Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Soundings

Heather Brewer and Paul Bultema were living in Seattle, Washington, when they met on the dating app Bumble in March 2020. Heather liked his profile immediately. “He’d been to 91 countries. I had seen 72. I knew he would be interesting,” she says. They felt a strong connection on their first date. On the third, they boarded a plane to Guatemala with the intent to see parts of Central America. “People said I was crazy to take off with this guy I had just met, but I had a good feeling about him. We have a number of professional friends in common, and we’re both action-oriented people who go after our dreams.” They were having a blast when the Covid-19 pandemic put the brakes on their travel plans. They headed…

Today’s boaters want the ability to download, stream, email, video chat, play in multiverses and more. And they want this ability when they’re docked at a marina, cruising offshore or anchored in a remote cove. And they want it more than ever, with a lot of couples and families spending more time on their boats since the Covid-19 outbreak. People figure that if the adults can do their paid work remotely, then why not do it all from the boat with a swim afterward? Creating that kind of connectivity became one of Robert Kinney’s areas of expertise when he took ownership of Alcom Marine Electronics in California back in 1993. Since then he has seen things change quite a bit among boaters. “They started out 25 years ago buying $40,000…

It’s a choppy day in Massachusetts’ Vineyard Sound as two sailors pass the Great Round Shoal lightship, one of the many light vessels that emerged in the 19th century to mark a safe passage through the sound during periods of heavy fog in the spring and summer seasons. Artist William Davis, who enjoys painting historical scenes, says the lightship “was a common sight for many people who sailed that sound. That’s why I thought it would be fun to include it in the painting.” Davis started painting in the late 1970s at his kitchen table when he came home at night from working in the family construction business. “I always had the ambition to do something with painting, but I never thought I could make a living as an artist,”…

The year is 1973 and the French explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau is nearing the end of a 4-month expedition in Antarctica aboard the 141-foot research vessel Calypso, a converted British Royal Navy minesweeper. Cousteau departed for Antarctica from Marseille, France, in September of 1972 to observe the fauna and ice formations, and to capture footage of the frozen continent from land, air and sea, using a helicopter, hot air balloon and the diving saucer SP-350 Denise. During the expedition, Cousteau found that while Antarctica was the least polluted place in the world, there was evidence of contamination in the water, as well as insecticides and heavy metals in the wildlife. He noted other hazards to the continent’s wildlife as well, including litter, sled dogs, the growing number of helicopters flying over…

HOW WE FOUND THE PERFECT BOAT I read with interest the story about the Treibick family purchasing their Fleming 65 Yacht Calypso (Used Boat, December). It made me think about my family’s journey to acquire our current boat Westerly, a Grand Banks 53 Aleutian. My son, who knew I wanted a raised pilothouse under 60 feet, called me and asked if I had ever seen a 53 Aleutian, which I had not. He sent a link to the listing, and my wife and I loved it. The only problem was the broker was in Majorca and the boat was lying in Istanbul. Nevertheless, we made an offer in November of 2013 without ever having seen the boat. It was accepted, subject to survey and sea trial. Two weeks later, I…

Every longtime boater has run aground, even if they don’t admit it. Odd things do happen. I learned that during the peculiar grounding of my 57-foot ketch in the Intracoastal Waterway. Off-watch in the forward cabin, I was jolted awake by a loud thud. I jumped out of my bunk and ran aft. The helmsman stood frozen, so I leapt to the controls and shut the engine down. Forward, the bowsprit pointed toward the treetops as we peered overboard. Like a circus elephant posing for the crowd with its front legs on a pedestal, the entire cutwater was high and dry. We were perched ridiculously on top of the middle of a cypress stump submerged just inches under the surface of the black water. The boat remained motionless on a…

LOA: 32’6” Beam: 10’0” Draft: 2’8” Displ.: 48,000 lbs. Fuel: 200 gals. Water: 41 gals. Power: (2) F250 Yamahas Price: $299,937 With the proliferation of corporate mergers in the marine industry and the wholesale buying up of boat brands, it’s become a rarity to come across a builder that is still family owned and operated. Cutwater Boats of Auburn, Washington, is just such a rarity. As the Chairman of Fluid Motion LLC, the maker of Cutwater Boats, Dave Livingston is the driving force behind this boat brand. A marine industry veteran with more than 50 years of experience, Livingston holds a variety of patents and is a recipient of the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s Legend Award. “My dad has been building boats since before he could drive. He had his…

