Times are tough, so the Miami International Boat Show is going overboard to make it easier to buy a boat.
The 68th Miami show, which runs today through Monday at three sites, will have an Affordability Pavilion to help people find boats that can be financed for $300 or less per month.
The pavilion, which has appeared at other boat shows, will feature fishing boats, runabouts and personal watercraft such as an Angler 173F ($250 per month), the 20-foot Carolina Skiff 218DLV ($219), a Polar Kraft Bass Series TX175 Pro ($125) and the Yamaha VX Cruiser and VX Deluxe PWCs ($59).
Those in the market for a boat should find good deals at the show…Â More info
[ad#cor1]
 former German beauty contestant is attempting to become only the second person in history to circumnavigate Australia in a kayak.
Freya Hoffmeister, a 35-year-old mother from the German town of Husum, on the North Sea (near Kiel) is due to paddle through Sydney Harbour on Friday evening (February 13).
The adventure-paddler will leave Bulli at 7am tomorrow morning and is expected to arrive at Manly Wharf at 6pm and she is expected to be joined by a flotilla of paddlers, welcoming her into
She will then continue her trek north from Manly’s Shelley Beach (near Fairy Bower) at 7am on Saturday morning.
Freya set out from Melbourne …Â More info
The Kaua‘i High School girls paddling team made the strongest Kaua‘i showing at the First Hawaiian Bank Canoe Paddling championships, Saturday on Maui.
After holding off a strong Kapa‘a girls team in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championships and earning the state berth on a tie-breaker, the Raider ladies finished the two-heat semifinals with a solid No. 4 seeding following a 4:20.75 paddle at the Hanakao‘o Beach Park.
This was based on the strong pace set by Punahou girls who finished the semifinals witha 4:12.23 run.
In the finals, Punahou, capturing top honors in the Varsity mixed and Varsity girls and second in the Varsity boys by just .46 second, finished on top with a 4:23.56 run compared to Kaua‘i’s No. 5 finish at 4:44.77.… More info
My draw to Hawaii’s Big Island for a winter vacation was the colorful coral reefs and boggling beautiful fish. The drawback is I could spend the entire week underwater snorkeling and never explore above-water activities. A solution surfaced: Snorkel before breakfast and try stand-up paddleboarding and outrigger canoeing afterward.
There’s no shortage of snorkeling sites on the dry side of the island, and I opted for my morning excursion in two protected bays, Makaiwa Bay, a half-mile south of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, and Kahuwai Bay at the Kona Village resort.
I snorkel alone, and both bays are sheltered from currents and ideal to view the abundant array of tropical fish. Ten strokes from Makaiwa’s crescent-shaped shore and I was snorkeling amid a spectacular court of colorful fish, each sashaying through forests of fan and cauliflower coral…. More info
[ad#cor1]