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In Depth

The trimaran Earthrace completed a circumnavigation powered by biodiesel to raise awareness of its use as a marine fuel.
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Will biodiesel ever work for boaters?

San Francisco powers its Red & White sightseeing fleet with biodiesel. Seattle’s King County Water Taxi uses biodiesel to move people across Puget Sound.

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The Felicity Ann project

The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is working to restore and relaunch Ann Davison's historic sloop Felicity Ann.

Anyone who spends time on the water benefits from Sea Grant’s work to enhance environmental stewardship and promote responsible use of marine resources.
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Proposed federal budget would eliminate Sea Grant program

In late March, President Trump proposed a budget that would slash the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s funding by 17 percent and eliminate several educational and research programs, if Congress approves.

Sabine Merz and Jurgen Kantner had spent many years living aboard and traveling the world. After surviving a Somali pirate attack in 2008, they were still eager to return to cruising.
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Cruising sailors’ second encounter with pirates ends tragically

A photo from a collection purchased at auction by Steve Raffield shows the 30-foot black smudge on the starboard side where fire may have weakened the hull.
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Did a fire on board sink the Titanic?

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VIDEO: Harland & Wolff: builders of the Titanic

The cutter Tamaroa battled atrocious conditions to save seven lives during the “No Name Storm” of 1991.
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Eight bells for the ‘perfect storm’ cutter

Pirates continue to target commercial vessels and cruising yachts off eastern Africa and in the Philippines despite counter-operations.
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Cruising couple abducted twice in eight years

The National Coast Guard Museum (shown here in a rendering) will be built on the Thames River in New London, Connecticut.
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A place to honor the men and women of the Coast Guard

Some believe using offshore sand to renourish beaches is akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul.
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Sand wars: raiding the sea to rebuild the beach

The algae bloom on the St. Lucie River clogged engine intakes on boats.
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Florida algae bloom leaves a rotting, rancid slime

A scientist shows one of the deposits that miners want to extract.
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The next frontier: mining the sea floor

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Man charged for false distress alert in ‘disappearing act’

The USS Conestoga was lost in 1921 on her way to American Samoa.
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Wreck discovery lays to rest a 95-year-old mystery

Ngoc Nguyen and his family were rescued by the Arnold Maersk when they fled Vietnam in 1981.
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A captain’s good deed fuels a dream

The disappearance of Niña, a former NYYC flagship, in the Tasman Sea led to a massive search-and-rescue operation that was abandoned after months of fruitless effort.
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Sea mysteries, Part II: The disappearances of Niña and Baychimo

The desiccated body of the skipper (below) was at the nav table of this boat when it was found adrift early this year.
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Mummies and madness: The sea has a way of keeping its mysteries

The venue for the Miami International Boat Show, on Virginia Key, cost some veteran show-goers time to get their bearings, but the consensus on the docks was the locale has great potential.
In-Depth Focus

Miami show gets good reviews

Hurricane Sandy in 2012 left hundreds of damaged and destroyed boats in its wake.
Materials

The fiberglass dilemma

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris’ Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718, depicts the defeat of the infamous British marauder.
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Plunder disputes plague the wreck of Blackbeard’s ship

This Andries van Eertvelt painting depicts the Santa Maria on the first of the voyages Columbus made to North America.
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Was Columbus a double agent?

El Faro was a 790-foot roll-on/roll-off, lift-on/lift-off cargo ship built in 1974 and updated in 1992 and 2006. Her maximum speed was 22 knots.
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Lost at sea: Will the questions around the sinking of El Faro ever be answered?

With travel restrictions easing, there has been a revival of racing and other boat travel to Cuba.
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The race to see Cuba aboard your own boat

The Wave Glider comprises a floater with a solar panel tethered to a “wave engine” below that moves the vessel forward.
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Roboboats could be wave of the future