I Learned About Boating From This: Details, Details, Details My father and I purchased our first vessel, an 18-foot Bayliner with a 125 hp Mercury outboard, the Honda Civic of the boating world. We bought the boat in September and used it a couple of months before having to winterize (we live in New Jersey).…
This boater’s experience shows the need to check everything before casting off. My father and I purchased our first vessel, an 18-foot Bayliner with a 125 hp Mercury outboard, the Honda Civic of the boating world. We bought the boat in September and used it a couple of months before having to winterize (we live…
Five of the worst gifts you can buy your boating friends. T-shirt emblazoned with Capt. Crunch. Just don’t do it! If you want to get them a shirt get them something they can use like a Columbia Fishing shirt, or a shirt with their boat brand on it. Black lug-soled boat shoes. Yep they will…
When you sign up for a boater safety course, you’re taking an important step toward being a responsible boater. It doesn’t matter if you have been a boater for years or if you are new to boating, you can brush up on your existing knowledge and learn the current rules on how to practice…
BOAT-TRAILER BREAKDOWNS Proper boat-trailer maintenance will help you avoid a breakdown. By Rich Johnson At the top of the launch ramp, the trailer suddenly lurched and fell slightly to one side. In the side-view mirror, I could see one of the wheels cocked at an ugly angle. The axle had broken just inboard of the…
As in any human endeavor, the first few seconds of an activity often prove fraught with distraction, and fellow boaters leaving a fuel dock are not exempt from this fact. Running the inlet, navigating the channel, backing into the slip: So much of what constitutes seamanship involves forging ahead with confidence. (Poetic license allows me…
One video that’s garnered loads of likes and shares recently in our Boating Fail series on social media depicts a wakeboarder horsing around and wiping out. Specifically, he is shown sliding up close to the boat towing him in order to catch a canned beverage, and, just as the can is tossed, the hapless youth…