Atlantic Yacht Basin, A LONG-TIME CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is located just south of the Great Bridge lock and bridge at Mile Marker 12 in Great Bridge, VA. If you have wood damage or need a few modifications with the interior or exterior of your boat, Atlantic Yacht Basin has the team to fix it right.
I have used them many times for both repairs and short-term storage during my ICW trips. AYB has a great location and is capable of performing any repairs you may require.
We see trends with our boater friends when they’ve been away from home exploring the warmer climes during the winter months. Boating plans change – weather becomes a factor, the mountains are calling, family reunions, weddings, birthdays, and the list continues.
AYB recognizes these events, and we’re prepared to accommodate your storage needs, whether it’s a quick stop, a monthly stay, or securing your boat for the season or longer.
If you’re wondering or it may not have hit your “planning” radar yet, private forecasters (Accuweather) are calling for a “near – to below – average” to average number of named storms this 2026 hurricane season. However, storms these days seem to be more intense. The National Weather Service typically shares its forecast in May.
While that may seem like good news, it doesn’t mean that any boat owner on the East Coast can really afford to rest easy until the season is over.
Because we are in a relatively protected, non-tidal location and on the Intracoastal Waterway, AYB does not get the same storm surge or wave action as other locations in the Tidewater area or on the East Coast.
No matter what you choose, you need a clear cut storm plan for your boat. And many captains and owners choose to store with us in the off-season as well. No matter what, the minimal investment in peace of mind is a great one — especially compared to rebuilding or buying a new boat.
Discount Summer Storage Packages!
We are offering a discounted summer storage package this year! Similar to our winter storage package, this summer storage is for a 5-month period, covering June through October. Give us a call with any questions you may have regarding the summer storage contract or any of our other storage options.
If you would like to reserve your spot now, click the thumbnail to download the AYB Storage Agreement, fill it out, and email it back to us. You can also call Angie to make your storage reservation by phone.
ACH Payment Options With A 1% Discount
This year, we are also offering ACH payment options. ACH is simple to set up using the forms for one-time or monthly payments. We encourage our customers to consider ACH payments and offer a 1% discount on their service and storage invoices when paying by ACH. This discount is being offered in 2026 to all ACH payment customers.
Space is limited, and demand is high, so please give us a call toll-free at (800) 992-2489 or local at (757) 482-2141 or drop us a line at info@atlanticyachtbasin.com to take advantage of this special, get your guaranteed hurricane storage spot or find out more about our comprehensive range of marine services and storage options.
If you are outside of the area, we can also help arrange transport to our facility or recommend a licensed captain to bring the boat in for you via the Waterway.
We also invite you to find out more on our website at www.atlanticyachtbasin.com, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram for interesting updates, tips, and specials going on at the Yard.
We look forward to helping you have the best boating seasons possible!
Attention all concerned boaters! The Julian Keen Lock is currently limited to 24’ width due to mechanical issues. The estimated time to repair it is not yet known. Please plan accordingly and thank you for your patience.
For up-to-date Lock information, contact the shift operator 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at:
St Lucie Lock & Dam 772-287-2665 or 863-662-9148
Port Mayaca Lock & Dam 561-924-2858 or 863-662-9424
Julian Keen, Jr. Lock & Dam 863-946-0414 or 863-662-9533
Ortona Lock & Dam 863-675-0616 or 863- 662-9846
W.P. Franklin Lock & Dam 863-662-9908
Canaveral Lock 321-783-5421 or 863-662-0298 (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
Thank you! Jeff
Jeffrey D Prater Public Affairs Specialist Corporate Communications Office U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District South Florida Office 4400 PGA Blvd. Suite 501 Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 Cell: 561-801-5734
In the average calendar year, there are over a dozen fishing tournaments in The Bahamas that range from large World Cup qualifiers to small, community-based tournaments. Here are our member tournaments coming up this spring and summer – now even more accessible with the new Bahamas Boating Fees.
Cape Eleuthera: Boaters book hotel and dockage and receive 5th night free and $300 fuel credit.
Bahamas Cruising Map
For a digital copy of the new 2026 ABM Bahamas Boating Map, just CLICK HERE for high res copy of the Cruising Chart – perfect for printing and framing!
For a hard copy, send us a Map Request – US mailing addresses only.
Fred Pickhardt’s Substack is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Fred Pickhardt’s Substack that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won’t be charged unless they enable payments.
