Soundings2 min read
Out of This World
This Boeing 307 Stratoliner served as a commercial aircraft before it was purchased for personal use by American billionaire Howard Hughes in 1939 for around $315,000 (around $6.5 million today). Just 10 years later, Hughes sold the Boeing, but not b
Soundings7 min read
Driving A Classic
Chris-Craft, one of America’s oldest and best-known boat builders, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Stephen F. Heese has served as the company’s president for more than 23 years. We asked Heese to share his insights on the company’s trajec
Soundings4 min read
Why Fish?
So why do we fish? First there is the joy of being out on the water or in the surf. Then there is the excitement when we actually catch a fish. These are the obvious answers to the question, but they don’t get at the heart of the matter, or examine t
Soundings3 min read
A Tribute to Tradition
LOA: 43’o” Beam: 14’10” Draft: 2’9” Displ.: 32,000 lbs Power: (2) 550-hp Cummins QSB6.7 diesels Back in the day, when a much younger Jim Turner was learning the ways of business at his family’s jam-packed Ritz Bakery in Manasquan on the Jersey Shore,
Soundings3 min read
An Electric Outboard With Good Range?
One of the beefs against electric outboards is their limited range, but Newport—an electric outboard builder from Stockton, California—is challenging that perception with its lightweight lithium batteries. We clamped a Newport NT300 3-hp electric out
Soundings2 min read
MJM 4 Diesel DPI
Welcome aboard the diesel-powered version of the impressive MJM 4 performance day yacht. We recently tested the MJM 4, looking specifically at her performance and handling as powered by the new Volvo Penta DPI advanced drives. We begin our look out o
Soundings2 min read
Maternal Instinct
While scrolling through Instagram recently, I found some good posts by The Boat Mom, or Paula Sleiman. She’s the mother of 3-year-old Kai, and the owner of two 21-foot Nautiques. She drives the version with a direct-drive inboard; her husband, Dusty
Soundings2 min read
Thief of Tradition
In the painting The Lobster Trap by Ed Parker, a Maine lobsterman lowers crates into the water while, unbeknownst to him, a large sea monster intertwines itself with the line. The calm water and blue skies suggest a peaceful and idyllic day, juxtapos
Soundings4 min read
Tidewater 3100 Carolina Bay
LOA: 31’1” Beam: 10’2” Draft: 1’7” Weight: 7,200 lbs. Fuel: 220 gals. Water: 19 gals. Power: (2) 400-hp Mercury or 350-hp Yamaha outboards Tidewater Boats says that its 3100 Carolina Bay is the world’s largest bay boat. Having stepped aboard at Febru
Soundings1 min readLeadership
Soundings
PRESIDENT GARY DESANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JEANNE CRAIG ART DIRECTOR BRIANA SMITH EXECUTIVE EDITOR PIM VAN HEMMEN ASSISTANT EDITOR LIDIA GOLDBERG DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER SARAH W. JOHNSTON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LOUISA BECKETT, GARY CAPUTI, ELLIOTT MAURIC
Soundings8 min read
Driven By The Deep Blue Sea
Olivia Wyatt let go of the shore in the summer of 2019, a decision slow to arrive that was part obsession, part dare, and part promise to herself. She readied herself and her sailboat, a 34-foot Ta Shing Panda named Juniper, for a solo Pacific crossi
Soundings5 min read
Hardcore Adventure
LOA: 25’0”  Beam: 8’6” Draft: 1’8” Fuel: 100 gals. Power: (2) 300-hp Mercury Racing Motors Rob Judge was an avid high-performance boat enthusiast who ran his Cigarette 38 all summer long on Lake Erie. But then he decided he wanted to be on the water
Soundings6 min read
Love My Tender
Boating is often better with a tender, a jack-of-all-trades dinghy that serves as a gofer for the mothership. But there are dozens of high-quality dinghies from reputable manufacturers, so how do you choose the best one? I consulted several experts f
Soundings12 min read
The Greats of SPORTFISHING
If it wasn’t for fishing, some people wouldn’t even own a boat. For others, the relationship between boating and fishing is more casual. Yet we can all appreciate the accomplishments of the exceptional anglers profiled here. Some gained recognition b
Soundings5 min read
Sixty Years Of Marine Communication
It’s easy to forget how primitive recreational boating was when Soundings was founded 60 years ago. Today, marine VHF radios are everywhere, but until the 1960s, when it came to marine communication, recreational boaters had very few options. For tho
