Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Soundings

If you visit Maine by boat, you’re apt to tie up somewhere and try a lobster roll. Philadelphia is the place to grab a slip and then a cheesesteak at Pat’s or Geno’s. On Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland-style crab cake provides plenty of reason for a day trip. Yes, wise men have always known that the search for great food and boating go hand in hand. With that theme in mind, Nordic Tugs invited me to the Chesapeake to run its stout and capable 44 Flybridge, a semidisplacement passagemaker with long-distance voyaging in its DNA. We tossed around ideas such as motoring to St. Michaels, Maryland, for an oyster festival or cruising to Annapolis for hot steamed blue crabs. “Nope, that won’t do,” I piped in, and we set a…

The glittering steam ferry Pilgrim lights up a tranquil evening on Long Island Sound in William Muller’s oil-on-canvas On Board Fall River Line Steamer Priscilla. Priscilla, the 440-foot queen of the line, was the grandest of the “floating palaces” running up and down the sound, connecting New York and Boston during the steamers’ 19th century heyday. Muller’s passion for these grand vessels comes from growing up in northern Manhattan in the 1940s, with the Hudson River right at hand. The great age of the steamer was over, but the remaining harbor vessels captured the young artist’s imagination. “I used to ride the Staten Island Ferry when it was still steam-powered,” says Muller, who is 83. “On foggy days I would be up on the foredeck, listening to the symphony of…

OCEAN-READY Wanderbird is a 65-foot 2004 Park Isle Marine Royal Passagemaker with a long-range cruising disposition. The overall design is by Greg Marshall, using a hull based on an Ed Monk Sr. design that Ed Monk Jr. updated. The bluewater trawler has features that include a mast that supports twin headstays with roller-furling reaching jibs, a 3408 Caterpillar diesel and a twin industrial-strength reel-winch anchoring system. It has an oversize bow to extend the waterline, reduce drag and supply extra tankage. The full-displacement voyager is listed for $1.9 million by Sparkman & Stephens. sparkmanstephens.com “The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat Jacques Yves Cousteau That’s the number of well-preserved ancient…

This fall we completed a similar trip with 20 people on three larger boats, also from Le Boat, the company that the writers of your story used [“Quiet. Beautiful. Delicious.” October]. We had a great time through the wineries of Bordeaux along the Canal du Nivernais. One hitch: The 50-kilometer week took us through no fewer than 50 locks, and in the offseason many of the more rural lock keepers were assigned to drive among as many as four locks. We spent an awful long time locking or waiting for an opening, to the detriment of our sightseeing. Next trip, we’ll pick a route with fewer locks, such as the Canal du Midi. Joe Jablonowski Bristol, Rhode Island KEEP ON KEEPING ON Whatever Mary South has been doing at Soundings,…

Anyone who sails around the world solo and nonstop is a hero. Jeanne Socrates took it to another level by doing it for the first time at 71. That’s right, the first time. Socrates recently embarked on a second solo circumnavigation — if she makes it, she’ll be the oldest person to sail around the world nonstop. What makes this all the more remarkable is that Socrates stumbled into dinghy sailing in her late 40s and didn’t venture aboard a larger boat until her 50s. She was a math teacher, and when a school trip aboard a boat that required five sailors was short two participants, she and her husband, George, agreed to fill in as the additional crewmembers. And the rest is history. They bought a Najad 361 and…

You can spend thousands of dollars — even tens of thousands — on marine electronics, but what if you want a big-screen chart plotter/sounder that’s easier on your wallet? Good news: Combo units with 9-inch screens can now be had for $1,500 or less, no matter which brand you prefer. Trickle-down technology continues to improve electronics while dragging down prices. High-definition touch screens, side- and forward-viewing sonar, and radar interface are just some of the features now found in less expensive units. “Musthave features that were the stars of the boat show last season on the top-tier chart plotters are showing up one year later on products that are on the other end of the price sheet,” says Dave Laska, owner of L&L Electronics, a dealer and installer in Branford,…

Gravity Discharge Tanks I came across gravity holding tanks while servicing European boats, and I was struck by their simplicity. They take short plumbing runs, have no pump to service and are easy to clean. I use them whenever possible when refitting systems. The first consideration is finding a suitable location above the static waterline and accounting for the weight of a full tank and its influence on boat trim. The illustration here shows a stock tank installed on a sturdy shelf. However, I have designed custom tanks that maximize space and had them welded in thick plastic. Composite (fiberglass) tanks can also be manufactured in any shape, but the labor costs typically exceed those of polyethylene or polypropylene, the most common plastic holding tank materials. Metal tanks aren’t suitable…

AU REVOIR A fleet of 29 Open 60s departed Les Sablesd’Olonne, France, on Nov. 6 for the start of the Vendée Globe. The solo sailors will spend upward of 75 days at sea as they race around the world in a non-stop, unassisted sprint via the great capes: the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. vendeeglobe.org After nearly two years of inactivity, Greenline has returned with a new boat and new ownership. Vladimir Zinchenko, owner and CEO of SVP Yachts in Slovenia, says the 36 Hybrid — along with other new Greenline models — will be faster under diesel power. The standard engine is a 220-hp Volvo Penta diesel. An optional 370-hp Yanmar diesel gives her a top speed of 25 knots. An electric motor pushes the…

In 1986, the organizers of the New York National Boat Show invited a group of seafaring adventurers to talk to the public about their record-setting exploits. Among those in the group was a 58-year-old marina owner from Freeport, New York, a coastal town at the western end of Long Island. And did he have a tale to tell: He’d driven a 26-foot boat across the Atlantic — the first person to cross unassisted in an outboard powerboat. Al Grover had been running his marina for 35 years and building boats on the side under the Groverbuilt nameplate. “I wanted to prove that our boat was a capable boat,” he told New York Times reporter Barbara Lloyd. He figured crossing the Atlantic would be “good for business.” With his son Al…

For years I’d wanted to make the trek to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. So as I squeezed my Mini rental into a tiny spot between the cars crammed on both sides of the sloped road into town, I felt ready. Port Townsend Bay spread like a sparkling welcome mat before the brick Victorian seaport below, and the snow-capped Cascade range rose from the far horizon. Sunset magazine called Port Townsend, Washington, “the Paris of the Pacific Northwest,” but that seems like unnecessary hyperbole for a place of such unique charm. At the base of the hill, the terrain flattens to the shore and Water Street threads past galleries, gift shops and restaurants, all touting nautical names or touches. The vibe is not Parisian so much as bohemian maritime.…

When Arthur and Noelle Imparato gave their 1920 vacation home on Maryland’s Little Choptank River a makeover, they kept its vintage cottage look while upgrading the decor, windows, doors, appliances and climate-control system. The couple fell in love with the secluded year-round property in 2001 when they returned to the East Coast after retiring from jobs in Hollywood. (She was a film editor, he a talent manager.) Now the Imparatos are consolidating into one home in Baltimore. Their three-bedroom, two-bath house in Cambridge, Maryland, on 3 acres with 700 feet of waterfront and a private pier is on the market for $375,000. A gravel driveway leads to the front entry. Through the spacious screened porch is the living room. From there, it’s just a few steps to the kitchen, the…