A Nautical Icon Has Passed – Bill Felgenhauer

Bill Felgenhauer passed away on June 1st, 2026. He and his wife Mary were one of the most iconic couples in the marine industry....

All Are Invited To The Great Lakes In-Water Boat Show

Tickets for the inaugural Windy City Boat & Yacht Show are now on sale at WindyCityBYS.com. Produced by Informa, the event will launch this...

BOOT 2027 EXHIBITOR REGISTRATION OPEN

Exhibitor registration for boot 2027, the world's largest yacht and water sports trade fair, is now open at www.boot.com. The event will be held from...

Stress Doesn’t Retire Just Because You Did

You traded your commute for a cockpit, your office for an anchorage, and your mortgage for a mooring fee. Life aboard was supposed to...

And Sometimes It’s Just An Ordeal

It was one of those days that reminds you the ocean really doesn’t give a damn about your plans, your schedule, or your opinion...

What You Find Out There

As you rack up the years on this rock, you eventually stumble into one unavoidable truth that hits harder than a rogue wave at...

Biker

You’re riding with a partner. He swears he knows the surrounding area and roads for miles and miles. He insists you take a turn-off that...

Elevating the Yacht Charter Experience Before Guests Even Step Onboard

The luxury yacht charter industry has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Yachts are more magnificent, destinations more exclusive, and guest expectations higher than...

Good Read – Grand Bay

Grand Bay is a Treb Lincoln novel. It all started in Grand Bay in Bahia Navidad, Mexico. Treb Lincoln arrives after delivering a catamaran...

New Bahamas Cruising Permit Fees 2026

So you’re pointing the bow toward those gin-clear Bahamian shallows, dreaming of hook drops in water so blue it doesn’t seem real. Before you...

Staying Hydrated in the Tropics – More Than Just Drinking Water

You already know you're supposed to drink water. Thanks for that, every doctor, wellness blog, and person who's ever watched you hold a coffee...

Cruisers Gather in Black Point, Exuma for Annual SSCA Bahamas Cruisers Gathering

Cruisers from around the world convened March 16–22 in the Exumas for the annual SSCA Bahamas Cruisers Gathering, hosted in partnership with Commodore Joni...

We Are Off To Parts Unknown

There's always that moment, right after the lines are cast off, when reality sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder with a greasy...

Why? Better Yet, Why Not!

I didn't set out to learn sailing like a man signs up for a class. Nah. It crept up on me the way the...

Having A Wicked Sense Of Humor Does Help!

Having had a sort of career at sea. I’ve had some great laughs. My job as a pro. Sailor means that this is the...

Sailing The Marquesas Islands

Ua-Pou. Say it slow and it tastes like salt and history. It’s only about 26 miles from Nuku Hiva, but it might as well be...

Fools Rush In

Ever notice how the old salts down at the dock all sound like philosophers… right up until they start telling you about the time...

Good Read: The Sailing Life

You’ve just shoved off from Gibraltar, tailwinds flirting with your hair, and you’re curving around the southern tip like some smug little sea predator...

Loss Of A good Friend!

Andy Kersting Passed March 5th Andy Kersting came to our boat shows in St. Pete for years, and after hour events for a long time....

Why Mold on Boats Is a Big Deal

Mold on boats is one of those quiet troublemakers—it starts as a little musty smell and before you know it, it’s creeping into cushions,...

The Story Of Conch Charters

The Caribbean doesn’t whisper. It calls. Not politely either. It grabs you by the collar, smells like salt and diesel, and dares you to...

Singapore Yachting Festival

From April 23 to 26, 2026, the Singapore Yachting Festival drops anchor at ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove for its fourth run, and if you’ve...

The Gates Of Hell

Cape Taineron is supposedly where Hades keeps the front door unlocked, and by the time we got there, I was inclined to believe it....

To Serve and Evict

As the waters closed over the 41 foot Tartan sailboat Spiritus, her captain closed his eyes, holding back tears. The captain of the freighter...

Good Read: DORF by Bob Bitchin

This work proves Schroedinger’s Cat Theory: A cat is imagined as being enclosed in a box with a radioactive source and a poison that will...

Raising my mast wasn’t fun!

Doing everything on the cheap can mean you run into many problems. Our 26ft. Dutch wooden boat ‘Blauwe Slenk’. I’d dropped her mast in...

Music Review: The Bilge Pump’s Greatest Hits

Every so often, something washes up on the digital beach that makes you glad you bothered to check the tide line. In this case,...