Soundings4 min read
Boston Whaler 365 Conquest
LOA: 36’6” Beam: 12’0” Draft: 2’7” Displ: (dry): 17,603 lbs. Power (standard): (3) 400-hp Mercury outboards I felt like a fish swimming upstream as I tried to get aboard the Boston Whaler 365 Conquest. Hours earlier, it had won an Innovation Award fr
Soundings10 min read
Glued together
In the early 1960s, when fiberglass boat construction was rapidly catching on, wooden boatbuilding began its steep decline. But in Bay City, Michigan, the Gougeon brothers felt that wood was still a good material. Meade, Joel and Jan Gougeon grew up
Soundings2 min read
Crazy As A Fox
In 1919, at 21 years of age, Uffa Fox opened his boatbuilding business, Uffa Fox Ltd., on the Isle of Wight, launching the career of one of England’s great boat designers. Born in East Cowes, right on the Solent, Fox became a sailing enthusiast and q
Soundings2 min read
Sirena 48
The Sirena 48 is the smallest vessel in a four-model line that runs to 88 feet from the Turkish shipyard. Like her sisterships, the 48 is drawn by the Argentinian yacht designer Germán Frers. Her profile is defined by an elegant plumb bow, copious hu
Soundings2 min read
Limestone 24
If the words “Fast, Handsome and Durable” weren’t written in the design brief, they were uppermost in the mind of Mark Ellis when he began to draw the lines of the Limestone 24 in the mid-1980s. Although it was the first powerboat design from his own
Soundings5 min read
Ready to Spring
As the days get longer and the grass gets greener, the time to properly prepare your boat for the coming season has arrived. Commonly referred to as spring commissioning, the process is not just vital for a long and successful boating season, it’s al
Soundings7 min read
Make Mine A Diesel
A brace of outboards is the most popular power choice for the current generation of large center console models, day boats and sport cruisers, but it is no longer the only choice. Volvo Penta is making a strong case for its DPI Aquamatic D6-440 as an
Soundings3 min read
Pay It Forward
Bob Davis was in his early 60s when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The radiation treatments were so brutal he lost 80 pounds in a short period and then became heavy with fatigue. He was spending a lot of time on his sofa at home in Niantic,
Soundings3 min read
Pilgrim 40
Patti and Bill Linscott were on a mission when they began the hunt for a coastal cruiser. Specifically, they wanted a vessel that would allow them to explore the Salish Sea, an area of open and protected waters and tributaries stretching from the low
Soundings3 min read
The New Normal?
Mainers are used to big storms, especially in winter. Residents still talk about the blizzard of 1978 and the Patriot’s Day storm of 2007. But on January 10 and 13, Maine was hit by two ferocious, wind-driven storms that caused massive damage along t
Soundings2 min read
MJM 4 Diesel DPI
Welcome aboard the diesel-powered version of the impressive MJM 4 performance day yacht. We recently tested the MJM 4, looking specifically at her performance and handling as powered by the new Volvo Penta DPI advanced drives. We begin our look out o
Soundings1 min readLeadership
Soundings
PRESIDENT GARY DESANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JEANNE CRAIG ART DIRECTOR BRIANA SMITH EXECUTIVE EDITOR PIM VAN HEMMEN ASSISTANT EDITOR LIDIA GOLDBERG DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER SARAH W. JOHNSTON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LOUISA BECKETT, MIKE GARRETSON, KIM KAVIN,
Soundings7 min read
A Proponent Of The Brine
Nailing down a free spirit is a logistical nightmare, particularly if that spirit is across the ocean, hundreds of miles away from the nearest landmass. “Max Campbell isavailablethisweek,” myeditor texts me. “Get him on the phone while you can.” Camp
Soundings4 min read
Great, Big Reef
Imagine holding a flashlight above your desk and shining it down at the surface. The area it lights up is pretty small. The beam produces a tightly contained circle. Now, imagine climbing onto the roof of your house and pointing that same flashlight
Soundings7 min read
Cruising Through the Years
Cruising yachts have been the lifeblood of Sabre Yachts since the company was founded in 1970. Sabre, based in Raymond, Maine, exclusively built sailing yachts until 1989, when it debuted the Sabreline 36 Fast Trawler, the first in a series of Downea
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