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Oysters are as integral as water itself to the history and culture of Chesapeake Bay. Back in the 1600s, early settlers were amazed by their size and quantity; people would collect oysters by raking them or just scooping them up in their hands. Today, oyster aquaculture—planting and cultivating them instead of gathering them in the wild—is a fast-growing bay industry. The Chesapeake Bay Oyster Company alone reportedly grows more than 10 million of the mollusks every year.

Somebody has to eat all those oysters, and attendees at the annual Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s OysterFest sure do their part. The event, held in late October, is a study in oyster overload, celebrating everything from the people and boats that collect them to the culinary artisans who create new ways to cook and serve them. Oyster lovers come by boat, car and foot to get their fix of favorite recipes.

Oyster mac and cheese? You bet. Chesapeake Bay oyster chowder? Of course. Oyster fritters and gumbo? Heck yeah. And this year, it’s looking like there will be a new “oyster-stew crawl,” with punch cards for attendees to taste all the different local varieties that will be part of the festival. “It’s a perfect time of year for that,” says Katie Emslie, marketing coordinator for the museum. “It’s a little cooler, and you’re in the mood for something a little warmer.”

OysterFest is one of the museum’s biggest annual events, and the location and setup can make attending the festival part of a fun day for the whole family. After filling up on oyster everything, attendees can check out the museum’s floating fleet, which includes classic boats such as the 1909 dredger Old Point and 1934 Hoopers Island Dovetail Martha that were used for oystering and more. Attendees can also try their hand at tonging and nippering for oysters, with expert teachers on hand. It’s not as easy as raking, but it’s absolutely part of the local legacy.

Like a Fine Wine

Because oysters filter so much water (as much as 1.3 gallons per hour), they develop a flavor based on their environment—similar to wine grapes and terroir. Oysters can be briny, sweet, buttery and more.

Rain, Rain Stay Away

Bad storms and flooding forced the cancellation of last year’s OysterFest celebration. Generally speaking, the event is one of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s biggest festivals each year.

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Few chairs are as simple as the Adirondack, which (at least some experts say) a man built from 11 planks of wood after becoming frustrated by uncomfortable lakefront furniture in the early 1900s. The chair soon became a staple along waterfronts from New York to New England, where it could be left outside in scenic spots for watching boats cruise past.

Even today, that kind of simplicity is still relaxing, especially in places like Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, a boater’s paradise where summer regattas put on a fantastic show. Few of life’s pleasures are as easily accessible as sitting in an Adirondack chair high above the shore and watching a heck of a lot of great boats go by.

The most famous harbor on Narragansett Bay is the one at Newport, a city that dates to the 1600s and the New England whaling industry. Today, Newport is as much a tourist town as it is a seafarer city, with world-class marinas and services within walking distance of restaurants, shops, music clubs and more.

Cruising here is great on your own boat—or on a rental that can give you a taste of the city’s storied sailing history. Many of the classic America’s Cup 12 Meters that raced here years ago are now available for charter, either through daily ticket purchases or by way of custom bookings. You can get a feel for the action with a two- or three-hour sail, or book a whole boat for one of the harbor’s special events, such as Fourth of July fireworks.

Many boaters like to cruise to Newport in July for the annual Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival, both staged at Fort Adams State Park. The park is on the waterfront, which means boats can anchor out and hear the music without ever stepping ashore. There’s usually serious talent on stage; over the years, musicians such as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Muddy Waters have performed.

And, if you have a foldable Adirondack-style chair on board, feel free to position it on deck and enjoy the view too.

The Boaters’ Bay

Narragansett Bay is at the north end of Rhode Island Sound, which hosted America’s Cup Races from 1930 to 1983. Today, all kinds of boats cruise and race here, making for on-water fun and a great spectator sport. It’s not unusual to see J Boats or classic Herreshoff Designs take to the bay en masse for regattas, or to see Downeast powerboats strutting with style across the local waters. The Herreshoff Marine Museum borders Narragansett Bay in Bristol, and has transient dockage and moorings available from mid-May through the middle of October. The America’s Cup Hall of Fame is on-site, with half-hull models on display.

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At the 2022 Palm Beach International Boat Show, we took a quick trip to visit the brand new $40 million renovated Town of Palm Beach Marina. Dockmaster Mike Horn and Palm Beach Assistant Town Manager Carolyn Stone gave us all of the details on this 2-year project.

For more information on the Town of Palm Beach Marina and to request a slip, visit townofpalmbeachmarina.com.

The post Yachting Spotlight: Town of Palm Beach Marina appeared first on Yachting.