Better roads for boaters to drive along when they’re trying to access local boat ramps. Better parking lots for boaters to leave their trailers when they head out onto the water for a day. Better transient docks and marina services for boats with a length of 26 feet or more, all across the country. Experts say these are just some of the projects that boaters can expect to see funded through 2026 as a result of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Biden signed into law in mid-November. The legislation marked a culmination of years’ worth of lobbying by numerous marine-related groups to make sure that boating infrastructure was considered part of the debate about fixing the nation’s traditional infrastructure, resulting in what industry experts are calling a significant…

LOA: 21’6” Beam: 8’6”  Draft: 2’0” Displ. (dry): 4,210 lbs. Power: (1) 300-hp 5.7L V-8 When Steve and Sonya Pickel are aboard Salty Dill, their 2001 Shamrock 219 WA, with their daughters Madeline and Lilya, they couldn’t be happier. Even though they both have extensive sailing backgrounds, they have come to appreciate the practicality and safety of a stable, solidly built inboard-powered day boat. “We bought the Shamrock three years ago just after Madeline was born,” says Steve Pickel. Two years later, Lilya joined the family. “We did this despite the advice of nearly everyone, all of whom told us we just wouldn’t have time to use it while raising an infant. They were almost right, because Madeline didn’t seem to enjoy it at first. She came around as she…

Last November, in the span of one week, three announcements suggested that the U.S. is about to get more serious about electric powerboating. First, Navier, a Silicon Valley startup, and Maine’s Lyman-Morse boatyard announced that the iconic builder would construct a fully self-driving, electric hydrofoiling boat for the California-based company. Within days, Seattle-based Pure Watercraft and General Motors reported that the automaker had made a $125 million cash investment to take a 25 percent stake in the 9-year-old electric boat company. GM said it would also contribute engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and EV know-how to the partnership. A couple of days later, Arc Boat Company, a Los Angeles-based startup with former Tesla and Space X employees, announced that it had raised $30 million from investors like Will Smith, Kevin Durant…

EIGHT-LEGGED TEACHER Among the most intelligent mollusks that swim the seven seas are octopi, creatures with eight suction-cup-lined legs, each of which can literally think independently. They live short lives, spending much of their 1 to 2 years in the sea hiding from predators while stealth-hunting crabs and other crustaceans. It turns out that humans can learn something from them, too. “My Octopus Teacher,” a Netflix Original Documentary, tells the story of South African documentary filmmaker and naturalist Craig Foster, who begins daily free-diving exercises and eventually forms a heartwarming bond with a female common octopus that lets Foster in on her everyday life beneath the waves. She allows him to investigate her burrow, watch her sleep and observe how she avoids the ever-present pyjama sharks that love nothing more…

LOA: 32’9”  Beam: 10’11” Draft (max): 3’7” Weight (dry): 14,200 lbs. Fuel: 225 gals.  Water: 32 gals. Power: (2) 400-hp Mercury Verados Galeon Yachts, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, is one of the latest builders to capitalize on the growing popularity of outboard-powered day boats. At the 2021 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October, the Polish builder launched its new Grand Touring Outboard (GTO) series with the new 325. At just under 33 feet, it’s the smallest model in Galeon’s line, which ranges up to 70 feet, as well as the first to have outboard engines. Bob Burke, Galeon Yachts brand manager with MarineMax, reported at the show that more than 30 of the 325 GTOs already had been sold. “A lot of young families are buying…

The original Chesapeake deadrise boats were built by and for commercial watermen who scoured the Bay for crabs, oysters and finfish. Ruggedly constructed for year-round fishing, the deadrise boat had a low profile, large cockpit, small cabin and hull with a proud entry and modest transom deadrise. It appealed to watermen who needed weather protection, stability and capacity to make their living. The boats were constructed of wood—generally Atlantic white cedar or pine planking and oak frames that were durable and easy to maintain and repair. Over time, wood was challenged by fiberglass as the better material for construction. One fiberglass model that took the deadrise design to the next level was the Markley 46. It combined low maintenance with more engine power so that the operator could cover the…

Every winter, yachts from around the world head for warm Caribbean waters, where the weather is friendly and the yachting community thrives in a well-developed infrastructure. Here, owners have their yachts serviced while enjoying their escape from the inhospitable weather in northern waters. In particular, their attention often turns to the brightwork on their boats, because in the Caribbean there are among some of the most skilled tradesmen in the industry. Dubbed by some as the “Varnishing Capital of the World,” the island of Antigua has become the go-to location for everything from routine maintenance work to extensive refits, with Antiguan varnishers earning a reputation around the world for their reliable, quality work. Antigua’s varnishing industry began in the 1950s. The region was becoming a popular destination for yachts that,…