Category: Boating

Energy-Efficient salmon Gurdies

1/6/2025 - By Paul Molyneaux. Chandler Kemp, owner of Kempy Energetics of Dillingham, Alaska, has been experimenting with hybrid electric boats – primarily salmon trollers in Southeast Alaska – for several years. With grants from various sources, he worked with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), hybrid gear manufacturer Transfluid, and others. Kempy, formerly of Sitka, is… SEE MORE

A One-Stop Boatyard in Washington

12/9/2024 - By Michael Crowley. What’s the best test of a successful boatyard? Customers coming back time and again for another boat seems the most obvious answer. On that basis, Lee Shore Boats in Port Angeles, Wash., and Salish Seafoods, in Sheldon, Wash., have had a very productive relationship. Salish Seafoods is owned by Washington… SEE MORE

Buyboat is a Labor of Love

12/8/2024 - By Larry Chowning. Several years ago, while attending the Sultana Downrigging Festival in Chestertown, Md., Jim Drake and his wife Brooke were introduced to Chesapeake Bay buyboats. Brooke fell in love with the boats and Jim set out to build her one. Since 2015 National Fisherman has followed Jim Drake’s efforts in… SEE MORE

Commodores Boats Transforms Alaskan Crabber into a Powerhouse

12/3/2024 - By Paul Molyneaux. Commodores Boats in Richmond, British Columbia, has been repairing boats for over 30 years, and the yard has seen some interesting projects. Last year, the crew sponsoned two boats, the Golovin Bay and the Sea Lady, at close to the same time using two different systems. According to Jake Spiller, the… SEE MORE

Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, the largest in-water boat show in the world.

2024 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show Wrap Up

11/30/2024 - We once again had the pleasure of attending the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the largest in-water boat show in the world. The 2024 edition lived up to FLIBS’ grand reputation, with sunny skies and a steady breeze that kept things comfortable for the USHarbors crew from Maine. And, as… SEE MORE

Century-Old Halibut Schooners Restored in Port Townsend

10/22/2024 - By Michael Crowley. The boatyard many fishermen who ply the waters of the Pacific Northwest or Alaska in wooden boats choose for maintenance and repairs is Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op in Port Townsend, Wash. At the yard this September, several wooden halibut schooners had been hauled out awaiting work this fall. Among them… SEE MORE

Outer Fall built by John's Bay Boat Company

Boat of the Month: Outer Fall

10/20/2024 - By Paul Molyneaux The first time I ever saw Jimmy Tripp was in late 1982. Jimmy had his boat, the Day Star, loaded with big wooden Anderson traps and was heading offshore. It was snowing and the flakes vanished in the water of Spruce Head harbor. Tripp had his head sticking out… SEE MORE

Why Choose the Hard Life of Commercial Fishing?

9/26/2024 - By Carli Stewart. Why would anyone who has a choice want to fish for a living, given the cold, wet, uncertainty, danger, muck, dependence on weather for make or break, and general ass-busting hardship? For a skipper of any sized boat, add the government regulations, ruinous cost of fuel and… SEE MORE

Leading the Way to Hybrid Diesel Electric Propulsion

9/23/2024 - By Paul Molyneaux. In 2021, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) initially received funding from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnerships Project for modeling and analysis of alternative propulsion systems. Based on that work, the original plan—developed in conjunction with the National Research Energy Laboratory—was to put a Transfluid clutch, electric… SEE MORE

Rescue of Six Fishermen Shows Importance of Personal Locator Beacons

9/10/2024 - By Carli Stewart. Six fishermen were rescued, and their disabled vessel was towed to Satawal Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) after a coordinated search by international operations. The United States Coast Guard, one of the crews involved in the rescue efforts, has written statements about the importance… SEE MORE