It’s no secret that Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands is a bucket list destination for most sailors and yacht lovers. Most have probably been there! When Irma hit in 2017, the future of Bitter End was unknown, but now, five years later, Bitter End is BACK and ready to welcome sea-farers once more! Yachting’s Patrick Sciacca sat down with Bitter End owners Richard and Lauren Hokin to get the full scoop on the property’s nostalgic history, rebuilding story, and all of the new improvements that have recently been completed and are still on the horizon. Check out the video for the full inside look. To learn more about Bitter End Yacht Club, visit beyc.com.

The post Yachting Q&A: Bitter End Yacht Club Returns appeared first on Yachting.

When Richard Hokin arrived on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands 30 hours after Hurricane Irma passed on September 6, 2017, he wasn’t particularly shocked. He fully expected that his Bitter End Yacht Club had been destroyed. After all, the BVI island had endured a Category 5 storm with relentless 180 mph winds—and a storm surge that wiped out anything the gusts had spared. 

He was correct: What was essentially a pile of rubble greeted him where the resort, which had been in his family for 44 years, once stood. There was one surprising thing though. The oldest fleet member was missing. What had happened to the faithful boat that predated his family’s ownership of Bitter End, the one that was integral to its development in the early days and still loyally served the resort? Where was Reef Sampler? 

“The fact that the boat had disappeared was kind of mysterious because some of her superstructure had washed up on Prickly Pear Island, which is right next to us. But there was no sign of the boat,” Hokin says.

When Irma hit, Reef Sampler was approaching its 50th birthday. In need of a platform for fishing, diving, exploring and picnicking, the Hokin family commissioned the 34-foot downeast fiberglass hull from Webber’s Cove in Blue Hill, Maine, to be finished at Essex Boat Works in Connecticut. Named for the family’s favorite pastime in the vibrant Virgin Islands waters, Reef Sampler was delivered in 1969.

“She started out as our family’s just-messing-around boat in St. Thomas and eventually became the workhorse for Bitter End,” Hokin says. “She hauled most of the building materials from St. Thomas up to North Sound in the early days when we were just starting to remodel and expand, and then she was our principal source of fun there. We’d take off and go over to Anegada for the day and go diving or go out fishing. Our life really centered around the boat.”

Reef Sampler rode out Irma holding on to the heftiest mooring. As it turned out, it never let go. In early 2018, the UK Hydrographic Office, conducting its first BVI survey in nearly a century, discovered an anomaly in its soundings. Further investigation by Sunchaser Scuba revealed Reef Sampler’s hull, sitting neatly upright on the bottom of North Sound, still tied to the sunken mooring.

Abandoning the boat in this watery grave was never an option. “Next to me, she’s the oldest member of the Bitter End crew,” Hokin says as he readies for his 82nd birthday. “I wasn’t going to walk away from her—we’ve been together for over 50 years. How do you walk away from someone or something that’s been important to your life? And not just to my life but to the whole Bitter End lifestyle, which is what defines us.”

Using air bags, it was floated and dragged onto the beach. Then, Hokin had an idea.

“I have always had a bee in my bonnet about a beach bar—and that a boat would make a really cool beach bar. This was the opportunity. We’re starting from scratch [rebuilding Bitter End]. We had the boat, and the boat was integral to Bitter End’s story. I figured she’s worked hard for us for close to 50 years; let’s give her a place where she doesn’t have to work so hard and everybody can enjoy her.”

Now, Reef Sampler, freshly varnished and painted in its original hue, has pride of place on Marina Beach at Bitter End 2.0. On its foredeck is a navigation table with seating for 8; along its sheerline aft, there’s a bar for resting a drink; and within its cockpit is a fully equipped bar for serving. Above it floats tent fabric, shading patrons and protecting the boat from the weather.

It’s one of the new additions to the revived property. For the quiet reopening over the past holidays, everything a sailor needs was up and running, including the Quarterdeck Club with a panoramic second-floor lounge, the Watersports Shack, The Buoy Room a salty sailor’s bar , and an expanded provisioning market that also offers prepared foods and a full wine-and-spirits shop. Opening soon are two shore accommodations called Marina Lofts, which extend alluringly over the water, and two more restaurants will be ready to serve by spring. 

Re-imagined to be more closely aligned with Mother Nature, the new resort is both different and the same. “We knew we weren’t going to build an exact replica, but we’ve tried really hard to employ the character, vibe and lifestyle that define the place,” Hokin says. Nothing encapsulates this spirit better than a beach-bar boat that started life as a vehicle for just messing around on the water. 