Sea level rise is one of the most visible and consequential effects of a warming planet. As global temperatures increase, melting land ice and the thermal expansion of seawater push ocean levels higher. This has major implications for coastal communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems worldwide. Thanks to decades of tide gauge and satellite measurements we now have a data-driven picture of how fast seas are rising and what the numbers suggest for the rest of this century…
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Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
Martin Short was orginally cast to play Captain Ron Rico and Kurt Russell was to play Martin Harvey. They swapped roles.
Captain Ron was real. I knew Captain Ron. Correction: Several of them.
Movie Ron is an archetype, a subset of “Florida Man,” a dude defined by daily headlines down here. No exaggeration, Florida breeds more Rons than it does Pink Flamingos.¹
It should surprise no one, then, that Captain Ron the movie is a true and accurate depiction. “All books are alike in that they a truer than if they had really happened,” Ernest Hemingway once wrote. (Many books and some movies, he should have said.)
Starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short, the 1992 movie might be pigeonholed as farce, but just because it makes you laugh does not detract from its historical truthiness.
The age of fiberglass brought sailing to the masses beginning in the 1960s. By the late 1980s and ’90s suburbanites like the Harvey family² were finding their way down island—happy campers wearing floppy hats and riding around on clown bikes to the chagrin of dignified local folk.
And who else was there to greet them?
Florida Man
The phrase “Florida Man” was years away from becoming a national punchline. Long before the movie, members of this colorful tribe were making all sorts of mischief.
Think of Florida, as it always has been, a haven for all manner of scalawags, boozers, bongers and bullslingers. Florida Man—it matters not whether he was conceived in situ or has somehow achieved honorary status—Florida Man always seems to have the loudest mouth at the bar.
“If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.” —the most quoted sailing movie line ever.
Like Ron Rico rum, many of those Captain Rons down island were a distillation. They were 150-proof versions of Florida Man. They had been run out of the Sunshine State, sometimes figuratively, other times one step ahead of actual deputies.
I met my first Captain Ron back in 1999 with a bunch of cruisers at Puerto Blanco Marina in Luperon, Dominican Republic. He was an amiable enough dude—a bonafide graduate of America’s penal system.
Some years later I nearly snorted my beer when a cruising kindergartener (think Martin Harvey) declared that he would “sail anywhere with (Ron of Luperon).”
Martin Harvey: We don’t know how to drive a boat.
Captain Ron: The best way to find out … is to get her out on the ocean. If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.
Yep, Ron of Luperon had sunk three boats “out there.” A sort-of nautical hat trick. One of them continues to be a hazard to navigation at Sapodilla Bay in the Turks & Caicos.
But sure, pilgrim. You go ahead. Sail “anywhere” with the bold skipper.
Being curious about the movie’s origins, Loose Cannon contacted the author of the movie screenplay a few years ago. John Dwyer of Austin, Texas, confirmed that the film was actually based on events that happened to his own family during a 1969 boat delivery.
Guess what? The boat in question wasn’t even a sailboat, let alone a Formosa 51.
Dwyer told me his father was a “Mad Men”-style ad exec in Houston, a status-conscious, conspicuous spender who wanted to outdo his boat-owning colleagues.
Dad bought a used Chris Craft Commander at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and convinced his family that it would be an adventure for all of them to bring the boat back to Texas. His broker, however, convinced him that he didn’t have the experience to do it without a paid captain, so Dwyer’s dad hired Captain Ron. (Yes, his name was Ron, and he claimed to be a captain.)
Like movie Ron, this Captain Ron had one eye and—wonder of wonders—a wooden peg leg. According to Dwyer, this detail would have been too ridiculous, even for a movie that was trying to be ridiculous. Ixnay on the eglepay.
The real Captain Ron was drunk so much of the time that the Dwyer family called him “Ron Rico” in honor of the brand he favored.
The movie actually employed two Formosa 51s—one was in pretty good shape, the other not. At one point in the filming there was an emergency. The lesser of the two began sinking, which would have been catastrophic since all the camere equipment was on board. One of the two is now reportedly berthed at Kemah, Texas.
During the trip to Texas all the boat’s electronics failed, the electrical system experienced multiple failures, and Captain Ron managed to get lost on the Intracoastal Waterway. During a stormy passage in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dwyer family feared for their lives as they were tossed about by heavy seas.
At one point, Dwyer’s dad threatened to throw Captain Ron overboard for hitting on Dwyer’s mom.
