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.
The summer cruising season is finally in full swing and while we all want to rush out there to enjoy the long days and warm evenings, it can’t hurt to take a hot minute to review some of the boating safety basics with your crew. Here are a few of the things on my list: Be A Good Lookout I still remember the day I was on a friend’s fishing boat when we realized our course was getting too friendly with that of a nearby cruiser. When the other boat was about 100 yards away, we started to wonder if the skipper was asleep. Then the boat swerved inshore, and as it passed, we saw the operator in the cockpit, with his hands on a newspaper, not the wheel. It…
Mark Hall felt incredibly lucky when he bought the American Tug 435 Epiphany. He and his wife, Patricia Angell, were shopping for a new boat during the pandemic. When they came across the 2020 build in 2021, it had only six hours on the engine. “The guy had it built and then moved to Arizona, so it was brand-new. I called the factory to see if they knew anything about it.” Indeed, the team at American Tug in La Conner, Washington, made a few calls, and the deal was done. But the pandemic was still going on, so Hall’s options were limited for getting to know the company better. That is, until this past April, when the builder was able to resume hosting its annual Spring Fling for owners. There…
Two-years ago, Pursuit Boats partnered with the Chapman School of Seamanship in Stuart, Florida, to offer a safety course for new Pursuit owners. Owners who took the class, including experienced boaters, say the course is an exceptional reminder about proper boat handling and safety practices that are often overlooked. The two-day course is comprised of one classroom day and one onthe-water day aboard a Pursuit. The classroom portion addresses the basic rules of the road, navigation, speed checks, safety equipment and more. Instructor Capt. Mike Miotek says docking is the most common source of anxiety for new and seasoned boaters alike. “It’s easy to drive a boat out in the middle of the ocean, but when you come home, you want to have that confidence to be able to dock…
Remembrances of beloved offshore cruiser Bruce Kessler continue to pour in following his death at age 88 in April. Kessler was among the first people to circumnavigate aboard a powerboat, helping to create the thriving community of offshore power cruisers that exists today. His 70-foot Delta Zopilote was famous in her own right, which is why boaters can’t help but recall her death, too. It happened in 1994, after Zopilote struck what was sometimes described as an underwater seamount in Alaska. The crash left Kessler and his crew of four rushing to launch the life raft. Nobody was injured or lost, but Zopilote sank in minutes, proving just how dangerous uncharted hazards can be to even the most experienced boaters. “As long as there have been boats, there have been…
LOA: 29’4” Beam: 9’10” Draft: 2’3” Displ.: 9,253 lbs. Fuel: 158 gals. Water: 42 gals. Power: (2) 250-hp Yamahas Price (base): $230,750 Some boats are good to begin with, but when Jeanneau decided to make a new version of its NC 895, the builder nailed it. The new NC 895 Series 2 is a very impressive design, especially on the inside. Jeanneau still offers the original 895, which started out in 2012 as the Merry Fisher 855. In the ensuing decadeplus, almost 2,000 855s and 895s have been built. They are perfectly good boats, but for the NC 895 Series 2, the French builder completely rethought everything. Instead of dressing up the old hull, it completely redesigned the Series 2 with a new hull, deck, interior layout and propulsion. All…
“In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote in 1842. But in the early 1980s, Canadian sailor Nick Aitken’s thoughts sprung toward trawlers, and that’s how the Great Lakes 33 was born. Aitken and some friends wanted a comfortable, efficient coastal trawler to expand their cruising horizons, but they needed a well regarded builder to make their dreams come true. That’s when they found Dirk Kneulman, Sr. and his wife Marie who had founded Ontario Yachts in 1961 and had a reputation for building high-quality boats. After taking a one-week composite construction seminar at Dyer Boats in Barrington, Rhode Island, they added fiberglass racing dinghy construction to their business—they built nine of the 5.5 Metre dinghies for the 1968 Mexico Olympics—as…
