It used to be that people who lived on the water had a variety of watercraft: a speed boat for family water sports, a jon boat for fishing, and a pontoon boat for leisure cruising and entertaining. But with the current economic conditions and increasing fuel costs, average boaters have had to streamline their fleets. In fact, many are now choosing to go with only one boat to meet all of their needs. Their vessel of choice? The pontoon boat. And today’s pontoons are better than ever with improved materials and engineering that have raised their overall comfort and speed capability.
Choosing to live aboard a boat is one way to maximize the enjoyment of owning it. One way to test your affinity for this lifestyle for a short time is to take a boating staycation. A staycation is an inexpensive way to take time off, as you remain in or near your hometown and treat it as a tourist spot. A unique twist to the staycation is treating your boat as the destination of choice; the ultimate home away from home. Choosing to sleep in your vessel at night, rather than in a hotel, is likely to increase comfort and possibly cost savings.
The past 10 years have seen a dramatic increase in actions to restrict or ban recreational fishing in areas across the United States. California has designated hundreds of miles of the state’s salt water as no-take marine reserves, leaving more than 760,000 saltwater anglers without access to some of the best fishing spots on the Pacific Coast.
Donzi designs and manufactures more than 25 fiberglass, recreational powerboat models ranging from 16 to 43 feet. A select five are showcased in this issue.
www.donzimarine.com
38 ZFX Cuddy
The 38 ZFX Cuddy was designed to strike a balance between center console utility and world-class luxury. A bold departure from traditional center consoles, this model offers a user-friendly cockpit with plenty of room.
America's Top Financial Expert Suze Orman Invests in the Boating Lifestyle
For five long years, Suze Orman gazed longingly from her South Florida waterfront terrace as all the beautiful boats cruised by. Day after day, she keenly observed that all the people on those boats were happy and having fun. She determined that she wanted a piece of that action and all that the boating lifestyle had to offer.
The small waterfront town of Bay City, Mich., lies alongside the Saginaw River a few miles from the shallow water of Saginaw Bay. It's a quaint city with historic charm, a downtown area and only about 33,000 residents. But that number will jump to more than 100,000 when this, the only official host port in the state of Michigan, welcomes the Great Lakes United Tall Ships® Challenge fleet and a Tall Ship event like none other from July 15 to 18.
The Tall Ships
This story was printed with permission from Ohio Sea Grant.
Photos are courtesy of Ohio State University South Centers.
It's Friday night, and you're heading to the local pub to grab some fried fish and watch the big game with some friends. If you're in northern Ohio, chances are good that your sandwich will feature yellow perch, a popular fish from Lake Erie that is also Ohio's top food fish, with 3 million pounds harvested from the lake in 2008 alone.
The upper Great Lakes basin is suffering a decrease in water levels, but immediate action is unnecessary, according to Canadian and U.S. experts. The causes of the drop include climate change, shifting weather patterns and earlier dredging and erosion in the St. Clair River. The bi-national, independent International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS) Board states in a report that, between 1963 and 2006, the decrease in the levels – or "heads" – between Lake Huron and Lake Erie is an average of approximately 23 centimeters.
For many years, global warning has been an issue of debate. However, as more studies are conducted, the evidence is proving that it is a reality. The Earth’s climate has changed in the past and will continue to do so in the future. A problem arises when warming trends we are facing are accelerating and caused by human, rather than by natural occurrences.
The recreational boater is no doubt familiar with Michigan’s “sunset” coast and with most of the harbor towns that dot its shoreline. What many boaters miss by venturing too far north or south is a nearly perfect balance of charming history and culture, and dynamic urban living right in the middle of Michigan’s western coastline. The best-kept secret of Michigan’s west coast is exactly what you will discover when you enter any port of call in Muskegon County—the Muskegon Channel in the south and the White Lake Channel in the north.
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