Boat

For Jimmy Cornell, it was all about freedom. Early in his adult life, it came from fleeing communist Romania and finding his way to England, where he worked as a radio correspondent for the BBC. After he got married and began to help his wife, Gwenda, raise their two small children, it came in finding his way to the sea. It took until his early 30s to get there. "I was, to be honest, a hippy and I did not want a career in the BBC. I did not want to become a rich man when I was 50, I didn't care about this," Cornell recalled.

The maritime economy hasn't been shipshape in the city that calls itself "America's Sailing Capital. " The doldrums that becalmed the national powerboat and sailboat industry four years ago did not spare Annapolis - or the two boat shows that have tied up in the harbor every October since the 1970s. But this year feels different, local boating experts say. Consumer confidence is returning, and more boaters want to buy a new vessel or trade up to a bigger one. "The challenges have been severe," said Paul Jacobs, general manager of the U.S. Sailboat Show and U.S. Powerboat Show.

With 253 boats from all over the east coast fishing the renown White Marlin Open Tournament in Ocean City, Jane, Tom and Lance Smith, of Bel Air, and crew on board their 43-foot custom Carolina boat, Longfin, were fortunate to get to the weigh scales and post a category win for the third time. They had consecutive winning years with a second place white marlin, and this year they took a second place in the shark division with a 126-pound mako shark. It was caught trolling in 300 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon on an artificially molded chugger.

A second month will pass before authorities complete the inquiry into the boat collision involving an admittedly drunken state delegate and a vessel carrying children. "Charges will definitely be filed," Sgt. Brian Albert, spokesman for Natural Resources Police, said Tuesday. "First, we have to determine who was the at-fault vessel. " Del. Donald H. Dwyer admitted the day after the Aug. 22 crash that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.2 percent after his boat, The Legislator, collided with another boat carrying two adults and five children on the Magothy River.

Rick Carrion has never met Lin and Larry Pardey, but the retired high school science teacher from Cecil County and the couple who met in California and have spent the past six decades not staying put share a special passion for sailing in general and wooden boats in particular. Carrion, who retired in 2005 after teaching earth science and environmental science at Elkton High for 30 years, and the Pardeys will be among the wooden boat aficianados to descend on Annapolis Sept. 22-24 for the third annual Classic Wooden Boat Rendezvous and Race on the Severn River.

We couldn't agree more with The Sun's recent editorial caution against changing the revenue stream that feeds the Waterway Improvement Fund without first researching the likely outcome ("Bailing out yachts?" Sept. 4). It is accurate to say that the Marine Trades Association has long advocated increasing the number of boats registering in Maryland. No one benefits more than members of the boating industry and the boating communities from a well-funded and robust Waterway Improvement Fund.

Rescue workers planned to continue searching waters near Gibson Island in Anne Arundel County on Wednesday for a missing man who was tossed from a boat in the area during a squall Monday, according to a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police spokesman. The man, identified as Jason Wesley Ryman, 27, of the Philadelphia area, was on a sailboat with three others when the squall caused the boat to tip, said Sgt. Brian Albert, the spokesman. Ryman and his girlfriend were both thrown from the boat, Albert said.

One of the great summer pleasures that comes with living in Maryland is the opportunity to get on a boat and paddle, motor or sail your way around the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Few places in the U.S. are better suited for boating, and the state's geographic blessing has produced economic rewards for its citizens - an estimated 35,000 jobs produced by a $2 billion industry. But these are not the best of times for those in the boating industry. The economic recession of 2007 hit hard, and the recovery has been slow.

Meet Peter Van de Castle and his wife, Barbara, who exercise by sea and by land with the Baltimore Dragon Boat Club. The competitive group of more than 100 members practices the 2,500-year-old Chinese sport of dragon boat racing year-round and participates in festivals and regattas along the Mid-Atlantic seaboard. For competitions, the human-powered boats are decorated with elaborate dragon heads and tails. The group invites people of all ages and skill levels to come out and try. "This is one of those sports that is absolutely available to everyone," says Peter Van de Castle.