Getting Ready For The Big Blow
Written by Tom NealeGetting Ready For The Big Blow
By Tom Neale
I’ve had my share of storms since I got my first boat 53 years ago. I’ve looked up into the maw of a tornado while at anchor. I’ve ridden out hurricanes and tropical storms at anchor, at dock, and on a mooring. I clung for days to the bottom behind some rocks in the Bahamas during the “Storm of the Century.” I’ve seen water rise vertically in sheets from the surface just before solid waves flooded down dorade vents on a cabin deck of a well-found boat. (The vents were far inboard and about 7 feet above the waterline.) I’ve watched my dinghy fly straight out from my stern on its painter, above the water, twisting slowly in the wind.
The Fleming 55
Written by Bill ParlatoreThe Fleming 55
Finer With Age
By Bill Parlatore
Fleming 55s have long been on my list of favorite cruising boats, and I see them in many popular cruising areas I visit. The couples who own them enjoy this lifestyle at a decidedly high level, with quality equipment, great accommodations, and the lasting beauty of the boat’s traditional lines. Tony Fleming, builder of the line of yachts ranging from 55 feet up to 75 feet, has long maintained that his boats are not trawlers, but cruising motoryachts. I won’t argue the distinction, but the Fleming 55 is every bit a cruising boat, a seaworthy vessel meant to range far and wide in comfort, safety, and luxury.
