Soundings is the news and feature publication for recreational boaters. Award-winning coverage of the people, issues, events -- and the fun -- of recreational boating. Check out our generous boats-for-sale section and our gunkholing destinations.
Adventure. Is there anything better? For starters, it is readily available. As Gilbert K. Chesterton said, “An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” I’ve tried to remember this over the years, when fate seemed to annoyingly interrupt a perfectly good plan with a massive obstacle. Sound planning is a must, but the unanticipated challenges are what elevate the trip between Point A and Point B from mundane to adventurous. There are few surprises in a straight line. Set and drift, high seas, even outright miscalculations keep the journey interesting. Did I ever tell you the story about trying to find a dock after dark on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida? I was a newly minted Chapman graduate, running my 40-foot steel trawler on the outside for the first…
Soundings just keeps getting better and better. I look forward to every issue and especially appreciate and enjoy the beautiful “Classics” illustrations by Jim Ewing, with Steve Knauth’s narratives. Perhaps a future issue could feature an article about Mr. Ewing. I imagine other readers of your fine publication would enjoy knowing more about this talented person as much as I would. Bernie Freeman Gloucester, Virginia NEW ENGLAND ROOTS Thanks for the nice article about wooden spars that included, among others, my son Douglas Jones [“Building Wooden Spars: Old Skills In Modern Times,” Sailboats, November 2016]. He did have a boatyard in San Diego, but he hailed from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Mystic, Connecticut. He and Robert D’Arcy met when they were both working in the DuPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic…
NEWS, EVENTS, PEOPLE VICTORY AT LAST Armel Le Cléac’h crossed the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, on Jan. 19 to win the Vendée Globe after placing second in the last two editions of the solo nonstop race around the world. The Frenchman covered 24,499.52 nautical miles in 78 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes, breaking by 3 days, 22 hours, 41 minutes the record that Francois Gabart set in the 2012-13 race. The Gulfstream 52 combines the 360-degree deck space of a center console with the benefits of a pilothouse boat, such as weather protection, air conditioning and heat. “Center consoles just keep getting bigger, and there are some great ones being built, but most have a layout that’s been used for decades,” says company founder and CEO Hunt…
1. The maximum distance at which a light may be seen under the existing visibility conditions is called: A. nominal range B. luminous range C. charted range D. geographic range 2. Which of the following is strongest when placed in a line? A. short splice B. long splice C. square knot D. clove hitch 3. Why is it necessary to have the battery box well-ventilated? A. prevent buildup of carbon dioxide B. provide fresh air necessary for battery charging C. prevent explosive dust from collecting D. prevent explosive gasses from collecting 4. A diesel engine is fired by: A. a glow plug B. a spark plug C. heat of compression D. heat of expansion 5. Of greatest importance when dealing with a simple fracture is: A. preventing infection B. preventing…
Jack Sherwood was a character who loved to write about characters — watermen, boatyard workers, vagabond cruisers and others he encountered on and around Chesapeake Bay. A onetime feature writer and columnist for the Washington Star, Sherwood crafted the monthly Bay Tripper column for Soundings for nearly 20 years. His last piece, in the September 2014 issue, was about a cherished summer outing with his granddaughter Claire aboard his beloved Sparkman & Stephensdesigned Sailmaster 22, Erewhon. Sherwood died Dec. 7 in Maryland of cancer at the age of 84. Former Soundings editor-in-chief Bill Sisson says Sherwood was a “sailor’s sailor and a writer’s writer. Jack was an original. With his strong reporter instincts and a good ear, he was constantly finding colorful waterfront characters to write about.” Sisson fondly recalls…
TRENDS, ANALYSIS, PERSPECTIVE The storied Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa, which served with distinction for more than a half-century, will be remembered as an unrelenting workhorse as she goes to her final resting place as an artificial reef off the New Jersey- Delaware coast. Built as the Navy ocean tug Zuni and later refitted as a Coast Guard cutter, the 205-foot Tamaroa towed disabled warships out of harm’s way in the Pacific during World War II. In her ensuing 48-year Coast Guard career, she saved dozens of lives, including four Air National Guard airmen in the “No Name Storm” of Halloween 1991. The cutter crew’s heroism in that infamous North Atlantic gale was popularized in the book and movie The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger’s account of the loss of fishing vessel…
