Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Soundings

In May, I saw a familiar boat at the Frank S. Farley State Marina in Atlantic City. I recognized Mack Attack as the Viking 48 Convertible that served as a test bed for a pair of Scania Di16 diesels—V-8s with 1,150 horses—that debuted in the U.S. last year. Gary Caputi had sea-trialed the boat for Soundings and his reporting showed the engine had one of the highest power-to-weight ratios in its class. He was enthusiastic about its potential. In Atlantic City, I got the chance to board the boat, only on this day, it served as a test platform for something different: validating the use of renewable diesel fuel on a performance sportfisherman. Viking Yacht Company and Mack Boring, the U.S. distributor for Scania, had arranged for media to observe…

A couple of years ago, business took me to Europe for a month. I visited Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland, and then took a jaunt over to Tenerife. I started packing the day before I left, and from start to finish, it took me one hour to fill a carry-on bag and a backpack. In retrospect, I could have skipped the carry-on and crammed a change of clothes into the backpack beside my laptop and then bought a few pieces of clothing in Frankfurt. On that trip I traveled from city to city, where access to services and goods was largely uninterrupted, so I didn’t have to worry about forgetting something. My next big trip won’t be like that. For the first time in my life, I am being forced…

For North Americans, the world of Italian yachting often evokes a far-flung tableau: superyachts with helipads, sleek RIBs slicing across turquoise water and anchorages that double as playgrounds for the global elite. Marinas across the Mediterranean boast massive concrete docks built to moor equally massive yachts. The Marina Genova usually fits neatly into this narrative. But for three days this past May a very different kind of Italian boating community gathered for the marina’s Yacht & Garden and Classic Yacht Festival. The event can best be described as neither fish nor fowl, as it combines maritime elegance and floral beauty, yacht culture and horticulture. Rows of ornate begonias and roses crowd dockside fairways, while a very different type of yachting niche fills the berths across from them. For a brief…

A marine engine will run for thousands of hours with proper maintenance, but eventually the day comes when even a once-loyal engine gasps its last. Maybe there’s been a catastrophic failure—we told you to replace your exhaust manifolds—or there are just too many hours on the clock. Whatever the cause, when no mechanic has enough magic in his toolbox to coax another season from your tired iron, you’ve got to decide: Should I buy a new boat, or install a new engine in the boat I love? For many of us, the sensible answer is repowering. REBUILD, REMANUFACTURE OR BUY NEW? Some boatowners want to rebuild their old engine rather than buy a new one, thinking it’ll be easier on the checkbook. That’s not so, according to marine experts. “It’s…

When Jaws premiered in the summer of 1975, it scared countless moviegoers out of the water. Widely credited as the first modern summer blockbuster, the film—which tells the story of a man-eating Great White shark that terrorizes the New England beach town of Amity Island—became the first to break $100 million at the box office. For its 50th anniversary, we’re revisting the two boats that made it all possible. At 27, director Steven Spielberg was just learning how to create a big movie while simultaneously navigating the challenges of filming on the water. To make the movie feel authentic, the crew shot on location in Martha’s Vineyard, battling currents, tides and malfunctioning mechanical sharks. Sixteen vessels were used throughout the production. Notable among them were Orca I and Orca II,…

Three years after the federal government proposed the idea of requiring East Coast boats as small as 35 feet to cruise no faster than 10 knots, things are moving in a decidedly different direction when it comes to protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales against vessel strikes. Not only has the proposed speed restriction been stopped, there is also a significant research effort underway to try and ensure there will be no need for such a rule in the future. “You cannot eliminate risk, that’s impossible. But we’re very committed to finding ways of leveraging technology so we can move toward reducing risk for whales, to the extent possible,” says John DePersenaire, director of government affairs and sustainability at Viking Yachts in New Jersey, as well as chairman of…

Summertime, and the fishing is easy. Or is it? Well, that’s what local anglers say about the action off New Jersey in July and August. Granted, the fish might not be jumpin’ and the cotton is non-existent, but coastal waters off the Garden State offer superb bottom fishing and accessing it is definitely no sweat. Here are some tips for finding the most action. The two species most sought after at this time of year are black sea bass and summer flounder, more commonly called fluke in these parts. Both are aggressive predators that will readily attack artificial lures like bucktails with plastic twister tails or simple baited hooks, and both have very tasty fillets that make for great summertime table fare. Both species are most fun when caught on…

