Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Soundings

In April 2018, South Florida attorney and boater Bruce Marx posted a message on his Facebook page. Thieves had stolen a brand-new Garmin chartplotter off his 31-foot Contender, adding him to the list of victims in what, less than a year earlier, had become a marina-based crime problem so bad that a national task force had been created to address it. By late 2018, Marx had launched a Facebook group to try and get other boaters involved in a community watch type of effort. Today, that Facebook group has more than 5,300 members, and a helm electronics company has joined their fight to foil the thieves. Furuno, following more than a year of lobbying by Marx and other boaters, has become the first manufacturer to initiate security measures that should…

Many of us have been too close to the rail when backing our boats down or have had a gust of wind push exhaust fumes into our face. Spend any time fishing offshore and that time at idle while you pull in your catch can be enough to make you wheeze when the air is otherwise calm. Engine exhaust fumes smell and taste bad, so avoiding them is almost automatic. The problem is that the part that smells bad and tastes awful isn’t the immediately dangerous part. Carbon monoxide (CO) is. Odorless and colorless, while it is always present in smelly exhaust fumes, it can also stealthily build up and creep into the air you breathe without warning. Just a few breaths in high concentration can make you sick. Worse…

Being bounced around the cab of a big-footed diesel work truck was the last place I thought I’d meet a certified sommelier and chef, but that’s precisely where restaurant veteran Dan Worrell and I spent one Wednesday in January. Worrell is one of two full-time employees who spend upwards of 50 hours each week schlepping smelly, discarded shells for the Oyster Recovery Partnership’s recycling program. Started in 2010, the program works 340 Chesapeake Bay-area raw bars and restaurants to recycle the oyster, clam and scallop shells that would normally be tossed into the trash—and then a landfill. As it turns out, this trash is a treasure. The shells are perhaps the most reliable surface on which larval oysters like to settle, making them ideal for building oyster reef structures, or…

A Boston Whaler introduced me to the world of boating around the time I learned to walk. Mine was an old Sakonnet with a wooden center console and a single Yamaha outboard that wouldn’t hold a candle to the standard power options on most of today’s boats. Nevertheless, the barebones vessel reliably powered my family around the coast of Rhode Island for many years, and even though it was an older hull, I’ve never felt safer on a boat to this day. That boat looked different from the craft the company is producing today. I thought about that when I boarded Whaler’s new 280 Vantage at the New York Boat Show in January. Unlike that old 17-footer I grew up on, this model—an open dayboat for active families and fishermen—is…

Carlo Borlenghi’s nautical photographs stop people in their tracks, even if those people are masters of the genre themselves. “Of course, he is the best,” says renowned nautical photographer Onne van der Wal, who has worked alongside Borlenghi for over 20 years. “There is no doubt in my mind. In the worldwide rankings, Carlo is at the top. He is number one.” Borlenghi has been photographing sailboats for decades. Since 1983, when he covered his first America’s Cup, he’s been the official photographer for nine America’s Cup campaigns. He’s also photographed Whitbread Round the World and Volvo Ocean Race campaigns and has been the official photographer for the Audi Melges Sailing Series, the Monaco Yacht Club and the China Cup International Regatta in Shenzen, China. Swiss watchmaker Rolex hires Borlenghi…

The boaters come, Shane Ellis says, from as far away as California, Florida and Europe. And they’re all seeking the same thing: a chance to put their boating skills to use along the coast of Maine. “I don’t get very many novice boaters,” Ellis says. “For the most part, they’re people who own boats and either don’t want to bring them up this far, or they just sold their boat and want to get on the water for a week or two.” Ellis runs Ellis Boat Charters out of Maine’s Southwest Harbor, long known for its scenic beauty, strong boat-building heritage and classic Downeast designs. His charter fleet includes five Ellis 36 boats, a Hinckley T40 and a Hinckley 38, all of which are available for charters of a few…

D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944. The United States and its allies launch the largest amphibious attack in the history of the world, assaulting the beaches of northern France. Among the approximately 12,000 vessels of all sizes are hundreds of Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) built by Maryland-based Owens Boat Co. Twenty years later, Owens offers a piece of the American dream in the form of the 40-foot Tahitian, a double-stateroom flybridge yacht that sleeps eight in comfort. John B. Owens started building boats in Maryland in 1936, opening a shop on Bear Creek in Dundalk. He and his brothers built the 32-foot Owens Cruiser out of white oak and Philippine mahogany, and they showed it off at the New York Boat Show in 1937. That model was the first…

