Tabla de contenidos para October 2019 en PassageMaker

Experience the craftsmanship onboard the selection of Marlow yachts on display at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, October 30th through November 3rd, at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center. Schedule your personal tour of these fine yachts today. MarlowExplorer® 49E | 53E | 58E | 62E | 66E | 70E | 75E | 80E | 88E All Marlow Explorer yachts are designed and built to a higher standard, including mechanical systems and assembly. All wiring and cabling are clearly labeled and carefully bundled for our dedicated raceways. We do this because in an emergency you don’t want to be seconded guessing. The stand-up engine room and mechanical plant for this Marlow Explorer 49E (pictured below) is class defining for its size and layout. Learn more at www.marlowyachts.com. North American Inquiries…

Boaters in the United States are fortunate to have good inland navigable waterways along much of the East and Gulf coasts. The most popular and most heavily used of these waterways is the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (more commonly referred to as the ICW, or “The Ditch”) with its official beginning in Norfolk, Virginia, and terminus near Florida’s Plantation Key south of Miami. Originally intended for, and still used for, light commercial traffic, the ICW is a favorite route for boaters migrating north and south in the spring and fall. The natural beauty and historic coastal villages draw many to seek refuge from the weather, or to fulfill a dream. For all of its popularity and attraction, though, the ICW has meandering channels and shifting sands that can be a challenge…

All told, there were six of us grown men aboard, some who’ve had more than their fair share of pizza and beer over the years (finger pointing squarely at me). As I made my way toward the aft stateroom on the new Ranger Tugs R-41, I had visions—maybe it’s not too strong to say a brief, waking nightmare—about all the nights I’d spent as a kid crammed into the quarter berth next to the engine room on my parents’ boat. The noise, the lack of natural light, the inability even to stand upright without slamming my head into the bulkhead: I feared all of those things and more were about to befall me yet again as an adult. But then, I saw the queen-size berth. The en suite head. The…

The owner-operator tag is a trendy one, frequently bandied about at boat shows when a potential buyer hesitates because a boat’s length feels just a little above his comfort level. In fact, most of us are probably skeptics when faced with similar circumstances. And we should be. A confident captain at the helm is key to the safety and enjoyment of owner and guests alike, especially when the owner also happens to be the captain. That owner-operator narrative was running through my mind before I took the helm of the newest Hampton Endurance 720 off Seattle. My trepidations quickly subsided, however, as I put her to work on Puget Sound, under the watch of Robert Fiala, managing partner of Hampton Yacht Group. Powered by twin 1,136-horsepower Caterpillar C18s, the Endurance…

This magazine is named after a boat that combined three elements: simple design, robust construction and the ability to cross vast swaths of ocean “with speed and dispatch.” These elements appealed to retired U.S. Navy officer Robert Beebe, and he, being an amateur naval architect, put pencil to paper and thus the trawler Passagemaker was launched. John Clayman, president of Seaton Yachts, has long been a proponent of Beebe-style austerity, but this philosophy has put him at odds with many of his customers and the yacht market itself. Try selling “simple” at a boat show today. We’re living in a brave new world of joystick controls, powered window shades, trash compactors and integrated everything. Seaton Yachts, though, thinks it has found a way. Headquartered in Newport, Rhode Island, the company…

Most engines receive closer attention during a pre-purchase survey than during the term of ownership. A pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic trained in an engine brand provides a thorough evaluation of the present condition, along with recommendations for upcoming maintenance. If you are contemplating the purchase of a previously owned boat, or if you are preparing for a long cruise on a boat you have owned for many years, then it pays to understand what a thorough inspection includes. The following information will help you know what to expect if you hire a professional inspector, and how to proceed if you want to inspect your own engine. BEFORE STARTING THE ENGINE You might be surprised by how much time a professional spends in the machinery space before starting the engine:…

