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“We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea.” — Paul Tillich Doing what you love for a living is a great blessing, but it also has its dangers. This thought surfaces every boat show season, but a good chat with myself quickly rights the ship: Don’t overschedule. Go in with a game plan for what you want to see. Leave time to explore. These three rules have prevented what once felt like a kid’s visit to a giant candy store from becoming a marathon run down a dock-lined gauntlet. It’s all about perspective. In the past month I’ve been reminded of…
What a terrific article in the August issue about the Coast Guard barque Eagle! As a high school English teacher, I appreciate how well the author crafted his account. Having admired Eagle from the Fishers Island ferry, I enjoyed the opportunity vicariously to step aboard for the passage. John Bouton Wolfeboro, New Hampshire BROTHER AND SISTERS I noticed Soundings did a piece on the Hokule’a [“Hokule’a: More Than An Ocean Voyaging Canoe,” September]. This is a picture of Hokule’a being escorted by Faith, our Cape Dory 28. It was taken July 9 in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. I had my brother and three sisters on board Faith. Two other sisters were in a Marshall 22, Kittiwake. My other sister, who lives in Honolulu, is a crewmember aboard Hokule’a. Yep, all of us…
FRAME OF MIND The Ernestina-Morrissey’s stern structure comes together at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine. Built in 1894, the historic schooner has been used for fishing, Arctic exploration, and as a Naval vessel and trans-Atlantic packet. When the rebuild is completed her next mission will be cadet training for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and public outreach. ernestina.org This fall Sea Ray debuts an outboard version of the sterndrive-powered SLX 350, its largest bowrider. The SLX 350 Outboard will be powered with triple 300-hp Mercury Verado 4-strokes, with its Joystick Piloting as standard equipment. (Triple 350 Verados are optional.) “The technology advancements in Mercury’s outboard propulsion have resulted in improved performance, efficiency and a significant reduction in engine noise versus older outboard engines,” Sea Ray president Tim Schiek says. “This is…
Abid to refurbish the SS United States and return her to service as an ocean liner has lost steam after a six-month feasibility study determined that the commercial and technical hurdles are too costly. Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises commissioned the study with the goal of investing $700 million to $800 million in the 64-year-old ship — the biggest, fastest, most glamorous of the U.S.-built ocean liners — and making her the crown jewel of its burgeoning luxury cruise fleet. A blue-ribbon team of engineers and experts, headed by retired Coast Guard Rear Adm. Tim Sullivan, found the ship to be “remarkably intact and structurally sound.” However, bringing it up to SOLAS technical and safety standards would require changes to the hull that would pose stability problems, and changing from four…
The toxic cyanobacteria bloom began as slime green, turned bright blue, then brown and finally transmuted into a mass of black rot as the stench hanging over the St. Lucie River ripened from the smell of rotting garbage to putrid carcasses to feces. It took five weeks for the algae bloom to run its course at Central Marine in Stuart, Florida, and during much of that time business was at a near standstill, says manager Mary Radabaugh. Carried by wind and tide from the river into her marina basin, the algae piled up in a mat 4 to 8 inches thick from seawall to seawall. The soggy mess clogged engine intakes on boats, and its smell gave employees headaches, irritated their eyes and throats, and caused some to vomit. “The…
Capt. Jonathan Boulware started his sailing life in traditional small boats at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, where his father worked, and was for many years a tall ship skipper. As a captain and educator he has sailed the waters of New England, the North Atlantic, the Caribbean and Southern California. These days, Boulware has the biggest command of his career, at the helm of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. As executive director Boulware has returned the museum’s focus to the waterfront, to the ships and piers that built the Big Apple, and to vibrant programming both ashore and afloat. “While I’ve had great experiences at sea, and while many of those were life-altering, what I’m doing right now at the Seaport Museum is really a great…
