Category: Boating

Block Island, 2025 Best Harbor National Winner

2025 “Best Harbor” Contest Winners Announced

6/20/2025 - The People Have Spoken: Block Island Wins Again! Grand Winner, Best Harbor in the U.S. for 2025: Block Island, RI Last year’s Grand Winner for Best Harbor in the U.S., Block Island, RI, took home the prize again for 2025. This year saw a record number of votes cast for over… SEE MORE

Powercat fishing boat running in blue water

NMMA Backs Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize the Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund

6/13/2025 - By US Harbors On June 12, 2025, Representatives Debbie Dingell (D–MI) and Rob Wittman (R–VA) introduced legislation to renew the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (“Trust Fund”), a cornerstone federal program since 1950. Supported by NMMA President and CEO Frank Hugelmeyer, the fund is sustained by excise taxes… SEE MORE

Volvo Penta Electronic Vessel Controls. Photo courtesy Volvo Penta

The Benefits of Volvo Penta’s Electronic Vessel Control

6/3/2025 - By Kevin Falvey. With the EVC-upgrade program, Volvo Penta offers boaters a new way to refresh and elevate their boat-ownership experience. Maybe you own an older boat and don’t want to replace it but would love some “new boat” features such as assisted docking or a Dynamic Positioning System? Or… SEE MORE

Navigation Aid, buoy, in the fog. Photo by Andrew Marek/Shutterstock

Navigation Markers Targeted for Removal by U.S. Coast Guard — Here’s How to Weigh In

5/7/2025 - Coast Guard proposing the removal of 350+ navigation aids (NY to Maine). Public comment deadline: June 13, 2025 By US Harbors The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed eliminating more than 350 navigational aids—buoys, daymarks, and lights—along the Northeast coast, from New York to Eastport, Maine. These changes are part of… SEE MORE

The Importance of Having a Co-Captain

5/5/2025 - By Jim Hendricks. Having a co-captain can help ensure the safety of you, your crew and your vessel while out on the water on boating. Military fighter pilots can suffer from a condition called information overload, which can be brought about by overwhelming amounts of technology in the cockpit that… SEE MORE

Most Dangerous Inlets in the United States for Boaters

4/29/2025 - By Kevin Falvey. These 18 waterways require special US Coast Guard equipment and personnel due to the perilous conditions throughout the year. The title of my article makes a bold statement. I’m basing it on the US Coast Guard requirements for establishing what’s called a Surf Station. Surf Stations are… SEE MORE

Ignoring a Warning Sign Ruins a Day of Boating

4/7/2025 - By boatingmag.com. Ignoring a warning sign leads to a calamitous day on the bay while boating. Find out what lessons this boater learned. It was a beautiful August afternoon in Maryland, and my fiancée, her granddaughter, and I decided to take my 28-foot cabin cruiser down the South River and… SEE MORE

Aerial view of a powerboat running in shallow water.

Safely Navigating Unfamiliar Waters

3/6/2025 - By Pete McDonald. Boating in new waters can be a rewarding experience. Here are three tips to help you stay safe in unfamiliar places. Early on in my boat-testing career, I learned the hard way about what can happen when boating in unfamiliar waters. The boat company set up our… SEE MORE

Solving Boating Mysteries

3/4/2025 - By Charles Plueddeman. Mysteries solved? Local boaters do their best to get to the bottom of a couple of puzzling boating occurrences. Our neighborhood made the boating news twice in 2024, stories that have fueled the offseason hot-stove league here at the Lake View Inn, where everyone is welcome to… SEE MORE

Navigating Safely Around a Boat Being Towed

2/20/2025 - By Jim Hendricks. A vessel under tow presents a unique boating safety situation. Learn what you should, and should not, do if you encounter it. A floating traffic jam quickly developed as we joined a line of other boats, not unlike a solemn funeral procession, through a narrow channel behind… SEE MORE