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.
There are many fun things to do on the water and one of the best pastimes is enjoying a mouthwatering meal at a waterfront restaurant that you travel to by boat. But what makes a great dock-and-dine? That’s the question we first posed a year ago, when we launched our inaugural Readers’ Choice Award for Best Dock-and-Dines. The response from the Soundings audience was so good we’re heading up the contest again, and we’re hoping to receive even more food for thought from our readership. Last year, we learned you have strong opinions about the characteristics of a good waterfront dining spot. Some of you contend it’s the view and the location that really make for a memorable meal; others believe the quality of the food and service is a…
A LOYAL READER Each time I receive my new copy of Soundings, I go through it from cover to cover before sending it onto my young grandson, Charlie. He often gets excited when an envelope arrives. This photo shows what happens when his mother hands him the magazine. There is a magical “something” that seems to catch his attention. JIM SMITH VIA EMAIL HEART OF THE MATTER I was impressed and moved by Pim Van Hemmen’s story A Boat for Anne (February). His brother Rik’s extraordinary creativity and his profound love for his wife is so evident in the development of their tailor-made yacht Aberration. Equally wonderful is Rik’s sensitivity to Anne’s need for engagement and stimulation. It is an approach I attempt to emulate as I face a somewhat…
Quenton Tuckett likes to go out fishing with his buddy in Florida’s Tampa Bay. He often finds himself chasing fish in the shallows, which are a place he knows well, thanks to his work at the University of Florida’s Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory. Not long ago, he was in the shallows trying to help jump-start the population of scallops. They like to hide in the same seagrass that a lot of fish do. For years, he’s seen prop scarring in the seagrass—U-shaped valleys left behind after a boat propeller hits and digs a bare patch into the bottom. These are real scars that the seagrass beds have trouble healing on their own, with repairs generally requiring a lot of human intervention that costs time and money. Tuckett knew, just from…
For decades, the Cruising Club of America has recognized significant cruising accomplishments with its annual awards program. The club recently announced the recipients for 2023. This year, for the first time, three of the six honorees are women. Blue Water Medal: Kenichi Horie took this award for a lifetime of ocean crossing achievements. Horie, 83, is Japan’s most renowned ocean sailor. Young Voyager Award: Cal Currier, a high-school student from California, learned to sail, bought and prepared a 30-foot sloop and made a solo voyage from Massachusetts to Portugal in the span of a single year. Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy: Kirsten Neuschäfer of South Africa received this award for her vital role in the sea rescue of a fellow competitor in the 2022 Golden Globe Race Diana Russel Award: Mary…
I will never forget the first time I hit another boat. I was 19 years old and sailing a Beetle Cat through the inner mooring field of Newport Harbor, trying to impress a girl who had come to visit. I was a first-year apprentice at the IYRS School of Technology & Trades. It was a beautiful warm June afternoon with blue skies and a 12-to 15-knot sea breeze filling in. I was sailing close-hauled but getting set unusually hard. Panicking because of how close I came to hitting a boat, I tacked without enough headway and put myself into irons. Sure enough, with no steerage, the bow of my Beetle Cat struck the stern of a moored 40-foot sailboat, cracking the V-shaped bumpkin that extended aft from the stern, which…
There’s plenty of good content on social media, and yet some would argue that watching invasive surgery on a dated fiberglass boat isn’t the best investment of time. But that didn’t stop Matt Steverson, 38, and Janneke (Janni) Petersen, 36, whose YouTube channel “The Duracell Project” has attracted more than 60,000 subscribers since the first episode aired in September 2021. Viewers tune in every week to watch the couple discuss cockpit ergonomics, deckhouse dimensions and interior design ideas, or to witness how Steverson–wearing Tyvek suit and face mask–cuts out ballast tanks or infuses fiberglass sandwich bulkheads with epoxy resin. When you’re converting a spartan racing yacht into a livable and fleet-footed ocean cruiser, there’s no shortage of loud and dusty projects. The channel’s growth still surprises its creators, whose career…
