Voices

Visual signals are key for a successful rescue at sea. If you want the Coast Guard to find your crew, think bigger and brighter.

Seabirds hovering over a striped-bass blitz can mean a hook-up is imminent; that is, if you know how to work the feeding frenzy efficiently.

On a damp gray morning in September, I left a dry room in a B&B on Bellevue Avenue to walk down to Bannister’s Wharf, smack in the middle of the harbor front, ground zero for the town’s seafaring past.

It's time for a change of watch at Soundings, but it's definitely not goodbye. The ship sails on, with able crew.

“Dream big,” is the advice Gary Reich’s father gave him during their first-ever visit to a boat show together.

Airline pilots use checklists to ensure they get everyone to their destination safely. Boaters can learn a thing or two from this practice.

I remember the first time I walked though the door at the Soundings offices in Essex, Connecticut.

I love EPIRBs. When asked what one thing I would take with me offshore, I always answer: an EPIRB.

Offshore fishing requires jumping through a lot of hoops, spending a lot of hard-earned dough and dedicating a lot of time.

In his latest Ask Mario video, Mario Vittone answers Craig Warner's question: " When would you let one of your crew go into the water to assist someone who is unable to help themselves?"

In this Ask Mario video, Mario Vittone answers Len Thibodeaux's question: Does Mario prefer EPIRBs or Satellite Tracking Devices?

On a damp, gray day in May, I trudged along a country road lined by towering hornbeams, across a short field and past the chicken coop.

It was 1977, only a couple of months before the original Star Wars movie was released, when my elementary school classmates and I shuffled up the steps of the long, yellow school bus.

For the past year, Mario Vittone has been writing the Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog for Soundingsonline.com. Now he is undertaking a new venture with Soundings, called Ask Mario, where readers can get answers to their boating safety questions. In this video, Mario answers the question: How often should thru hull fittings be replaced? WATCH

The handwriting is familiar, but I have a harder time picturing the boy who wrote the words.

If I’m really honest with myself, my love of boating is deeply entwined — no, totally inseparable — from my love of the sea.

When I was in the U.S. Coast Guard, I couldn’t say this; but I believe the phrase “Always wear your life jacket” is terrible advice.

For the past year, former US Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone has been teaching Soundings readers how to be safer on the water through his “Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea” blog. He will continue to educate us, but first, he wants to hear from you. READ MORE.

Once upon a time, I was not obsessed with boats.

I was a sophomore in high school when Baltimore’s sailing ambassador, the clipper Pride of Baltimore, sank.

When people fall overboard, more often than not it’s at the marina when boarding or stepping off the boat.