The hardest part of becoming a boater is taking that first step. To be a real boater, you have to actually buy a boat, a prospect that can seem daunting. With so many choices and styles, it’s hard to ...

A VHF marine band radio is your first line of communication on the water, allowing you to talk to the Coast Guard and other boat traffic. Use Channel 16 only for hailing and emergencies. Some center ...

The first question we asked about Mercury’s V-10 Verado outboards is why a V-10? The answer proved straightforward. By maintaining the 64-degree cylinder angle of the V-8 Verado 250/300 hp motors, ...

There’s 38 square feet of wide-open aft deck space aboard Manitou’s Explore 24 MAX Navigator. Thank the concealed Rotax outboard for that acreage. Available in 115 and 150 hp ratings, our test boat’s ...

The flagship of Cobia’s ­center-console lineup, the 350 CC can be easily labeled a mean fishing machine, yet it has plenty of creature comforts to please the nonanglers in the family looking to enjoy ...

The Carver C37 Coupe stands out as unique in the realm of coupe cruisers for two reasons. First, whereas most coupes in this range have some version of a vented hardtop or a covered bridge deck that’s ...

Boatbuilders recognize that everyone on board uses a phone—posting, Snapping, TikToking, and more—between leaving port and returning. To keep the social posting live, everybody needs a power port or ...

When most people hear the term surface drive, they think speed and high performance, but what these rather specialized propulsion units are really about is efficiency. Because the propeller blades ...

For the better part of a century, the boat lift has been one of the most utilitarian objects on the American waterfront. It did one thing: held the boat out of the water. Exposed motors, visible ...

The all-new Alumacraft ­Competitor line of aluminum multispecies boats offers anglers the advantage of a larger aft casting deck without compromising cockpit space or making the boat longer. The ...

Since 1960, Aloha Pontoons has been producing eye-popping pontoons in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its new Patriot-­themed boat is just over-the-top cool. Performance-wise, it’s in your face with a big ...

Internet analytics reveal that “environmentally safe boat soap” is a wildly common search term entered into Google. The keystrokes reveal a plethora of bits and advice from forums, magazines and ...