How-to

Last month, we brought you some tips for making sure that the life jackets on your boat are the correct size for every adult and child you regularly bring aboard. This month, we’re following up with a way that you can get correctly fitting life jackets for surprise guests: The Sea Tow Life Jacket Loaner [...] …Read More

Today we’re at Steam Up, a model yacht gathering that is exactly what the name tells you. It’s all about steam. Real steam engines, in miniature. What would inspire a former military pilot, now retired from a career in finance, to spend three years building something like this . . . Well, the inspiration [...] …Read More

PassageMaker Magazine announced its choice of Baltimore’s historic Inner Harbor as the location of their new mid-Atlantic Trawler Fest set for September 24-26, 2010.  The Inner Harbor, a major seaport in the United States since the 1700s, is a very... …Read More

Back in May I received a surprise call from the editor of Soundings magazine, Bill Sisson. For those not in the know, Soundings is a well known East Coast boating publication. He wanted to interview me... Well I was a bit flattered and the whole idea... …Read More

If you’ve never been to an owners’ or manufacturer’s or dealer’s rendezvous, you’re missing a great part of the cruising lifestyle. Last weekend’s Northeast Nordic Tug Owners Association (NENTOA) 2010 Rendezvous in Essex, Connecticut, is a great example of how they work and why they’re such a wonderful experience. NENTOA works closely each year with [...] …Read More

BRINGING ALCHEMY TO THE WIND “Because it wasn’t there.” Sir Edmund Hillary All photos by Kimball Livingston Oops, I guess that’s a slight misquote of Hillary. But how else to introduce Rick Cavallaro, who invented an unproblem and then solved it—to the consternation of many an internet flamer—and opened up new possibilities in wind energy extraction, all [...] …Read More

The Coast Guard announced it will be cracking down on the practice of bow riding, meaning you can’t ride in the bow cockpit, as pictured above, while the boat is underway. According to the Coast Guard News website, this will take effect in the 5... …Read More

And what rough beast, it’s hour come ’round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? All photos by Kimball Livingston Below, friends, is a document that I want on record at the Blue Planet Times. I’ll be referring to it on Monday, when I write the story of the first vehicle ever to go Dead [...] …Read More

Continuing with the theme I began in yesterday's post lets take a look at sea cocks and valves today. The photo below, again taken at the Mystic Classic Boat rendezvous over the past week end show one of the original sea cock valves used "back in the ... …Read More

After testing Sirius satellite weather on the chartplotter, I signed up for the service myself. Since I take my kids out on offshore adventures that may range 60 to 70 miles from the boat ramp, I wanted to be darn sure I knew what weather was coming, and how to avoid it. And avoid it [...] …Read More