Marshall Alexander has been fishing the Gulf of Maine for over 50 years. He knows the seas, the fisheries, and the boats that make up his way of life. When he got his first boat, he named her De Dee Mae. She worked well for him.

At 128.9 by 24 meters, the RRS Sir David Attenborough is not a large ship, but she is a wondrously complex ship. Designed and built to meet the contemporary science requirements as a seagoing science platform the ship can also provide support to land-based polar science.

With all systems checked out and tuned to perfection, the big catamaran’s GPS display read a crisp 25 knots. This met her design speed and the tastefully appointed galley and accommodation area matched the renderings approved by the owner. Another Powerplay boat was ready for delivery.

Placing a board deck across two canoes, to make a broad flat and stable surface for transporting passengers and freight, was often done to form early ferries. The true catamaran is an evolution of that practical design concept. In recent decades, Australia has led in the development of all shapes and sizes for aluminum catamaran ferries.

About 6,000 of Indonesia’s 17,508 islands are inhabited by over 250 million citizens. Many of these citizens earn their living on the sea or live near the 54,720 kilometers of coastline. In addition to the islands, the country has 93,000 square kilometers of territorial waters.

As sometimes happens with boats in the maritime world, the recent repower of a tug shone a light on a pair of well-known independent companies. The tug Gretchen H.