Boating is the world's foremost magazine for boating enthusiasts. Written by experts for those who love the sport, the editorial covers the waterfront -- from runabouts to sportfish convertibles to luxury showpieces, and everything in between.
IN A RECENT BLOG POST, I called out several mandates by the United States Coast Guard, the United States Power Squadrons, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and other agencies as the “pillars of boating safety.” Specifically, these pillars include wearing a life jacket, not drinking while operating a boat, and taking a boating safety course. Now, because these items were identified as pillars doesn’t mean that’s all that a boater needs to do to keep his family and friends safe. These three items just create a solid framework within which to house any given boater’s personal boating-safety program. Let’s look at life-jacket wear through the lens of a recent tragedy at Dauphin Island, Alabama, wherein participants of a sailboat regatta drowned during a squall. Five bodies were…
We met Hailey Parker at the last Miami Boat Show, where she served as the surfer’s voice for Volvo Penta’s new Forward Drive. Plus, she helped me catch the wave behind a new Four Winns TS222. Here’s what she had to say about the growing sport of wakesurfing MORE ONLINE! To read the full interview online, go to boatingmag.com/haileyparker. How long have you been wakesurfing? About two years but it really happened all of a sudden. One summer we were out messing around with wakesurfing, and by the next March, I was training for a competition. I was 100 percent addicted. What inspired you to try it? Growing up on the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach, Virginia, we would grab old surfboards and go behind our Mako boat and “free-surf”…
Exhaust noise will always be a hot-button issue for fans of and detractors of high-performance boats. One of the best ways to reduce the sounds being produced by your boat’s engine(s) is to install exhaust tips with integral mufflers. They are less costly than switchable diverters, which are not allowed in some states, and cause minimal power loss from back pressure. Custom Marine Inc. XTS Exhaust Tips THE HUSH: CMI’s XTS tips use water as the noise-deadening medium. They are fabricated out of marine grade 316L stainless steel and are available to install on a boat’s transom or as a silencer that clamps to your boat's existing tips. The manufacturer says the tips are passivated to minimize rust streaks on a boat’s transom. THE NOISE: Because they use water to…
1 Is a poker run a race? A. Yes B. No 2 During a poker run, who has to wear approved life jackets? A. The driver and throttle man B. Just the driver C. Everyone on board the boat D. The driver and any kids, according to state law for the event 3 What is prevented at every poker run around the country? A. Passing the pace boat B. Cutting off another boat in the event C. Washing down another boat with your rooster tail D. Drinking alcohol during the event 4 Many poker runs have signal flags that the organizers fly to alert participants to various situations. What does a yellow flag usually mean? A. Slow down and proceed with caution. B. Come off plane and proceed at no-wake…
Nothing sucks worse than a boat with a dead battery, except when there’s a stranded boater on board with a dead smartphone too. So carrying around the compact Weego JS6 standard jump-starter battery pack seems like a really smart idea. The main unit is about the size of a smartphone, so it can easily slide into your pocket or take up minimal space in the onboard glove box or stowage bin. It also comes with alligator clips, 12- and 120-volt power cords, and a USB adapter for smartphone connections. Fully charged, this lithium-ion battery pack is powerful enough to jump-start a car or boat with up to a 4.6-liter gasoline engine or 2.4-liter diesel engine. That’s a nice fallback to have on hand in the rare times you need it,…
Forget thermal imagining; a team of self-described medical tinkerers have created eyedrops that enhance night vision, and we wonder, are these guys boaters? Who else would want to see in the dark? Turns out scientists do too. “Medicine focuses on bringing people back to baseline,” said Gabriel Licina, a molecular biologist with the group Science for the Masses (scienceforthemasses.org), which makes the drops. “We like to see what happens when those treatments are given to healthy people.” The drops contain Chlorin e6, a chemical in the eyes of deep-ocean fish that shows promise for people with night blindness. Licina tried them himself; while he couldn’t see as if using commercial night vision gear, his vision improved. “Dark became dim. I could definitely see better,” he said — verifiably better in…