It’s not the only physical reminder of the past. The major docks survived the storm, and bits of memorabilia salvaged from the debris are displayed among the new buildings—but Reef Sampler is perhaps its most evocative.

“I think a boat is pretty close to a living entity. After 70 years of messing around in boats, I’m absolutely sure boats have lives because they’ve treated me well at times and also have had a few tantrums,” Hokin says with a smile.
To learn more about the re-opening of Bitter End Yacht Club and stay up to date on new updates, visit beyc.com. To see more footage from Bitter End Yacht Club, follow them on YouTube.

The post A New Beginning for Bitter End appeared first on Yachting.

Lauren Hokin, whose family has owned the Bitter End Yacht Club for more than a half-century, calls the time between 2017’s Hurricane Irma and this month’s official reopening “a heavy lift.”

First, the Category 5 storm destroyed the entire place—a mile of waterfront and 65 acres. Then, the pandemic shut down the British Virgin Islands’ borders. Just getting the debris off and construction supplies to Virgin Gorda—let alone doing the actual rebuilding—became a marathon that’s only now finishing its first leg.

But the place is very much worth it.

“The breeze is still blowing,” Hokin says. “The reefs are still beautiful. The water is still every shade of blue that’s imaginable.”

And now that phase one of reconstruction is complete, she adds, boaters will once again be able to experience the kinds of amenities that have brought them to North Sound for decades.

“We built this really beautiful, very cozy and cool village that occupies not a ton of our waterfront but probably 4 or 5 acres,” she says. “It’s got all the amenities you want if you come visit by boat.”

Those amenities include a clubhouse for formal dining, a Sail Bar, the Quarterdeck Club with light bites, a pizza-and-wine bar, and Reef Sampler, a Down East boat that transferred materials from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, to North Sound during the property’s original construction. Reef Sampler sank during Irma but has since been raised and turned into a beach bar.

“There’s one killer table in the bow with a banquette,” Hokin says. “One lucky party a night will get to have dinner looking out at the setting sun on the beach. It will be very cool.”

What’s Ready

In addition to the dining and drinking spots that are now rebuilt, the Bitter End Yacht Club has reconstructed docks at its 25-slip marina. There also are 70 mooring balls, with about 15 of them available for reservations. The marina building has Wi-Fi up and running, and the provisions market has been elevated from what yachtsmen will remember. The new market has all the basics plus prepared foods from the resort’s restaurants, along with wine and spirits—pretty much anything boaters need for a daysail. The Reeftique Boutique now carries resortwear along with the Bitter End Yacht Club’s branded line of clothes and souvenirs, and the Sand Palace outdoor movie theater is back. Also ready is the watersports fleet of kayaks, paddleboards and more.

The post Bitter End Yacht Club Reopens After 4 Years appeared first on Yachting.

Before there was even a United States of America, there was a man named Deacon James Morgan. In 1712, he became owner of the land at the mouth of the Mystic River, a spot we know today as coastal Connecticut at the intersection with Long Island Sound. Morgan’s descendants—who spent their lives building ships and going to sea themselves—eventually sold the land to the federal government. The original Morgan Point Light was built in the early 1800s along with a keeper’s house of stone. A brighter lighthouse was established later that century, what with all the marine traffic in this part of the New World.

Today, the lighthouse is privately owned, so the best way to see it is by boat. It’s a landmark that helps mark the course toward the Mystic Seaport Museum, where boaters who tie up at the docks receive complimentary admission to the museum, its galleries and the historic vessels on site. They include Charles W. Morgan, which is the oldest of America’s commercial ships still afloat, built for use in the whaling fleet in 1841—just in time to make good use of Morgan Point Light’s brightly shining beam.

The village of Mystic also counts its history in centuries that date back to Morgan’s time, with the locals having built hundreds of ships starting in the late 1700s. 

Today, tourism is the main draw, with dozens of shops, adorable inns, and restaurants that include Mystic Pizza, an eatery made famous in the 1988 Julia Roberts film.

Keep an eye out for plaques on the homes in Mystic if you hop off the boat to meander downtown. The plaques honor mariners who lived in this seafaring region from the start, and let you know which seamen’s footsteps you’re following today. Sometimes, a home has multiple histories; one house, for instance, was owned by a clipper ship captain and, later, a nuclear submarine captain. 

The post Connecticut’s Coastline Is a Must-Visit for Cruisers appeared first on Yachting.

Chowing Down at Chesapeake Bay’s OysterFest

OysterFest at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum celebrates some of the bay’s finest offerings.