PROUDLY FLYING THE MAPLE LEAF Thank you for your article on Red Jacket (Classics, February), a yacht that needs no introduction to Canadians or the Ontario sailing scene. Red Jacket is still racing today, after being regularly upgraded over the years and kept in Bristol condition. I grew up in Toronto and watched her race on Lake Ontario. She is as beautiful now as the day she was launched. There are two points I would like to raise about your article. First, Red Jacket was never American flagged. Putting an American flag on her is tantamount to showing a Canadian flag on the 12 Metre Courageous. Second, there is no reference to the partnership developed between the boat’s designer, George Cuthbertson, and Eric Bruckmann, a custom yacht builder in Ontario.…

I was out on the water recently and saw a small, recreational vessel nearly collide with a larger commercial fishing boat in the river. It was yet another reminder that even though 70 percent of the Earth is covered with water, two boats can still manage to occupy the same location. We have maritime rules of the road to prevent this situation. Officially known as the 72 COLREGS, they comprise nearly 200 pages of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules and Regulations Handbook. Professional mariners need to pass a test showing that they know these rules. For recreational boaters, knowing just a few of the regulations can add safety for everyone on and around the boat. Many of these rules are common sense. Rule 5,…

YOUTUBE: WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION Built in 1937 in Tacoma, Washington, the 77-foot Western Flyer was drawn as a purse-seiner to harvest sardines from the Pacific Ocean. She most notably served as the floating base for author John Steinbeck and friend Ed Ricketts, who in 1940 used her to explore the Gulf of California. The trip culminated with publication of the book The Log from the Sea of Cortez. As many boats her age do, Western Flyer fell into disrepair. Today, she is being completely rebuilt at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op through the Western Flyer Foundation, which has a YouTube channel that is documenting the repairs. So far, there are 15 episodes covering everything from steam-bending frames to sourcing lumber to fabricating the boat’s backbone. GALLEY CONFIDENTIAL Available on Spotify…

The handheld GPS hasn’t changed a whole lot since the mid-1990s, when a unit could display a boat’s location, a basic trip computer and a fairly low-resolution map view. Now, Garmin’s GPSMap 86 series changes that, with capabilities that include two-way satellite messaging, GPS chartplotter features, high-resolution Garmin G3 charts and more. A number of handhelds are part of the new series. The entry-level unit is the $400 GPSMap 86s, which comes with a worldwide base map but no inReach functionality. The $450 GPSMap 86sc adds BlueChart G3, but has no inReach functionality. The $600 GPSMap 86i has inReach functionality but no G3 cartography. The 86sci has the BlueChart G3 and the inReach functionality and retails for about $650. All models have a 3-inch transflective TFT display. There’s WiFi, Bluetooth,…

In January, the world’s most glorious geeks all descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for a trade show called CES. It’s an event where companies as large and varied as Tesla, Sony and Coca-Cola display their latest and greatest in technology, as well as concepts for how future technology may look and work. And this year, CES attendees saw a powerboat that shows what the future of cruising may become. Brunswick Corp., the parent company of numerous marine brands, created a display around a Sea Ray SLX-R 400e with triple 450R Mercury Racing outboard engines. It wasn’t the first time anyone had displayed a boat at CES, but it was the first time a new model had been introduced at the tech show instead of at, say, a boat…

How can you quantify boatbuilding on the Chesapeake Bay? There would be no bay as we know it without the craft: no skipjacks or buy boats, no log canoes or Baltimore clippers, no Trumpy yachts or Whirlwind runabouts. Boatbuilding is as old as human habitation on the bay itself, and despite the vagaries of time, tradition and economic tsunamis, it endures. Whether relying on wood or embracing the most modern materials, Chesapeake boatbuilders create everything from iconic deadrise workboat hulls to new and custom designs, and they continue to thrive. MATHEWS BROTHERS Many bay builders trace their design roots to the traditional Chesapeake deadrise workboat. Few have committed to it as deeply, and varied as successfully on its theme, as Mathews Brothers. The brothers—Pete and Bob—along with Pete’s wife, Annie,…

