If you’re a boater, chances are you will start experiencing some “feels” as summer winds down and signs of fall appear. I live in a part of the country where triple-H days (hot, hazy, humid) outnumber the nice ones, and in September the landscape resembles something like the surface of the moon. I, for one, am always amped to bid a not-so-fond farewell to summer.
I know how that sounds, but hear me out.
The first reason is the most obvious: Crisp, cool days replace the oppressive heat here in Chesapeake Country, and it is breezy more often than it isn’t. This weather gives us a great excuse to hoist a sail, head out on the water to dock-and-dine, or set aside a weekend to river- and creek-hop with a mind toward exploring new places.
Reason two is the fact that the fall season is show season. During the next couple of months, I am looking forward to hitting the docks in Newport, Rhode Island, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and maybe some smaller shows close to home. I’ll enjoy eating a lobster or two while in Newport, a Cuban sandwich from my favorite hole-in-the-wall in Fort Lauderdale, and a pit-beef sandwich slathered in horseradish hot enough to blow your eyelashes off right around here in Annapolis, Maryland.
The cooler weather means pleasant strolls through a myriad boats at those shows, and I am always excited to see what’s new from builders. In that vein, contributing writer Carly Sisson prepared an excellent roundup of new builds to keep an eye out for, whether you attend a show or just dream from your armchair. You can find previews for 17 new boats that will debut in the next few months in this month’s October issue.
Cooler weather was not something I experienced in the high desert about an hour and a half outside Los Angeles this past July. That’s where I got an up-close look at the Mag Bay Yachts operation, and met the father-and-son team Mike and Barrett Howarth. The two and their crew are on a mission to build the best sportfish boats you can buy, right down to jewelry-like metalwork, precision wiring, and mechanicals and hulls built by hand with meticulous care.
Close to the time I got back from California, I found out that Kadey-Krogen Group, the trawler builder and owner of American Tugs, had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. That filing means the company is seeking to liquidate, not reorganize. As a result, a handful of owners who paid deposits or made full payment up-front are out their boats, and possibly their hard-earned cash. Hulls are stuck in Taiwan in one stage of completion or another, and also in the United States. There’s a lesson to be learned here, so I asked contributing writer Kim Kavin to speak with a maritime attorney to learn what sort of due diligence potential buyers should do before putting their money down on a new build.
On a more positive note, fall is a great time to wet a line if you are angling-afflicted. Each year in October, when the weather is impeccable, I trek down to Harkers Island, North Carolina, with my fly rod in hand to chase false albacore, bull redfish, bluefish and other species in the emerald-green ocean. All of these fish are in the area to fatten up for winter by balling up huge schools of bait and then pummeling them with abandon. Spinner sharks often accompany these fish, and sometimes humpback whales. I’ve often compared the fishery to the Serengeti. The volumes of fish available to predators makes me think of the fall harvest.
Maybe you’re sad about summer passing under the keel, but fall can be just as enjoyable and enriching out on the water. I hope I see you out there on the docks, atop the ocean or in a remote, peaceful anchorage.
Gary Reich gary.reich@firecrown.com
This article was originally published in the October 2026 issue.
