The Aquador 300HT is a vessel that is "back to the future." Several generations of Americans grew up on and enjoyed 25' to 30' (7 - 9 m) cabin cruisers, but in the 1990s they petered out. Great old names like Trojan, Owens, Uniflite, Tollycraft, Chris-Craft (gen 2), Pacemaker, Penn Yan and many others melted away — many thanks to the 10% luxury tax in 1991.
Happily, a Swedish brand called Aquador is bringing them back to North America. These are boats designed for a family to enjoy boating in all sorts of weather and for all manners of activities. They are affordable without being slipshod and cheap-looking. Take a look at Capt. Trip's video and see what we mean.
Two transom doors, two dive doors, a powered transom seat and an athwartship galley on the main deck are just some of the amenities on the Regal 38 SAV. She has four electric-adjust premium seats behind the console, AC at the helm, sunroof and pop-up LEDs all around the cockpit. She accommodates four below and the head includes a walk-in shower.
The Formula 457 Center Console Fish is a marriage made in angler heaven. First, she has the performance hull proven in years off offshore racing by Formula. Second, the 457 CCF has the luxury accommodations, details and amenities that the builder has put in gold-plated express cruisers for years. Third is the build quality and the after-market service to stand behind her for five years, something that every owner should have on a boat as feature-rich as this one. She's designed to take a boat load of friends fishing offshore in any weather.
Silent Yachts could just as easily be called "Solar Yachts" because they harness the sun's energy free of charge and can steam around the globe endlessly. But the 62 is much more than an eco-friendly marvel — with a 29' 6" (8.99 m) beam, she's a party platform extraordinaire. This is a yacht for people with lots of friends! See her at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show.
With flowing, sculpted lines that could have been the work of Brancusi, the smallest yacht in Solaris Power's line is an exquisite jewel in our opinion. She's simply an impressive display of yacht craftsmanship at its very best. The Italian company has a 50-year history of building fine yachts catering to Europe's elite where the emphasis is on style, fit-and-finish and unabashed luxury. Americans will like that everything is practical and ergonomically correct.
While we hope you never need to make a marine distress call, it's crucial to do it correctly. Here's how to ensure rescue teams and mariners respond promptly, and what to do if you receive such a call.
50% of Boats on Lifts Were Not Tied Properly for Helene
We took the pictures above last week in the St. Pete and Tampa Bay area where there was about 7' of surge. From the sound of the weather reports we're hearing about Hurricane Milton — predictions of 10' to 15' of surge — this area must now prepare for something far worse. For those BoatTEST members on the west coast of Florida with their boats on a lift, we have some advice about how to keep your boat from ending up like those above.
Should you attach positive or negative connections to your battery first? Faulty wiring is the biggest cause of boat fires. Check this advice from Aaron Hilligoss, chief wrench at Born Again Boating, and avoid problems.
Easily access your course-over-ground data with Navionics. Learn to sync your phone app with your plotter and leverage tidal info, guided by Halcyon Yacht Services' expert skippers.
Noted yacht designer Tom Fexas viewed a clean sheet of drawing paper as “an unlimited boating horizon — an empty anchorage just waiting for a spectacular vessel to drop anchor there.” But he found success did not necessarily bring the satisfaction he sought, thanks to the Peter Principle, among other things.
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