Here’s a story that will warm your heart. Yesterday Wendy Wilson, a member of the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, posted a message on group’s forum asking for help. She and her husband and their four daughters, ages 19, 8, 6 and 5, want to start the Great Loop this August, pending a good outcome from the 5-year-old’s open heart surgery in May. Mrs. Wilson says her daughter’s medical situation is part of the reason the family wants to do the Loop now, since she has already outlived her doctors’ predictions “and you just can’t take life for granted.” The…

I’ve done a lot of boat tests in my time, but certainly nothing like this one off the south coast of Ireland. And I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have taken my Grand Banks 36, much as I loved that boat, out on a day like this.https://youtu.be/N134TJlFjsU

We don’t know yet why this boat sank at the dock in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea yesterday, but we do know that twice as many boats sink at a dock than sink underway. Here are some tips from BoatUS to keep it from happening to you: Most boats sink because of the gradual failure of a part below the waterline. A small drip can become a big leak before long, producing more water than the bilge pump can handle. The stuffing box is often the culprit; adjust it so there are no leaks when the engine is not running, and just two or…