Boating Advice

Spring is here, finally. Time to renew, refresh, and recharge. And get back out on the water. Depending where one lives,...

Now is a great time to buy a boat to go cruising. In fact, it may be about the best time ever. When I put together the recent...

I have been writing about trawlers and powerboat cruising for many years. It is both an obsession and a fascination forme,...

The summer is winding down and the smell of fall is in the air. For many that means leaves falling off the trees, and fleece...

It is a simple enough question, and every sailor has either asked or heard it in conversation. And it invariably comes up...

One sees this question every now and then on the Internet these days, and it baffles seasoned sailors who have never really...

I’ve been busy in recent weeks working on a cruising guide of the Chesapeake Bay. Not just another general cruising...

I enjoyed looking at photos that one of the Seattle Yachts’ brokers posted of his clients removing personal stufffrom...

No matter how conscientious I am there is always an element of uncertainty when it comes to getting the boat ready for the...

I recently wrote about people expressing interest in getting into sailing (Read: Is Sailing Hard?). That involved how to...

Over the years, I’ve met numerous people who have decided they want to get into the sport of sailing, for one reason...

Experienced boat owners will spend months researching and touring possible candidates for their next boat. Ultimately, many...

I went aboard a new trawler not long ago. It was so new the cushions and mattresses were still covered in thick plastic....

We frequently post about the importance of regularly checking things on your boat, and I try to be as specific as possible...

I recently wrote about spring commissioning. I suggested that maybe this year to look a little deeper into the boat’s...

In many areas around the country, spring is about renewal, and time for the local boat shows. While some of the larger shows,...

It’s now spring, time to get the boat ready for another season on the water. That is what you have been waiting to...

One thing I’ve noticed about the sought-after lifestyle of the last decade is the personal quest for “experience.”...

One of the newest boats to come onto the scene are Ocean Sport Boats from Burlington, Washington. The brainchild of RonMing...

The Seattle and Miami shows may be over, and Palm Beach is still on the horizon, but it is a good time to think about the...

It is that time of year, when it is neither winter nor spring, but squarely between them, at least here in the MidAtlantic...

I spoke with one of our brokers last week and we got around to talking about couples looking for a trawler yacht to live...

During all the years I have been sailing, especially as a small-boat sailor, one question invariably comes up. And depending...

We recently published the last update in the Last Item blog, where the couple unloaded personal gear from their Nimbus 405...

As often happens, all sorts of factors and events bring unexpected elements into bright focus. The latest is the convergence...

Fall is the favorite time of year for many people, and for boat owners, it comes with mixed feelings. True, it signals the...

It is a recurring question in our cruising niche. What makes a yacht a trawler? For many years, the answer was straightforward....

I recently watched a YouTube video from Ta Shing Yacht Building, one of the larger builders of the Nordhavn line of offshore...

It has been an interesting year. Everyone around me seems to be regrouping in some way, everyone shifting from one place...

Many of us do our boating in areas where winter forces us to head south with the boat, or have it hauled, winterized, and...

Spring is the traditional time to finish your boat’s regular maintenance before the start of your cruising season....

My recent article on what is the right size sailboat to live on got me thinking. There are some other aspects of livingon...

Unless you live in a warm climate or you enjoyed taking the boat south this past winter, your boat has spent the past number...

Friends of friends are on their way home on a new-to-them Downeast cruiser. The boat had been sitting on land for several...

One of the comments that came out of my recent article on the couple cruising the Caribbean (Catching Up With White Pearl)...

With spring almost upon us, I would like to share some information from an engine and generator service done on our boat...

I was thinking how so many of my friends have moved to the Dark Side in the last couple of years. While every situationis...

If you have ever spent a glorious afternoon on the water on a sailboat, you know what a thrill it is. Sailing represents...

My favorite kind of inquiry is something like the following post I read last week on the trawler forum in Facebook. A guy...

Buying and owning a boat is a wonderful experience. Walk the docks at any boat show and it is thrilling to see the manydiverse...

I just had a most enlightening experience. I would almost call it an adventure, but my wife describes it as a horrible nightmare....

Fall is approaching and it is boat show time once again. I say once again, but this year is unlike any other show season...

This article originally appeared on NorthernMarine.com. For anyone interested in passage making trawlers, the number of...

Did wisdom come to the ancient mariner? Or am I getting soft? A week ago, I helped move one of our three boats from Annapolis...

I am amazed how dialogues come and go from year to year, resurfacing regularly for a variety of reasons. Recently, thatwas...

Everyone I know found new avenues of entertainment this past year as we spent time on our laptops and computers watching...

The following are general guidelines to assist you in getting your Nordic Tug ready for another season of cruising in the...

During the off season, it is a good time to really inspect your dock lines. We use them regularly throughout the season,...

I have been looking at RVs this past year, which is the other booming business besides boating right now. They are bothhaving...

When I began sailing, the common belief was that seawater and electricity don’t mix. Every experienced sailor whowrote...

You bought the boat and are excited to go cruising. Your broker helped closed the deal and managed the process through survey...

Here I sit in the new Annapolis office of Seattle Yachts, as it quickly comes together, with new carpet, paint, furniture,...

I am thinking about a new boat. As life changes, so does the mission statement. I have been lucky enough to go cruisingin...

In this last piece of my four-part tool series, I want to share what I have in my bag dedicated to all things electric.These...

To start with Part 1 of our Boat Tools series, please visit: https://www.seattleyachts.com/news/boat-tools-how-do-you-keep-yours ...

To read Part 1 of our Boat Tools series, please visit: https://www.seattleyachts.com/news/boat-tools-how-do-you-keep-yours...

About this time every year, I go through a ritual of sorting through my tool bags to organize, remove, or replace tools,...

There is continued interest in recreational boating in this country, during these times as a way for people to expand their...

I recently wrote an article that documents Northern Marine’s approach to securing the deck to the hull of its new57-foot...

It is a common life theme. The kids are grown, parents no longer require care, and the house is too big and full of a lifetime...

Marine industry veteran Phil Friedman recently wrote about his distaste for that saying about the two best days of boatownership...

We wrote many articles on this subject over the last 25 years, but when I look back at them, I realize many things havechanged…...

While it may be true that one can purchase a car or truck online, or search for the ideal home, finding the right cruising...

Before we jump into this, I want to pass on a suggestion from my last article (Preventative Boat Maintenance Part 1) about...

Some onboard equipment is all but invisible when we list what service to do during our annual maintenance. Surprisingly,...

A boatyard walkabout prior to the lockdown reminded me that some things always seem to be done wrong. I see it every spring,...

Hopefully, you are hunkered down in support of our national agenda to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases across thecountry....

I’ve conducted many seminars about finding the right boat, or perhaps more accurately, figuring out what one really...

I wrote about this some years ago, so it is not a completely new subject. However, I continue to see people and marine companies...

If you are considering buying a new cruising yacht (or one that’s new to you), you’ll likely soon be comparing...

Can We PLEASE Stop Debating Single vs Twin Engines!?! Over the past 25 years one of the most basic questions from would-be...

I look back on many years of exploring the proper yacht, and the ideal passagemaker for cruising under power. Are you planning...

It is a claim that sets my teeth to grinding. “Heavy displacement sailing yachts are slower than light displacement...

Even for long-distance cruising, twin-engine propulsion packages often make more sense than single-screw installations......

Much of the marine industry is a more than a decade behind in its approach to oil-change intervals... For as long as...