Soundings is the news and feature publication for recreational boaters. Award-winning coverage of the people, issues, events -- and the fun -- of recreational boating. Check out our generous boats-for-sale section and our gunkholing destinations.
I returned from the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show a few weeks ago, and while I saw a lot of cool technology, one experience sticks with me. I was one of a half dozen people invited aboard a rugged Bluewater 2850 with twin Yamaha 300s. We were huddled around the helm as our host, Seakeeper CEO Andrew Semprevivo, ran us up the inlet and through heavy traffic that included everything from freighters to snazzy new builds darting away from the show docks for sea trials. It felt a bit chaotic, yet conditions got even more interesting once we were in open water. Semprevivo throttled up and the boat made a hard, bumpy dash through a nasty chop, stiff breeze and big wakes coming at us from every direction. I was standing…
I just received my November issue of Soundings and the first article I read is “Unforgettable.” In this story, you asked readers to share their thoughts on boat designs that should be featured in the magazine’s Classics department. I have a suggestion: the Elco 42. I grew up on a canal in Bay Shore, New York. My family had a 26-foot wooden runabout in our slip; I don’t remember the specific model name. Our neighbor, however, had an Elco 42 and it was just gorgeous. Relatively narrow for its length, it had a roomy pilothouse. One year, my neighbor paid me $5 to sand and paint the entire hull. That was 55 years ago, when I was in my early teens; the wage seemed reasonable to me at the time,…
As a propulsion source for boating, hydrogen has a lot going for it. When coupled with a fuel cell, the lightest gas in existence provides a clean and high-efficiency means of electrically spinning a propeller. Over the last couple of years, new technologies have emerged that allow hydrogen to be produced through electrolysis with seawater. One day soon, while out at sea with a solar array, you could literally end up refining your own endless source of fuel. Battery technology has been getting the lion’s share of attention over the last few years, but batteries are heavy and in high-drag boats, offer fairly limited range. To address that, Emirates Team New Zealand, the Defender of the 37th America’s Cup, has been going all-in on hydrogen as a fuel for its…
One of Alfred Tennyson’s best-known poems uses a bar crossing as a metaphor for the process of dying. Tennyson’s comparison in Crossing the Bar is fitting because transiting a bar between an ocean and a river or harbor can be one of the most intimidating experiences a boater faces. More than a few people, myself included, have seen the steep seas on a bar and wondered if this might be the end. A bar is a shallow area of sand or mud, usually deposited near the mouth of a bay or river. When a fast-moving river slows down to meet the ocean, it deposits tons of silt and mud that it carries. This bar forms a natural barrier, typically extending across the river or bay entrance, often at roughly right…
Curtis Stokes tries to be nice while leveling with the people who call him. They’re all eager to buy boats, and the conversations start out friendly enough, but far too often these days, the broker based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ultimately finds himself talking to a dial tone. “People hang up on me. They think I don’t want to sell them the boat,” he says. “That’s not the case at all.” The callers are frustrated because he tells them that before they can even start shopping for a boat, they need to get pre-approved for an insurance policy. According to numerous industry experts, the biggest hurdle to buying a boat right now is not high inflation or rising interest rates or even the slim pickings on the market following the…
LOA: 23’3” Beam: 8’6” Draft: 1’4” Bridge clearance: 7’7” Fuel: 100 gals. Standard power: (1) 200-hp Yamaha In 1975 Grady-White introduced the Overnighter 221C, a 21-foot walkaround cabin powered by a single outboard. It took the market by storm, and its popularity led to a progression of larger walkaround models from the builder. Almost 50 years later, Grady-White is reaching back to its roots with the introduction of the Adventure 218, a modern version of the compact walkaround concept the company helped to make famous. It’s aimed squarely at a new generation of boaters. The 218 is unmistakably a Grady-White. You see that in the sheerline and hull shape, although engineers have managed to make this 21-footer more spacious, versatile and better performing than its predecessor. It is a capable…