Historic Newport Embodies New England Boating

Newport, Rhode Island, is the heart of New England’s boating scene.

Yachting Spotlight: Town of Palm Beach Marina

A recent $40 million renovation and 2 years of planning provided members of the Town of Palm Beach Marina with a brand new, state of the art facility.

Yachting Q&A: Bitter End Yacht Club Returns

We sat down with Bitter End Yacht Club’s Richard and Lauren Hokin to get an insider’s look at what’s on the horizon for the iconic BVI destination.

More Destinations

A New Beginning for Bitter End

The yacht club’s original spirit lives on in its new beach bar.

Bitter End Yacht Club Reopens After 4 Years

Between a Category 5 hurricane and the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been an arduous return journey for the Bitter End Yacht Club.

Connecticut’s Coastline Is a Must-Visit for Cruisers

Already historic in its own right, Connecticut’s coastline is prettiest in the fall and should not be missed by passing boaters.

Cruisers Return to the Big Apple

New York City, like the rest of America, is ready for the return of cruisers.

Where the Boats Are

The arts, a thriving dining scene and the ultimate yachting lifestyle invite you to come stay awhile in greater Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Beaufort vs. Beaufort: The Carolinas’ Twin Yachting Destinations

Whether you drop anchor in Beaufort or Beaufort, these yachting destinations offer equal parts charm and style.

Hawaii’s Icon Larry Kimura

Larry Kimura gives voice to the richness and importance of the Hawaiian language.

Bitter End is Back

Turning disaster into opportunity, the BVI yacht club and resort looks to its roots as it re-launches.

More Destinations

The post Destinations appeared first on Yachting.

It’s a truly odd thing to think about New York City with visitors to iconic places such as the Guggenheim Museum being down 70 percent, and with tourism overall having come to an utter standstill for so long. In January 2020, Broadway ticket sales generated more than $150 million. In January 2021, that figure was zero.

But as this issue of Yachting went to press, all of the pandemic’s problems seemed poised to turn around. Normalcy may not fully resume during the boating season this summer and early fall, but NYC mayor Bill de Blasio says there is reason to expect and hope that change for the better is coming—including the “Great White Way” resuming activity by September, even if he has to “move heaven and earth to bring Broadway back.”

In fact, heading into the boating season, there were lots of signals that boaters tying up in the city would have things to see and do. Yankee Stadium, which was a COVID-19 vaccination site during the spring, was reopening with limited capacity for fans who want to see a game in person. The folks who put on Shakespeare in the Park were expecting shows to return during July and August. Lincoln Center created “Restart Stages” to produce outdoor shows at venues throughout Manhattan. And the city itself came up with an “Open Culture” program that lets musicians, comedians, dancers and others apply for permits to perform outdoors.

In other words, even if international travel remains challenging for now, there’s about to be a cultural revival on America’s most famous island. What better place to tie up the boat, lace up the walking shoes, and enjoy some civilization?

New York City

If you tie up at Chelsea Piers, you’ll be on the West Side of Manhattan near the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose Julie Mehretu and Madeline Hollander exhibitions run through August. A Jasper Johns exhibition opens in September. You’ll also be near the Museum of Illusions, which is set up for kids and adults alike to explore holograms, games, puzzles and more. The Frying Pan is another local treat. It’s a lightship built in 1929 that, from May through October, serves beer, wine and cocktails along with fish ‘n’ chips, clam chowder, lobster rolls and other fare. And of course, Pennsylvania Station is not far from the docks, with its subway and train lines connecting you to pretty much anywhere you want to go in and around the Big Apple.

The post Cruisers Return to the Big Apple appeared first on Yachting.

From the water, the casually elegant city of Fort Lauderdale beckons, whispering the promise of brilliant days soaking up sun, art and culture, while music and laughter permeate languid evenings spent overlooking the sparkling coastline.

The genesis of what is known today as the “Yachting Capital of the World” can be traced to the late 1950s. This “new river settlement” along the southeastern coastline of the southernmost state participated in the 1920s land boom, but a flurry of residential development in the late 1950s and the first annual Fort Lauderdale Boat Show — organized in 1959 as an attempt to offload excess boat inventory and attract offseason visitors — set the tone for the evolution of this decidedly laid-back yet purposefully progressive coastal city.

The 1960 film Where the Boys Are positioned Fort Lauderdale as the colorful, heady oceanfront destination to which throngs of pink-faced youngsters would let their hair down for one week a year, but the days of spring-break shenanigans were discouraged by the late 1980s and nearly nonexistent by 2020.

