Advertisement

system

Completing The Dream

Attitude and resources are everything, as this creative and resiliant couple learned, while navigating the rocks and shoals of refitting their Marine Trader 47.

Lure Of The Bahamas

“The Elephants are marching!” reported my husband, Denis, after he reconnoitered the situation from a third floor vantage point at Fort Lauderdale Beach. This condition,

Steering Systems: Trust But Verify

It’s one of what I refer to as a vessel’s “mother” systems, key components without which the vessel cannot operate. These include propulsion, steering, and

Avoiding Sanitation System Woes

Unlike fire or flooding, a malfunctioning sanitation system is far from an emergency. However, it does represent the failure of a key system and when

A Treat Of A Toot: Kahlenberg Air Horns Come Down In Size

Kahlenberg Air Horns Come Down In Size There is an informal tradition at boat shows, where at the close of the last day of the show, when it’s time to break down the exhibits and untie the boats, everyone blows their boats’ horns. It is a fun thing we all enjoy after days of talking to people walking the docks. At the fall Newport show some years back, my former trawler, Growler, was on hand representing the latest example of the Zimmerman 36. Steve Zimmerman was on board to show the boat and explain its value to potential buyers intrigued by the idea of a Downeast-style cruising boat. At the close of the show when the noisy bellow of horns began, Steve went to the helm and pushed the horn button. Nothing. The horn just clicked. Over the course of owning Growler I replaced that horn three times, finally removing it altogether, and I relied on a handheld air horn I kept at the helm. Lobster boats can be wet when the conditions are just so, and I guess it wasn’t a horn-friendly platform.

Bonding Systems And Corrosion

It’s a truism that electrical systems and electricity in general likely represent the greatest mystery for most vessel owners. If you are one of these

Closed Crankcase Ventilation

When I was a teenaged kid working on one of my neighbor’s boats, a stern-drive-equipped runabout, I recall my first encounter with the engine’s crankcase

Inverter Installation Notes

In the marine world, inverters are ubiquitous. It’s difficult to find a new cruising vessel that does not come equipped with an inverter as standard

Absolute 70 Fly

Absolute 70 Fly Reviewed

Twin 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13s and 285 nautical miles of range give the new Absolute 70 Fly the room and speed to roam.

Twin delivery captains Assen and Nikolay Alexandrov standing on the bow deck of a motor yacht docked alongside a pier.

The Twins

After more than 500,000 nautical miles as yacht delivery captains, Assen and Nikolay Alexandrov are still bringing boats home.

Alt Text: A close-up view of two polished stainless-steel windlasses and anchor gypsies mounted on the white foredeck of a yacht under a partly cloudy sky.

Anchors Aweigh

Windlass and ground tackle maintenance can make all the difference in an emergency.

A Garmin marine chartplotter display screen showing a digital nautical map with AIS vessel tracking, route waypoints, and navigation data overlay.

Understanding AIS

Good seamanship means using every available tool, but never relying on any one alone.

Three side-by-side screenshots from the Navionics app showing nautical charts of Hell Gate and Wards Island, contrasting a correct manually plotted water route on the left with two flawed AI-generated routes on the middle and right that erroneously plot course lines directly across land.

A Suspicious Plot

I used AI to chart a course through a notorious waterway. The results were unusable.

Advertisement
Advertisement