At first light, a lobsterman loads his boat in solitude, preparing to depart for the day—a quiet moment that reflects the rugged beauty of Maine’s coast. Maritime artist Thomas Adkins draws many of his ideas from scenes and landscapes like this one. “I go out and study nature often in the early morning, and I love the way the sun shines through the pines and the reflection it creates,” he says. This 16 x 20-inch oil painting, titled “Rising Sun On the Mid Coast,” is a composite based on two 9 x 12-inch studies he created en plein air. Set in Cushing, Maine, the painting also draws inspiration from Deer Isle. Adkins’s artistic process usually begins with on-location studies of 16 x 20 inches or smaller. He then composes larger…

Formula introduced the 350 Crossover Bowrider (CBR) in 2013, but after 13 model years the company thought it was time to cook up a new version. The company says the new 360 CBR improves on the design, performance and layout of its predecessor. The 360 boasts an open bow with a single-level flush cockpit and a standup cabin with overnight accommodations plus a head compartment. The new model has a rakish profile and is built on a FAS3Tech ventilated stepped hull. The 360 CBR can be powered with twin 380- to twin 520-horsepower sterndrives from MerCruiser, Mercury Racing or Ilmor. An outboard version is in the works, which will be made available with triple 300-, 350- or 400-hp Mercury outboards, or twin Mercury 600-hp outboards. The helm, where there’s a…

If you’ve never heard of Finnish powerboat builder Aquador Boats, well, you’re likely not alone. The nearly 30-year-old brand, owned by parent company Nimbus Boats, splashed on U.S. shores last summer in Annapolis, where its boats will be available through exclusive distribution partner PowerTime. The company also offers fractional ownership opportunities through a franchise boat-sharing arrangement in three additional U.S. locations. “It’s a great opportunity for folks who want to subsidize ownership costs through a sharing agreement,” Nimbus Boats USA Vice President Justin Joyner said as we hopped aboard Aquador’s 300HT. From the outside, the 300HT has an angular appearance highlighted by its namesake hardtop (HT), squared-off bow and staggered hullside glass panels. There’s an expansive teak-capped swim platform aft while a large, cushy sunpad dominates the bow area. Some…

Sustained 30-knot winds buffeted Sea Nest, which was anchored on the south end of Eleuthera in Rock Sound, Bahamas, when I caught up with Julia and Michael Bertelsen. It was the couple’s third season wintering aboard their Ranger Tugs R-25, and they were ready for the onslaught. When a storm blew in the night before, “we just switched our anchorage to the other side of the bay. So now we have the generator running and we’re doing our office work,” Michael says. Michael is a professional wildlife photographer by trade, and the couple lead tours throughout Canada via their company, Wild Outdoors Photography. Winter is for planning and for living as nomadic liveaboards, armed with GoPros. Several of the videos on their YouTube channel, Expedition Sea Nest, offer impressive insight…

Heavenly bodies soared out to greet us on our approach to Bermuda. First, an angelic tropic-bird dazzled with her grace as we closed within a few hundred miles of the island. Later, at 30 miles out, Bermuda Radio boomed aboard from the dark of night like the Voice of God. The shockingly loud VHF transmission rang with definitive authority, artfully balanced against a calm tone of welcome. It was the first outside voice we’d heard in a week. With our anchor down inside the perfect protection of St. George’s Harbor, the blissful calm after constant motion at sea helped reinforce our suspicion that we had died and floated into heaven. This was May of 2024, when my wife, Alex, and I sailed our 36-foot Morris Justine from the Bahamas to…

In 1967, when Steve Tull graduated from Penn State with a degree in mechanical engineering and economics, a friend told him they should go to Wall Street and make a lot of money. That’s what Tull did. The money was good, but he hated it. As a kid, Tull had messed around in boats at his grandfather’s place in Oxford, Maryland. “I was born with salt in my blood,” he says. So, in 1975, he became a charter captain, running a 30-foot Charles Hankins-built, box-chined wooden sea skiff out of Beach Haven, New Jersey. Tull liked the boat. Hankins had an excellent reputation for building surf boats that were used by all the lifeguards on the Jersey Shore, but the installation of the marinized Chevy V8, which had been done…