2015 edition of the Florida anchorage wars has been fired with a report on the results of last fall’s anchoring survey to the Highway and Waterway Safety Subcommittee of the state House of Representatives on Feb. 17. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission conducted three anchoring workshops last fall and asked stakeholders to answer a survey to help lawmakers decide what to do about counties and municipalities clamoring to reclaim authority to regulate anchoring. The 25-question survey, conducted from Nov. 21 to Dec. 7, drew 11,693 responses from stakeholders — cruisers, waterfront property owners (homeowners and businesses), government officials, full- and part-time Florida residents, visitors and others — from all 50 states, the FWC says. The survey found that among respondents: • 52 percent…
