In-Depth Focus

Sargassum, the stinky sea- weed that blankets beaches, clogs canals and entangles boat propellers, is piling up at levels and in places that researchers have
never seen.

Two recently published studies in the journal Nature make it seem that the 2004 film “The Day After Tomorrow” was, in fact, more science than fiction.

As with so many things in boating, the story of Belafonte begins with another boat: Reef Express.

In the database of National Historic Landmarks there are all kinds of boats from throughout U.S. history, including enough fireboats that even a cursory search requires the fingers on both hands to count them. Some of the designated fireboats date back as far as the early 1900s.

When Capt. Jim Greer finished a 7,200-mile cruise this past winter, he acknowledged that he’d done something most boaters might consider crazy: completed the Great Loop without using fossil fuels or connecting to marina shore power.

No matter how much time Charles Yarish spends aboard his 23-foot Boston Whaler Dauntless, he can’t stop thinking about what’s happening beneath the hull.

For a vessel with such a big history, the lightship Ambrose looks surprisingly small. Perhaps it’s because South Street Seaport Museum has the 135-footer tied up across from the 325-foot iron-hulled Wavertree.

The Coast Guard had a one-word problem: A hoax caller kept contacting them, saying “mayday” and disconnecting.

In early January, on his way out of the Oval Office, President Obama denied a half-dozen permits to companies that wanted to search for oil and gas deposits beneath the Atlantic. Environmentalists celebrated the move. Titans of the energy industry fumed.