Life is Better on the Water — Issue #7
Life is Better on the Water
Issue #7 — by Better Boat
Somewhere between a 16-year old pointing a 13-foot hull toward Miami in 1957 and an AI autopilot quietly watching the horizon while you stare at the fish finder, something interesting has stayed constant: the boat does not care how prepared you are, only whether you are. This issue has a lot to say about that gap.
This Week in Boating
In 1957, a Teenager Left Long Island in a 13-Foot Boat Headed for Miami
Tom Ireland was a teenager in 1957 with a 13-foot Speedliner, a 25-hp outboard, and a plan to run 1,500 miles from Long Island to Miami. That sentence alone should make you stop. Whatever happened next was apparently strange enough that Power and Motoryacht compared it to Mark Twain. Small boat, long water, one kid. Hard to look away.
Read more at Power and Motoryacht →
How to Launch and Load at Sketchy Backcountry Ramps Without Wrecking Your Day
Not all ramps are the well-paved, well-lit kind with a dock and a guy watching you back up. Backcountry ramps are often soft, narrow, steep, or all three at once. A little prep goes a long way: know your trailer length, air down your tires for soft ground, and have a plan before the bow touches water. Better Boat Bunk Carpet helps protect the hull when the ramp surface is rough or uneven.
Read more at Sport Fishing Magazine →
The Vietnam-Era Combat Trainer That Just Got a Second Life
A boat built to train soldiers heading to Vietnam is back in service, and this time the mission has nothing to do with war. The full story of what it is, who restored it, and what comes next is worth a few minutes of your time. Some boats earn their history. This one has more than most.
Read more at Power and Motoryacht →
How to Paint Your Fiberglass Boat and Actually Make It Last
Most bad paint jobs fail before the first season ends, and the reason is almost always prep, not paint. Getting fiberglass ready takes more work than the actual painting, but skip it and you are sanding the whole thing down again in two years. Pick the right paint type for your use, roll and tip for a smooth finish, and the result looks professional without the professional price tag.
Read more at Better Boat →
This AI Autopilot Sees Everything You Miss While You Are Watching the Fish Finder
Neuboat Control is an AI autopilot system that stitches together feeds from lidar and six cameras to build a full 360-degree picture around the boat, then handles collision avoidance on its own. That covers the blind spots, the sun glare, the distracted moments, and the stuff that sneaks up from behind. Autopilots that steer a heading are old news. One that actually watches for traffic is a different conversation.
Read more at Yachting Magazine →
A Lost WWI Sub Off San Diego and Shipwrecks in the Black Sea: Ocean Imaging Is Finding Them All
There is a WWI submarine sitting on the bottom somewhere off San Diego, and new ocean imaging technology is the reason we know it exists. WHOI director Dwight Coleman has spent his career turning the pitch-black seafloor into something anyone can see, from ancient wrecks in the Black Sea to sites no human eye has visited in centuries. The finds are getting harder to ignore.
Read more at US Harbors →Featured Boat
A South Carolina Start-Up Is Betting Big on an Electric Boat That Can Actually Go the Distance
Most electric boats get politely ignored because the range is embarrassing. Volare is a South Carolina start-up trying to change that with the Artemis 23, a 23-foot electric boat built to cover real water, not just a lap around the cove. The specs are still emerging, but a domestic upstart swinging at range anxiety is the most interesting thing happening in small electric boats right now.
Read more at Power and Motoryacht →Gone Fishing
You Caught the Tuna. Now What You Do in the Next Five Minutes Actually Matters.
Most tuna trips obsess over finding fish and staying legal. The part nobody talks about enough is what happens the second a fish hits the deck. How you handle a tuna in those first minutes determines whether you eat sashimi-grade fish or something closer to cat food. The article does not include enough detail to fully summarize, but the core idea is sound: the catch does not end when the fight does.
Read more at The Log Newspaper →What Your Boat Really Needs
Hydraulic Guest Ejector Seat
The GuestAway 3000 is a discreetly installed cockpit seat that, at the press of a captain-only fob, launches unwanted guests safely onto the dock with a smooth 40-degree arc and a dignified splash cushion landing pad. Standard on all 2025 flagship models, it pairs seamlessly with the optional Automatic Excuse Generator, which broadcasts a pre-recorded engine trouble alert as cover.
Overheard at the Marina
Anchoring etiquette is simple. There's plenty of room, everyone spreads out, and nobody crowds anybody. Unless you just found the perfect spot, in which case twelve other boats have also just found the perfect spot, and you are all now a neighborhood.
Better Boat Pick