Burger Boat Company splashed Hull No. 1 of the custom Burger 48 Cruiser last year. The boat was in some ways a departure for the Wisconsin-based shipyard, which has been known recently for far larger builds, yet the builder’s DNA remained visible in the smaller boat. Reviews at the time spoke of style, craftsmanship and performance, all hallmarks of the Burger brand. This past summer, I had a chance to run Hull No. 2 out of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of Burger Boat Company. Manitowoc is a quiet city steeped in boatbuilding tradition. Spend even a small amount of time here and you’ll likely meet plenty of folks who share last names. There’s a palpable sense of pride among the locals, many of whom descend from generations of Great Lakes shipbuilders.…

In 2013, the fishing vessel Gemini, a purse seiner built in 1937, was hauled up from the bottom of the Swinomish Channel in the Pacific Northwest. The event wouldn’t have drawn much attention had this old wooden fishing boat not had such a storied past. In 1940, the novelist John Steinbeck and his friend, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, chartered the sardine fisher under the name Western Flyer, embarking on a six-week voyage to the Sea of Cortez to collect specimens and document the flora and fauna of tide pools along the coast. The duo recorded the trip and co-wrote the travelogue/research catalogue Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research. Luckily, when the boat sank for what was the third (or maybe even fourth) time in her history,…

Stroll “restaurant row” at any of the early fall boat shows—Newport, TrawlerFest Baltimore, Annapolis—and you’re sure to encounter a crab cake or two. The legendary crab-country take on the cranky crustacean headlines the appetizer section of almost every fancy seafood restaurant menu. Must be a pain in the tailfin to make, right? Not so. They’re easier, and much more galley friendly, than you might think. Here’s how to tantalize your guests’ taste buds en route to your favorite boat show this season. A few tips, if we may: Use real mayonnaise. It lets the crab meat shine. But if your crew is on a health kick, Greek yogurt is a worthy substitute. You can also bake them (we call that “galley-down” style) to avoid the grease, but you’ll miss that…

A Return to Mechanical Throttles In a report issued in August, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the fatal collision between a U.S. Navy destroyer and an oil tanker on the Navy helm crew’s “perceived loss of steering” and serious training deficiencies. One of the Navy’s responses has been to reduce the amount of technology at the helm. The incident happened Aug. 21, 2017, when USS John S. McCain turned into the path of Alnic MC. The blow to McCain killed 10 sailors, injured 48 and caused $100 million in damage. According to the NTSB report, a helmsman had shifted control of McCain to a secondary helm station, and no one noticed. In the subsequent confusion, the port and starboard throttles became mismatched and threw the boat into its fatal…

No matter where we were this past summer, one thing can probably be safely said: It was hot. Air conditioners worked overtime as heat waves hit the Midwest, Northeast and even Alaska in July. We took the heat as another excuse to get out on the water for a cruise, to go fishing, to jump in a lake, to park ourselves under an umbrella at the beach or to hide in a dark, cool movie theater. We mopped our brows, ate more ice cream and drank more iced tea. Hot weather was the No. 1 topic of conversation. We’ve all been through heat waves, but this time, most of us felt an underlying uneasiness, a nagging sense of disquiet. It’s getting a lot harder to deny that so-called weather anomalies…

Shaded under the palm-frond roof of a tiki bar, one old boat guy asks the other two, “Did you hear the latest from Richard Branson—apologies, Sir Richard? His companies won’t sell tickets to SeaWorld or any park that keeps whales and dolphins in captivity.” “Good for him,” says Boat Guy No. 2. “About time,” adds No. 3. No. 3 wasn’t finished, however. After taking a long swig from his mug, he asks, “Did I ever tell you the story about my delivery to the Virgin Islands?” Thus began a new round of the familiar Florida boaters’ pastime, “First Liar Doesn’t Stand a Chance.” ROUND 1 There were four of us on a 32-foot sloop. Even so, thank God we had an autopilot. We were somewhere north of Bermuda when one…