The Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, which is run by Informa Markets and the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association (NMMA) opens on February 11 and has a new look for 2026. The reconfiguration of show spaces will simplify moving to and fro between the different venues for the 100,000-plus attendees. Show management has partnered with the Brightline train service which has a station in Miami. There will be shuttle buses running from the station to Watson Island where show shuttles will transfer you to the Convention Center in Maimi Beach and the in-water displays on Collins Avenue. So, to avoid…

Axopar, the Finnish builder of express day boats and cruisers, does not sit still. Every year, if not every few months, they come out with new designs and new ideas all driven by seeming unlimited imaginations. The new 38 XC (cross cabin) that is being introduced at boot Dusseldorf this week is no exception. One look at the angular hull, arrow-like sheer and sharp bow and you know you are looking at an Axopar. The look is truly distinctive. But the 38 XC is pushing the boundaries a bit by taking the walk-around deck concept and splicing it into a…

Here’s a fun way to while away a few winter evenings by the fire. Get out your map of North America and follow Matt and Lucie Clairborne’s guide to the Great Loop and all the alternative routes that go with it. Most Loopers take about a year to 15 months to make the full. traditional Great Loop and that is an adventure in itself. But, if you have the time and inclination, that year can easily be expanded to two or three or more. As most readers know, the 6,000-mile long Great Loop circles the eastern third of North America…

Last Sunday’s military incursion by the U.S. military into Venezuela to remove the country’s president Nicolas Maduro involved a large build-up of ships, air power and troops in the Southern Caribbean.  For a few days, the U.S. imposed no-fly zones in the islands and along South America’s north coast to the inconvenience of thousands of holiday tourists. To find out how the military presence in the Caribbean has affected the cruising community, we reached out to old friend Elaine Lembo who is the editor of Caribbean Compass magazine and well connected to information sources throughout the area. As it turns…

Several years ago, I got a phone call from our yacht club’s manager in the middle of the day. He was looking for my son’s phone number because, he said, “His boat is on fire on its mooring off the club.” On fire? I called my son and then raced down to the water front and low and behold his 21-footer was engulfed in flames, If you have never seen a fiberglass boat with full fuel tanks burn, it is a terrifying sight. The fired burned through the mooring lines and the flaming hulk began drifting with the wind toward…

At the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show last month, I had the chance to visit with the Aquila team and have a look at the brand new 46 Yacht that was being introduced to the North American market. The cruising cat had made its debut at the Cannes, France, boat show in September to great acclaim. The new 46 is replacing the 44 in the Yacht line which is no small ask since the 44 has seen 200 cats delivered. But from a first look, the new boat will be up to the task. The whole Aquila concept is to…