Few ships can match the romanticism of the clipper. Huge and majestic, with a sharp-eyed, saltwater skipper in command, its three masts laden with 10,000 square feet of sail, canvas taut and rigging humming, this ship could thrash through the blue waters of the world at 20 knots or more, powered only by the wind. Developed by American shipbuilders in the 1840s, the clipper revolutionized water transport. And few artists could depict these vessels as well as Henry Scott. Born in Britain 1911, as the curtain was coming down on the Age of Sail, Scott devoted much of his artistic life to preserving the memory of these great ships. His rendition of the British clipper Black Prince strongly evokes the vessel’s power and performance. “His sails are nearly always bellowed…

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett has impeccable taste in boats. Look no further than 2018’s Surfari, Buffett’s 48-foot sailboat with an open-concept deck layout by naval architect Ted Fontaine. Other boats that have graced Buffett’s docks include a 42-foot Rybovich Express, a Cheoy Lee 33 and a Cheoy Lee 48. Though Buffett has a penchant for sailboats, he’s also an avid angler. Now in his 70s, he’s discovered that he likes to get to the bite and back without spending hours motoring, according to his captain, Vinnie LaSorsa. “We were in the middle of deciding whether to repower and fix up the Rybovich, but Jimmy was looking for something faster,” LaSorsa says. “Plus, the refit was going to put our only fishing boat out of commission for six months.” So, LaSorsa…

An hour before the workday ends, I can’t sit still. I look out the window at my boat and trailer hooked to my truck. The weather forecast predicts clear skies and calm winds. A tide change at dusk further stokes my excitement: perfect conditions for targeting big red drum. As soon as the whistle blows, I’m out the door. In less than an hour, I’m launching my 20-foot Jones Brothers center console at Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. As I step off land, I take a deep breath. Salt marsh, mud and sea spray fill my lungs. I exhale the tension of my day. There’s no wind. The current is rushing out, but the water is still high as I weave through the channel under the bridge at…

I t’s been called a cruiser’s cruiser. The durable Monk 36, with its classic profile, helped to popularize the recreational trawler during the 1980s. It turned what was at first a niche market into one of America’s most popular boat types. At just under 40 feet length overall with a 13-foot beam, the Monk 36 was designed with a semi-displacement hull, a full keel, and a protected prop and rudder. The bow was tall and flared, and the hull had a high freeboard all around with molded-in spray rails. The cabin had a master stateroom aft and a V-berth forward, each with its own head compartment. The salon was laid out with teak furniture, and there was a sliding door at the lower helm. (There was also a helm station…

I grew up watching old wooden boats gracefully ply the aquamarine waters of Lake George, New York. My dad and I looked on with envy as single- and double-cockpit runabouts cruised along the rocky shore, their American flags whipping in the wind. We dreamed of what it might be like to own one. “Some day,” my dad would say. But it was never more than a fantasy. Recently, when I stepped aboard a 42-foot reproduction Hacker-Craft in Alexandria Bay, New York, it was like déjà vu. Only this time, I was the one on board and everyone was staring at me. Peter Mellon, founder of Antique Boat America, a brokerage for classic and antique boats, gets this a lot. A gregarious man with an impeccable memory, he has lived in…

Throughout their boating lives, Mike and Linda Wiens have moved between sail and power with ease. The Lewis Center, Ohio, couple have owned an 18-foot Marquis runabout, a Sea Ray Sundancer, a Carver 36 and a 34-foot C&C sloop. The boat dearest to their adventurous hearts was a 41-foot Lord Nelson cutter, a husky, capable double-ender. “We sailed Fair Wind all over Lake Erie for 10 years while we were based out of Port Clinton, Ohio,” Mike says. “Five years ago, we sailed her to Buffalo, through the Erie Canal and then down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to our homeport of Punta Gorda in Florida.” Winters in the Bahamas followed, along with passages up and down the west coast of Florida, and throughout the Keys and Dry Tortugas. “We are…

This seven-bedroom summer estate is located on Greening Island, Maine, just off Southwest Harbor. Faraway is set on approximately 4.75 acres and overlooks the Great Harbor of Mount Desert Island from Eastern Point. It also has views of mountains in Acadia National Park, the outer islands and the ocean. Faraway provides 1,500 feet of private shorefront. It is only minutes by boat from the 130-foot pier and deep-water moorings to Southwest, Northeast and Seal harbors. Along with the main house, the estate also has a two-bedroom guest house, storage sheds and a tree house. The property is encircled by trees for privacy, and it has views to the north, east and south. Faraway would make a stunning summer retreat, providing both island solitude and easy access by water to the…