Unrequited Love

The little boat skipped across the water, her sails filled with warm summer wind and her owner standing proudly at the helm. Today was...

Buchan Dorades – High Quality in a Century-Old Design

If you’ve spent any time offshore, you already know that a dorade vent is not just shiny deck jewelry. It is a working piece...

Alan Olsen Receives Tall Ships America’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Alan Olsen taught Bob Bitchin how to sail! Alan Olson, the guy behind Call of the Sea and decades of getting people off the dock...

The Gold Ol’ Boys In The Good Ol’ Days!

Oh to be young again!  It was 1972, The year before the very first Toy Run. The following degenerates gathered in New Orleans for...

Windy City Boat & Yacht Show Drops Anchor in Chicago June 11-14, 2026

Chicago’s finally joining the grown-up cities with an in-water boat show. Took long enough. June 12–14, 2026, Burnham Harbor becomes a floating village of fiberglass,...

Galley Alchemy

Turning Limited Onboard Ingredients into Real Food We sailed from Roatán to Placencia, Belize aboard SV Dutch Love, arriving a few days before Christmas. Guests...

Watch Boat Geeks Here! – The Boat Geeks #44

This is the full 114 minute video! The Boat Geeks #44 - "Sailor Barry" Collins, popular YouTuber and Sail Cargo entrepreneur. Barry has long been harboring...

The Beginning Of Understanding

The Stone Witch held a 180 course until the end of day. Alan pulled out the charts and was showing us where we were...

SSCA 2026 Ladybug Event & Spring GAM!

A Blended Cruising Education & Fun Weekend On and Off the Water ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida (March 6–8, 2026) – The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA)...

The Benford Captains Hats story!

American Quality in a Century-Old Design Hand-embroidered gold bullion wire — not a sewn patch Handcrafted in America with premium materials Perfect gift for...

John McKercher’s Lobcouse

One subject for any professional sailor best to avoid is writing about boat food. Knowing that most guys in my game; will eat almost...

Good Read: Starboard Attitude

This is the sequel to The Sailing Life. Once again, taking small vignettes from life at sea and bringing forth a lesson to be...

Micro-Movement Mastery

Creative strength & mobility workouts for life on a boat One of the great myths of boat life is that you need a gym, a...

BOOT 2026 In Dusseldorf

There was an excellent atmosphere in the exhibition halls when boot 2026, the world’s largest water sports trade fair, recently closed its doors in...

Turn Left instead of right! Change Your Life!

I think that life gets the most interesting when you turn left instead of right. Okay, so you are now scratching your head wondering what...

Inheriting The Helm : J.B. Gerlach Kindle Edition

by J.B. Gerlach (Author) Format: Kindle Edition Jonathan grew up with a wheel beneath his hand and a horizon to chase, a sailor from his...

Enjoying Light Airs

Whether you’re racing or cruising most of us go sailing for the peace and joy it brings using just the wind to power us...

Letters from The Lost Soul

The perennial bestseller from the man behind Latitudes & Attitudes is now available in paperback! This is an exciting and hilarious account of Bob...

Enjoy It While You Can

There is a sunset that sticks in my alleged mind that, to my memory, was the best sunset I have ever experienced. In the...

BLUE INNOVATION DOCK AT BOOT 2026

The blue innovation dock will be presented at the boot trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, from January 17 – 25, 2026 as the leading...

What A Difference A Week Makes – Cruising Cabo!

We had an ugly January. We’ve been kinda strapped down at home in the Tundra ( Minnesota to be exact ) since my wife’s...

After The Holidays- Skip The Resolutions, Start with reality!

After the holidays—no matter where you are—I’m pretty sure you gave yourself permission to enjoy the food. Cookies, cocktails, comfort meals, late nights… all...

Are We Normal? I think NOT!

What is it that drives normal people to do abnormal things? This question popped into my alleged mind while spending a weekend up in the...

Ground Swell Can Be A Hinderance or Even A Good Friend

There’s no doubt that any big swell can be a problem, especially with a monohull boat. It can become a recipe for damaging your...

Taking Responsibility

Within the past few months there have been a bunch of sea-related stories on the news that have made me want to shrivel up...

Emerald Bay – A Treb Lincoln Adventure

A novel featuring Treb Lincoln and others from A Brotherhood Of Outlaws. But now Treb is living on a Sailboat, and an explosion in...

The Cost Of Cruising

In case you haven't noticed, the cost of cruising is going up in the U.S.  Not only that, but it is getting to where there...

