How-to

Last week I was in Kansas City at the Skills USA National Championship contest, this week I'm here in Minnesota at Best Buy's Geek Squad University training about 30 members of the Geek Squad team in the nuances of marine electrical systems. One of the... …Read More

Yesterday Yamaha Motors came out with some really sound advice regarding running their engines in the Gulf of Mexico, more specifically what to do if you find yourself running through an oil slick. As far as I'm concerned, their advice will work for j... …Read More

You can file your own “citizen scientist” reports on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster and contribute  information about what’s really happening down there. All you have to do is download the free iPhone app called “MoGo,” short for Mobile Gulf Observatory, from scientists at UMass Amherst. If you live in or are visiting [...] …Read More

Today we completed the hands-on portion of the USA National Championship competition. The photo below shows one of the contestants totally engrossed in troubleshooting an electrical problem with a Suzuki outboard engine ignition component. Keep in min... …Read More

How big were your kids when you put the boat away last winter? How big are they now that you’re on the water again—and do they still fit into the life jackets you have onboard? According to the 2009 Life Jacket Wear Rate Observation Study from the U.S. Coast Guard, which incorporates data going back to 1998, [...] …Read More

I'm in Kansas City, MO this week at the Skills USA National Championship competition to determine the best and brightest in the service industry not just for marine techs, but virtually any area of service you can think of, from airplanes to pastry c... …Read More

The 100-footer Maxi Speedbird beats all the other boats to Bermuda in the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race. We've got a nice video tour of Speedboat. …Read More

The on-going rebuild of the 1977 Silverton is continuing and this morning Gel-Coat Jim began preparing some of the nicks in the original gel coat surface for recoating. With a small grinder he removed all of the loose gel-coat around each of the nicks ... …Read More

The 2010 Newport Bermuda Race is underway and we've got some fascinating video and live tracking links for you. …Read More

Dramatic photos of a Danish-built, Scottish fishing trawler in wild North Atlantic seas. The "deadliest" profession, for sure. …Read More