On Friday evening of July 3, American Kelsey Pfendler rowed her 21-foot ocean-going rowboat into Honolulu, Hawaii and completed a remarkable, record-breaking solo adventure across the Pacific Ocean. Pfendler, a veteran Grand Canyon River guide, had the ambition when she departed Monterey, California on May 21 to become the fastest and youngest woman to complete the 2,400-mile course. She did that and more. Rowing 16 hours a day she arrived in Hawaii in 43 days and shattered Lia Ditton’s record of 86 days, 10 hours by  whopping 43 days. But she also crushed the standing men’s record for the course…

This week the Revolution Marine Group and Yacht Sales International, both with offices in Ft. Lauderdale and elsewhere announced that YSI had been named the exclusive dealer for the Revolution and Oceanwalker brands of catamarans for North America and the Caribbean. This partnership will focus initially on the new Oceanwalker S60 and S60e cruising power cats that have been meticulously developed by RMG.  The S60 is a traditional power cat with twin diesel engines while the S60e is an electric hybrid cat with a minimal carbon footprint. The first S60 in North America is lying in Ft. Lauderdale and available…

At the end of the July Fourth celebrations in New York harbor, a New Jersey fire and rescue boat that was returning home had a  “harrowing” encounter with a surfacing whale that sent the crew overboard and sank the boat. The crew was rescued by a nearby vessel. The fire and rescue boat was from Carteret, New Jersey. It had been working the on-the-water security detail near the Statue of Liberty during the day’s parade of tall ships when at 4:40 pm the boat sudden began to shake. A whale was breaching right underneath the boat and struck it at…

On Monday June 22, George Pino, a prominent real estate developer accused in the death of one teen and the serious injury to another when he crashed his 29-foot speedboat into a buoy on Maiami’s Biscayne Bay, was found not guilty. Prosecutors accused Pino, 55, of vessel homicide and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Lucy Fernandez due to the crash. A second victim, Katy Puig, was left with permanent disabilities from the accident. Prosecutors had claimed that Pino had been operating the speedboat recklessly and was therefore responsible for the death and serious injuries. The jury came to the…

What at first looked like a David versus Goliath conflict in the Persian Gulf between the U.S. and Iran, has turned into a stalemate largely because Iran has managed to keep the Strait of Homuz closed. That is in no small part because of their massive fleet of mosquito boats. The strait is under a double blockade with hundreds of commercial ships unable to pass through for fear of being stopped by either the U.S. or Iran. But, Iran’s navy has largely been put out of commission, so how are they able to maintain their blockade? Apparently, it is easier…