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.
Safety may not grab headlines the way that horsepower and hull design do, but it does quietly power our sport. That’s because safety isn’t just a set of rules and requirements. Every safe decision we make on the water protects lives and the lifestyle itself. When boaters practice safety—wearing life jackets, maintaining equipment, learning navigation rules and respecting traffic—they build trust and confidence. And that confidence fuels participation. People are more likely to get on the water, bring their families and invest in boating when they know it’s a managed, mindful environment. That’s why organizations devoted to boating safety play such an essential role in sustaining our sport’s momentum. One standout is the Sea Tow Foundation, a nonprofit established by Sea Tow Services International in Southold, New York. You may…
Few names in boating carry the cachet of Riva. The Italian builder has long stood for impeccable craftsmanship, thrilling performance and international style. That reputation began with the classic Aquarama, which debuted in 1962. The mahogany runabout came to define the glamour of cruising on the Mediterranean. Powered by twin engines that produced up to 50 knots at top end, it became known as the Ferrari of the boating world. Today, the Aquarama’s influence is most evident in the Aquariva line of modern runabouts with fiberglass hulls that blend the builder’s heritage with plenty of high-tech features and systems. Originally introduced as a tribute to the Aquarama, the Aquariva translated the sexy lines and spirit of Carlo Riva’s wooden icon into a contemporary form. Over time, the boat established its…
On a southbound trip home one year, crossing the Gulf of Maine on my friend’s boat, the sea was flat calm in fine weather. We had a brand-new console RIB, which was quite expensive and too big to stow on deck, so we towed it. Suddenly, one of the kids yelled, “Where’s the dinghy?” Thankfully, after retracing our track on the reciprocal and doing an exacting search pattern for three hours with all eyes glued to the horizon, we recovered it. Others have not been so fortunate, judging from the number of small boats found drifting offshore over the years. Put a bunch of boaters together and they are bound to share stories of tenders misbehaving—flipping, riding up and slamming the transom, surfing past the boat, shifting while stowed on…
In autumn 1607, a short, tough Englishman with crew came rowing a small boat up the Chickahominy people’s home river. It was a big tributary of the Powhatan whose mouth lay 7 miles upriver from Jamestown. He wanted to trade copper utensils, iron hatchets, colorful beads and trinkets for corn. The stumpy Englishman was Capt. John Smith. It’s been almost two decades since the National Park Service created an 1,800-mile National Historic Trail that follows Smith’s explorations of the Chesapeake Bay. He had converted his extensive notes into an extraordinarily accurate map that he published in 1612. It laid the foundation for all that has happened here since. In fact, Smith’s map is so accurate, you can build a three-day cruise around it. Let’s begin down the James River at…
It came out of a Maine boatyard known for superb sailboats and instantly rocked the powerboat world. “It” was the original Picnic Boat, which Hinckley Yachts introduced in 1994. The 36-footer was reminiscent of a Downeast workboat but softened with curved lines and peppered with pedigree. The unconventional waterjet propulsion allowed for an extremely shallow draft that made it possible to explore skinny water in quiet corners of the coastline. Accommodations were modest but elevated with superb joinery, and the layout was simple yet social. She was salty, easy to drive, high-tech and a head-turner. And plenty of people wanted this delightful dayboat, including Martha Stewart, the decade’s doyenne of good taste, for whom the $249,000 base price was no deterrent. More than 30 years later, the Picnic Boat continues…
November 12 marked one year since Andy Tyska bought Huckins Yachts in Jacksonville, Florida. There’s a Legacy Club now for owners of these boats, with Huckins preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2028. If ever there were a fleet of aging boats whose owners were guaranteed to need some kind of refit services based purely on age, the Huckins fleet is it, and Tyska says these owners are pretty uniform in how they approach the refit process. Owners of other boat brands will refit their vessels to gain speed through performance-enhancing modifications like repowering with a new engine, improving the power-to-weight ratio, or changing the prop, among other methods. “I can’t say that we’ve ever had someone who came to us and said they want to go faster,” Tyska…