Chevy Chase was originally considered for the title role, and the first script was written as an edgy adult comedy. But the Disney studio wanted it to be a family movie instead. As a result, Dwyer turned the big powerboat into a Formosa 51 (referred to as a 60 in the film), and the motivation changed from ad-man-seeking-status to family-inherits-sailboat-seeks-Caribbean-adventure.
Role Reversal
Another fun fact: According to Dwyer, Short was originally cast as Captain Ron and Russell as the dad, but the two got drunk one night and decided to switch roles. The universe has been grateful ever since.
Like the Ron character, the Harvey family is also real. The islands used to be full of dreamers looking to fulfill escape fantasies. Some are still out there, but I worry that we may be running out of Rons.
Those amphibious Florida Men are an endangered species. We’re cracking down on the waterways.
“Where have all the pirates gone?” nautical troubadour Eileen Quinn once asked in her song of the same name. Her answer: “They’re pumping gas in Marathon.”
Think about it: The Rons of the world were already endangered even before the Keys had self-serve gas stations. There can’t be many left.
Or so I thought before I joined some of those Facebook sailing and cruising groups. Therein, I discovered places awash with keyboard Rons, spouting all sorts of braggadocio and abject nonsense. It has taken great discipline to not respond.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs is now complete. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
South Mills Bridge has reopened to maritime traffic!
The Dismal Swamp Canal is OPEN to navigation & operating on normal schedule.
Hope to see you soon!
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome CenterChairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority
Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs on April 20-22, 2026. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
Please see the USACE Norfolk District’s Notice to Navigation regarding the scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, April 20-22, 2026. This temporary closure is for electrical repairs to be made. The lock will reopen on April 23, 2026.
Attaching image from this week at the dock. Boaters are beginning to trickle through during this early springtime period.
Looking forward to many more in this season!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center Chairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority 2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
The 21st annual Paddle for the Border event will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, beginning near MM 28 at the Dismal Swamp State Park paddle launch on the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. We will host about 375 canoes and kayaks launching approximately 8:30am and traveling 7.5 miles north to the Ballahack Boat Ramp, in Chesapeake, VA. This event encourages recognition of the historical waterway and its importance to our area. The Dismal Swamp State Park, City of Chesapeake Parks, Rec and Tourism, Camden County, Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, and USACE all collaborate to promote this shared asset between two states.
We love our boating community and know this can be an inconvenience in your attempt to travel the waterway, but this event occurs for a few hours once a year. We’d like to suggest a compromise. Our set up starts early in the morning with traffic crossing the State Park pedestrian bridge for preparations and registration at around 6:30am. If you are tied up at the Welcome Center dock, we invite you to enjoy the view of paddlers launching colorful kayaks into the water from the park’s pedestrian bridge. The launch will begin at 8:30am and paddlers will have cleared out of MM 28 location by 10:30am, heading north. Paddlers have usually made their destination at Ballahack Road by 1 pm.
We want this experience to be enjoyable for all of our waterway travelers. Pulling out early from our dock (before 7:30 am) will also lead you on your way, without any encounters with paddlers. If you are staying at our Welcome Center dock the evening before, we will remind you of the upcoming events in the morning, to assist in your choices.
I hope this message will provide the ability to plan a great day on the Dismal Swamp Canal for all of our guests, paddlers and boaters, alike. On behalf of the Paddle for the Border Team, thank you for sharing this with your boating partners and please let us know if you have any questions.
Many thanks, Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome CenterChairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority
There is always plenty to do around Charlotte Harbor. While berthed at Fishermen’s Village Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, you are certain to enjoy visiting Western Florida’s beautiful Charlotte Harbor/Peace River.
Fishermen’s Village APRIL Calendars of Entertainment/Events
April 2026 Sunset Beach Club CalendarApril 2026 Fisherman’s Village Calendar
Elizabeth City sits at the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and has the well-earned reputation of being a transient-friendly town with free dockage for 72 hours.
Run for Hope 5K
It’s that time of year! Spring into action for a great cause with Albemarle Hopeline’s Race 5K for Hope!
Enjoy a flat, scenic course through the Riverside Area of Elizabeth City with views of the Pasquotank River. All proceeds from this event will provide services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through Albemarle Hopeline, Inc. Hopeline has been serving survivors in northeast North Carolina for 40 years.
Lace up, show up, and Take every step with purpose—your run helps change lives!
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