85th Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show

MIAMI — December 1, 2025 — The 2026 Discover Boating. Miami International Boat Show. Returns President’s Day weekend, Feb. 11–15. As one of the...

Cruisers Boat – Take A “Leap Of Faith”

This two-owner boat was purchased by the current owner in 2002 and in 2014 sailed from Canada to Mexico's Sea of Cortez where she...

Owning A Money Pit

After reading recently that it costs more to own a wooden especially an old one. It seems to me that the writer was missing...

Fair Winds, Charles Tobias: 91 Years of An Adventure-Filled Life

Some people spend their lives talking about adventure. Charles S. Tobias lived it. All of it. Every damn day. Born April 23, 1934, Charles crossed the bar...

Healthy Cruising – The Real Treasure: Community

If you’ve ever lived aboard or spent any real time in the cruising world, you already know this secret: the greatest luxury out there...

Learning To Dance On Water

You think a 27-footer is just a cute little coastal cruiser? Ha! Meet Genie, a 1988 Pearson 27 with more attitude than a cat...

Most Civilized?

We sailed into the anchorage at Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas just before sunset. It was the second island we'd visited since arriving in French...

We Gotta Be Nuts!

We gotta be nuts, ya know? Check it out...just what is it we all have in common? I mean besides smelly feet? Well? Ya know what it is? A...

Good Read: A Brotherhood Of Outlaws

By Bob Bitchin A Brotherhood of Outlaws is a novel, and has been called the most relevant look at the outlaw bikers culture in the...

A Typical Day Cruising!

It comes to mind that I have not really covered a typical day on an island in paradise. As we drove around Raiatea it...

CJ’s Monster Overfalls And G&T’s

Some years ago, we were passing between Coll and Tiree into a gap called the Gunna Sound which on a good day is about...

WAKE UP, OPEN UP – Cruising With Yoga Kim

No mat? No problem. Just a few mindful moves can shift everything. Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be — and yoga...

BOOT DÜSSELDORF 2026: OVER 1,000 BOATS AND YACHTS ON BOARD

Many international shipyards and dealers will again participate in the world's number one international boat and water sports trade fair in 2026 to present...

Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA)

The SSCA invites all cruisers, liveaboards, and boating enthusiasts to the 2025 Melbourne Cruisers Conference & GAM, held November 14–16 at the Front Street...

Saying Goodby To Katie Kitty, The Official Office Cat.

It was 10 years ago, at the Oakland Boat show, when Katie & Jessie Kitty were brought into the show in a box, with...

Custom Welcome Mats From Ahoy Captain

Let Them Know They Are Welcome Aboard! Kick off your deck shoes and step onto one of these “Welcome Aboard” mats — the kind of...

Good Read: Biker To Sailor

The mid ‘70s through the ‘80s were a unique time in King Harbor, Redondo Beach, CA. Boating in general was at a peak and there...

Go Out & Have An Adventure!

Did you ever notice how people just love to see others mess up? If you doubt me, just check it out the next time...

All Is Well With The World

If you own a boat, then you will understand the feeling that a boat owner gets every once in awhile that totally takes over...

New Designs: Oceanis Yacht 54

A Little Luxury Never Hurt Anyone! Now, I’ve seen a lotta boats in my time—some built to go fast, some built to float like condos,...

Sail from Newport, RI to Bermuda to St. Maarten in El Carib

SailOpo.com offers a handful of the greatest offshore sailing opportunities available to sailors wanting offshore miles and experience. Crew on one of three Swan yachts...

HAL is Here!

A free New SSCA Member Benefit The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) is excited to introduce HAL (Hybrid Applied Layer, LLC'S HAL-CORE), a maritime AI...

And We Are Off!

We were sailing on a broad reach, doing about eight knots with 12 knots of wind coming over our port stem. The seas were...

boot Dusseldorf Is Coming!

The Worlds Largest Boat Show! The online ticket shop for boot 2026 is now open https://www.boot.com/en/Visit/Tickets_Vouchers. Admission prices for the world's largest trade fair for...

Sun, Moon & Tide: Resetting Your Natural Rhythm at Sea

One of the best parts about being at anchor is how quickly life starts to fall into a natural rhythm. You wake with the...

A Good Look-Out

When returning across the Atlantic between Bermuda and the Azores with the leg almost finished, I was awakened from a light nap one afternoon,...

“Sailing” From Japan to Vancouver By Way Of Alaska!

Part 5: Decadence and a little weather As the pilot boat guided our ship into the harbor, we got ready for a day in Kodiak....