Table of contents for October 2020 in PassageMaker

As a journalist, I am inundated with press releases on a daily basis, clogging both my email and my postal box. Now that I live in Florida with no fireplace to burn them, they either suffer the delete button or the circular file. Some, however, are intriguing. A couple of years ago, one was from the House of Creed, a famous perfumery in France. Creed had a new perfume, Love in White, which was “inspired by Mr. Creed’s travels on the high seas.” I considered the possible scents: fresh varnish, barnacles in a boatyard, teak sanding dust, bottom paint and even eau de bilge water. Would I spray these on my manly chest to replace my Old Spice? I think not. Still, that experience prepared me for another press release,…

One of the greatest surprises of the Covid-19 pandemic, at least so far in this year of never-ending surprises, has been the shopping sprees. Amid the most widespread public health crisis in a century, Americans can’t seem to spend money fast enough to acquire two things in particular: boats and dogs. The boats started flying out of dealerships in May, about two months after the earliest Covid-19 shutdowns. As those initial safer-at-home orders started to ease and the calendar turned to summer, dealerships reported a frenzy of buyers. The trend only intensified throughout the summer, well into August. Even as pandemic hot spots exploded across the South and West and unemployment numbers soared, boat dealers reported being virtually wiped out of inventory. “When people are faced with oh my gosh,…

LETTERS CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS SELF-STARTING DIESEL Dear editor: As a longtime subscriber, I particularly enjoy your DIY and technical articles. An event occurred recently on the boat across from mine in our marina that I found very interesting and thought your readers might as well. The owner received a call from the harbormaster that one of his engines was running. This was a surprise to the owner, as he had not been on the boat—nor had anyone else—for days. The owner went to his boat and, indeed, his port engine was running. After shutting it off, he called me (as I am a broker and have the listing on the boat) to see if perhaps I had shown the boat, which I had not. He also called the mechanical…

These soft spring rolls with crab are light, healthy and fun to make. They are also one of my favorite dishes to prepare. They’re loaded with fresh mint and crunchy vegetables for a refreshing lunch or dinner. The homemade peanut dipping sauce is one of the best parts of the dish. It’s easy and phenomenal. Everyone will want to dip, chomp, eat and repeat. Chances are you’ve ordered spring rolls at a Vietnamese or Thai restaurant. Spring rolls are usually served as an appetizer. They’re so versatile and can be filled with a variety of ingredients: fresh veggies, proteins or a combination. The more colorful the filling, the better they look. If you’ve never made spring rolls before, it just takes a bit of practice. The technique is not so…

NAME Steve Murdock AGE 63 HOME PORT St. Clair Shores, Michigan CURRENT BOAT 1995 Fleming 55 Pilothouse Patriot YEARS OWNED 4 BEGINNINGS My parents weren’t boaters growing up, and we had limited access to the lakes where we lived. My father took a temporary work assignment in Traverse City, Michigan, when I was 12 and rented a cottage on Lake Michigan for the summer. The owner of the cottage took us out for the day on his 26-foot Chris-Craft Sea Skiff. That put the hook in me. Years later, after my time at sea in the Pacific with the U.S. Navy, I bought my first boat and have been at it ever since. Prior to Patriot, I’ve owned a 26-foot Baja, a 28-foot Sea Ray Sundancer, a 40-foot Sea Ray Express…

Searching for the right boat can be a daunting adventure. First and foremost, a boat must meet your needs with respect to accommodations, performance, appearance and price. Assuming you have found a boat that checks those boxes, the hard work of due diligence begins. And if the due diligence is done well, then you won’t find yourself saying later, “I wish I had known that before I bought the boat.” With that goal in mind, let’s look at seven often-overlooked considerations when buying any kind of boat. #1 GELCOAT COLOR MATTERS Gelcoat is a thin, pigmented, resin-rich coating on the outside of the boat. Gelcoat has two functions: to keep the water out of the fiberglass laminate, and to make the boat look pretty. The latter function explains the reason…