Today’s Fort Lauderdale is hip and sophisticated, where microbreweries and coffee shops commingle with high-end art galleries and designer boutiques, and young professionals gather outside their shared residential spaces to sip hibiscus-infused libations in Instagram-worthy eateries. The city exudes a casually elegant lifestyle, which has been largely defined by its beachfront location and myriad waterways that demand a vessel aboard which to enjoy it all.

Even if you have visited before, perhaps only as a stopover or a jumping-off point, now is the time to tie up or drop anchor and come ashore to experience this amazing destination from a new perspective.

PERSPECTIVE: FROM THE WATER

Offering everything from world-class marinas and shipyards to yacht charter companies, brokerage houses, service providers and provisioners, greater Fort Lauderdale is purpose-built for boating. Second only to tourism, the marine industry here contributes nearly $10 billion to the local economy each year. The annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is credited as one of the most influential yachting events in the world, spanning 90 acres across seven waterfront locations showcasing billions of dollars’ worth of products all related to life on the water.

Fort Lauderdale’s dizzying array of dock-and-dine restaurants pale in comparison only to the number of high-end and boutique hotels that cater to boating — most with adjacent marinas or waterfront dockage, like the brand-new Hotel Maren and Hillsboro Beach Resort, and some even offering their own marinas, such as the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina and Bahia Mar.

Being a waterfront destination with ideal weather year-round, Fort Lauderdale not only offers every watersport imaginable — from deep-sea, canal and pier fishing to jet skiing, kayaking, paddleboarding, parasailing and kite surfing — but its plentiful waterways are also lined with beautiful homes, stunning tropical canopies, and natural preserves that beg to be explored.

PERSPECTIVE: FROM THE TABLE

A population of well-heeled, well-traveled residents with discerning palates has laid the foundation for Fort Lauderdale’s emergence onto the culinary scene over the last two decades. A spectrum of dining options from kitchens helmed by world-renowned and rising-star chefs ranges from trendy pop-up concepts and mouth-watering authentic restaurants to the latest in artistic fine dining opportunities and everything in between. Fort Lauderdale will cater to — and impress — any appetite with ease.

New and unique offerings range from Japanese-Korean fusion Takato and the waterside shared-plate Salt7 to the speakeasy-style Bodega Taqueria lounge, Twice Removed gastropub and Cuba Libra, led by a two-time James Beard award-winning chef.

Even the Miami-based South Beach Wine and Food Festival now stretches its reach to Fort Lauderdale every year, underscoring the latter’s culinary prowess and saluting both new and established talent — the kind normally found in cosmopolitan cities with colder climates.

Paring with this burgeoning culinary scene is a plethora of distilleries and microbreweries, each unique in its own right and serving to perfectly encapsulate Fort Lauderdale’s forever-summer waterfront vibe. Local microbrewery Gulf Stream Brewing Company created a Fort Lauderdale-specific brew, a hefeweizen named “Everyone Under the Sun” in honor of the area. Cheers!

PERSPECTIVE: FROM THE ROOF

Explosive development — both residential and commercial — has stretched the city’s skyline and invited us all to the roof. Once few and far between, rooftop lounges and restaurants now serve as the mandatory punctuation for a day well spent in this shining region by the sea.

From the eponymous Rooftop to The Muse in Hollywood and the newly opened Easton Rooftop Pool + Lounge, chilling out on the roof is the thing to do in Fort Lauderdale. Existing hotels have paid renewed attention to their sky-level options, and new offerings — like the Cambria Hotel and the AC Hotel Sawgrass Mills — make sure to serve their tapas and cocktails with views for miles.

PERSPECTIVE: FROM THE SAND

Expansive golden sand beaches — 24 miles of them — alone would put this sunny seaside destination on any bucket list. Beyond the beach, however, the greater Fort Lauderdale area teems with opportunities for every activity under the sun.

A vibrant art scene has also taken hold, and creative enclaves such as FATVillage, Hollywood Mural Project and Riverwalk invite visitors to immerse themselves in the region’s local creative talents. Art walks and festivals celebrating the arts offer unique ways to enjoy creative expression; the annual Art Fort Lauderdale, for example, showcases artists and their works in a series of beautiful waterfront homes, which participants visit by boat.

From gaming at the world-famous Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to soccer matches at the DRV PNK Stadium to endless opportunities for shopping on Las Olas Boulevard and beyond, Fort Lauderdale can be as relaxed or as active as you wish — a once-overlooked destination that caters to sun-seekers and jet-setters who covet that yachting lifestyle.

Check out more: VisitLauderdale.com/Welcome

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