Soundings

Until recently, self-parking cars were considered revolutionary, but now self-docking boats are entering that stage. On a blustery day last September, I got aboard the Boston Whaler 405 Autonomous Docking Boat at Brunswick Corporation’s media day in

Barb Hansen stood at her sliding door, looking out to her backyard in Cape Coral and her 36-foot Grand Banks trawler tied up at the dock. It was about 4 p.m. on September 28, 2022. Hurricane Ian pounded harder and harder until her trawler was lunging

Being a safe boater is really quite simple. All you have to do is have an answer for the question, “What if?” Most conscientious boaters do a pretty good job with the big queries: What if someone falls overboard? What if there is a fire? It’s lacking

LOA: 30’10” Beam: 10’0” Draft (motors up): 2’1” Weight (approx.): 10,500 lbs. Power: (2) 300-hp Yamaha outboards Fuel: 200 gals. Water: 41 gals. The Solara S-310 Sport Coupe came quickly on plane as I advanced the throttles located to the right of th

When I moved to Annapolis to edit Rudder Magazine in 1982, one of my first assignments was to test a new Surfhunter 25 on Buzzards Bay. As luck would have it, high winds turned the bay into a washboard of punishing 3-footers. I dreaded what was to co

LOA: 26’7” Beam: 9’8” Weight: 2,535 lbs. Power: (2) 150-hp Mercury outboards I did as any prudent mariner would prior to taking the helm of a 26-foot, 7-inch RIB with a pair of 150-hp Mercury outboards bolted to the transom. I spun my cap around on m

LOA: 52’7”  Beam: 16’5” Draft: 3’5” Displ.: 60,053 lbs. Fuel: 502 gals. Water: 159 gals. Power: (2) 550-hp Cummins QSB6.7 The Sirena 48 is the smallest vessel in a four-model line that runs to 88 feet from the Turkish shipyard. Like her sisterships,

It doesn’t matter which dock you walk down. It could be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Port Townsend, Washington, Newport, Rhode Island, or anywhere in between. Every single boat on those docks—the styling cues, hull shapes, sheerlines—began as visions

Before the advent of combustion power, traveling by boat meant sailing, paddling or rowing—exhausting, but no engine exhaust. Nowadays traveling without tailpipe emissions does not have to be tiring; that is, if you harness the clean power of sunshin

New York City’s rich maritime heritage goes unnoticed by a large swath of its population. Even with four of its five boroughs essentially surrounded by water, the city’s sheer density tends to drown out its robust waterways. Brooklyn transplants Fit

Dense, green trees line a distant shoreline across the water in Caren-Marie Michelle’s painting, “Cadillac from Schoodic Loop Road.” Seaweed-covered rocks make up the foreground, with a few stray buoys floating serenely in the water. The crisp blue s

LOA: 66’10” Beam: 19’2” Draft: 4’3” Displ.: 62,832 lbs. Power: (2) 900-hp Volvo D13 diesels Fuel: 1,532 gals. Water: 291 gals. Stepping up in size is one of the recurring themes of boat ownership, particularly for the couple who own this Grand Banks

Mention the name Porsche and usually cars come to mind, but in 1959 Porsche began promoting an air-cooled marine engine in the U.S. called the Type 729. Weighing in at 285 pounds, it was nicknamed the “light engine for lightweight boats.” Based on th

Sometimes a boat project seems simple, but it’s not. Other times a project can seem difficult, and it turns out to be easy. When I decided to add a gas spring to a hatch on my Pathfinder 2700 Open, the job turned out to be a bit of both. The hatch on