YMTA Norm Manly Education Scholarship – Just Give Students Money?
Disclaimer: Norris Comer is also the editor of The Sea Chest, the tri-annual journal of Puget Sound Maritime. He is not directly involved in the YMTA scholarship process in any way. We of the Pacific Northwest, and frankly the United States more broadly, tend to agree that the educational pipeline that used to lead the […]
Kayakers, Paddleboarders Stand Up to NW Permitting Laws
While no one wants to let environmental degradation tarnish the Pacific Northwest’s reputation for pristine waterways, some boaters are beginning to push back on the cost hikes municipalities are imposing to protect marine ecology, including Oregon’s Waterway Access Permit to help fund boat inspections and control invasive aquatic species and Washington’s Discover Pass program for […]
Migratory Whale Considerations
Image: Figure 2 Gray whale mother and calf on northbound migration. Credit: NOAA Fisheries In addition to flowers blooming, springtime in the Pacific Northwest means migratory whales passing through these waters to their northern feeding grounds. What challenges do our whales face—and what best habits can boaters adopt to help them? Last summer, I met […]
Hanse 460
The Hanse 460 sailboat didn’t come out this year, but it did earn a suite of industry awards, including European Yacht of the Year in 2022 and Sail magazine’s top 10 best boats in 2023. At the time of this writing, there is a 2025-built hull for sale locally at a post-Seattle Boat Show special […]
Pride of the PNW – Launchings and Refits
We at Nautical Northwest magazine proudly celebrate the vision, guts, and hard work of our region’s boatbuilding community with Pride of the PNW, which will be dedicated to recent, notable new launchings and refits. By no means a comprehensive listing, we offer these inspiring dreams-turned-boats as a sampling across our marine sectors: superyachts to commercial […]
Arc Sport
Image: All electric wakeboarding. Image from Arc. Wake sport boats are increasingly popular. They are designed to create a “surfable” wake when up on plane. There is a lot more “action” for a boarder or skier to work with to more easily get airborne for stunts. Fans of wakeboarding or acrobatic waterskiing have long been […]
Choice Chandlery: Shaw Island General Store
For many boaters hailing from ports all around the Salish Sea, a relaxing sojourn in the San Juan Islands would be incomplete without several days anchored in Blind Bay on Shaw Island—home to our Choice Chandlery marine and cruising supply store spotlight. We plan to celebrate those in the marine retail business who are often […]
La Conner and the Swinomish Channel, Washington
A Vibrant Waterside Time Capsule on a Sheltered ‘Inside’ Route The compass rose on a paper chart indicates “magnetic north.” Boaters residing in the southern reaches of the Salish Sea seem to find north magnetic indeed. It’s where most of us tend to head when we depart our marinas or clear the Ballard Locks to […]
Spring Sensuality with Local Wines
During the off-season months of late winter and early spring, harbor activity here in the San Juan Islands slows down to a crawl. However, the positive side of this easy pace is that it is the perfect opportunity to liven things up and invite our famous wine makers from across the Cascades to join us […]
Nimitz Takes Her Final Bow in Bremerton
Image: Sailors on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) man the rails on the flight deck while pulling into the carrier’s homeport of Bremerton following nine months of operation. (CREDIT: Hunter Boyd, DVIDS) On a suitably drizzly mid-December evening, the world’s oldest active nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), tied up at her homeport at Naval […]