Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2024 i Soundings

I called my sister last night for an update on her location. She and her husband had boarded a 60-foot Ocean Yachts sportfish in Massapequa, New York, with plans to run from Long Island’s south shore up to Newport, Rhode Island. The boat is owned by a couple they cruise with frequently. The four friends have made the trip to Newport a couple of times in the past and were looking forward to a lively ocean run and then a few nights at a great summer destination. But things didn’t come together as they’d planned. They were about 30 miles east of their departure point, cruising at a slow speed in some fog, when the boat came to a grinding halt. A sandbar brought the big Ocean to a standstill.…

Second siblings have been on my mind a lot recently as we ready our home for our own second child. Specifically, I wonder what he will be like, will he be a smaller version of his big brother or will he be the diametric opposite? At the Palm Beach International Boat Show I got to spend some time with another highly anticipated new sibling of Tiara’s Adventure Series in the 54 EX. Having spent a day and night aboard the flagship 60, I left incredibly impressed by how the Michigan-based builder blended so many fan-favorite features from their smaller boats into a versatile motoryacht. What would be sacrificed to achieve the smaller footprint of the 54? From the massive swim platform to the line storage in the bow anchor locker,…

The old days are rarely as good as we remember them. As the decades roll on, the fish grow larger, and the battles become epic as our memories waver like a black-and-white TV signal beamed in through a rabbit ears antenna. To argue that the best-ever surfcasting for large striped bass took place 40 years ago on Block Island, Rhode Island, might cause some to roll their eyes. But veteran anglers who fished the island’s rocky shores between 1982 and 1987 have never seen anything close to matching it when it comes to big stripers. “The fishing for big fish was phenomenal,” says Dennis Zambrotta, a veteran surfcaster from Newport, Rhode Island, who documented those halcyon years in his book Surfcasting Around the Block. “But it was by no means…

One of only two places on the Atlantic seaboard where the mountains meet the sea, Camden is often called the prettiest location in Maine. Situated on the western shore of Penobscot Bay, the town has a rich shipbuilding history that dates back to the late 18th century. Here, prolific builder Joseph Stetson opened Stetson Shipyard at the head of Camden Harbor in 1817 and built 70 vessels from his own models, ranging from schooners and brigs to passenger packets and clipper ships. In 1875, the Holly M. Bean shipyard opened on the east side of the harbor, where Bean and his sons launched 64 large wooden sailing vessels before closing shop in 1920, including the six-masted schooner George W. Welles in 1920. From shipbuilding to coast-wide and cross-continental trade, Camden’s…

By the time Jarvis Newman delivered his first 36-foot Downeast powerboat in 1971, he had already earned a reputation for building high-quality fiberglass sail and power boats that were lauded for their finish and seaworthiness. That 36-footer, the Jarvis Newman 36, came from a mold taken off Irona, a classic wooden lobster boat designed by Raymond Bunker and built by Ralph Ellis. Bunker was Newman’s father-inlaw, and he let Jarvis make the mold to bolster his business. Jarvis sold many of the hulls—complete with engines and running gear—to builders who would finish them with decks and cabins according to their customers’ wishes. One of those builders was Ed Gray, who later joined forces with Jarvis Newman to establish the Cranberry Island business that would finish many of those Newman-built hulls.…

It’s hard to describe what the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show experience is really like. Spanning seven locations and some 3 million square feet, it’s a shock to the senses. From kayaks and electronics to superyachts, submarines and center consoles with more horses than the Kentucky Derby, this show has everything a boat nut could dream of and therefore attracts boaters of all kinds. A sharply dressed European attendee with a smart leather satchel who is bound for the upper deck of a superyacht will stroll alongside a pontoon owner clad in flip-flops and a tank top. At this show, boaters of all stripes interact in harmony, because everyone is united in their love of the water. During the warm days the show possesses an energy that is palpable. And…

As boaters, we have all seen our fair share of funny, surprising and sometimes downright dangerous stunts, but a clown atop a 38-foot Matthews sport cruiser may be a first for most. People of a certain age may recognize the clown Pepito from his roles in I Love Lucy, Charlie Chaplin’s film The Circus, and The Divine Woman with Greta Garbo. But few knew that Jose Escobar, the man who played Pepito, was a zealous boater. In 1931, during a tour in the Midwest, Escobar stopped at the Matthews Company plant in Port Clinton, Ohio, to check on the yacht he’d ordered. His Matthews craft, named Phantom, measured 38 feet long and was powered by a 175-horsepower Kermath Sea Hawk marine engine that gave it a cruising speed of 17…

For millenia, members of the East Algonquin tribes paddled their canoes out to Monhegan. They used it as an offshore base to hunt for swordfish and named it Monchiggon, which means “out-to-sea island.” Monhegan is definitively out to sea. It sits in the Atlantic Ocean 10 miles from Maine’s Pemaquid Peninsula. But even though I’ve lived across from the island for five years, I’d never taken my boat there. I had my reasons. My RIB was too small; the harbor was too exposed; the holding ground was poor; there were too few moorings; and there was no dinghy dock. So, I always took the ferry. I love Monhegan. It’s beautiful and quiet. There is no airport, the roads aren’t paved, there are only a handful of cars, and there are…

October is punctuated by major boat shows along the East Coast, but the mothership of them all is FLIBs. The 2024 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show will host an estimated 100,000-plus visitors who will convene in the Yachting Capital of the World for the chance to tour new and used boats at seven locations. The 2024 event runs from October 30 through November 3 and will feature close to 1,000 boats in the water, and as many as 300 more on land. Boat sizes range from small tenders to megayachts exceeding 200 feet. This show has come a long way since its debut in 1959 in a small armory. Locations changed in the ensuing years until the event eventually found a home at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center in the…

1 SOUTHPORT 38FE Power options are aplenty on the Southport 38FE (shown on opening spread), which comes standard with twin 450-hp Yamaha XTO V-8s. The optional Yamahas are triple 450-hp XTO V-8s, or owners can choose triple Mercury 400-hp V-10 or twin 600-hp V-12 Verados. Draft on this boat is 2 feet, 1 inch, which should make most fishing spots accessible. The 38FE comes with a 35-gallon live well and a second 35-gallon as an option, to make the most of whatever catch the sea is willing to give up. Helm electronics are by Garmin, with two GPSMap 8622 chartplotters standard. Options for the dash include a third plotter. Amenities for overnights include a TV, reading lights, a galley, and a head with a stand-up shower. There’s also real teak…