The City of Destiny will soon be as attractive to the 21st century sailor as it was to the 19th century railroad builder: Tacoma’s waterfront is on the make once more. The Foss Waterway Seaport has raised $11 million to renovate the century-old buildings and wharfs of the waterfront. With the Working Waterfront Maritime Museum now poised to become the largest maritime heritage center on the West Coast, the Seaport is flexing its fundraising muscles with a new aim in mind: moorage facilities for recreational boaters. By fall 2008 Seaport officials hope to have 165 feet of permanent floats, two ADA ramps and a pump-out facility available for the transient boater. To achieve this, however, they will need to raise $190,000 in private donations towards the $700,000 they have committed to the project. Visit their website at www.fosswaterwayseaport.org.

Operation Safe Dog: If you’re aware of the risks of having your dog on board—including the risk of the dog going overboard—you’ll appreciate this initiative from Four Paws Only.

The Oregon-based dog and cat boutique has organized a lifejacket loaner program in Oregon that allows boaters to borrow a doggie PFD—for free—from all major gas docks on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. They’re hoping to expand their service to the Washington waterways soon…

You might have suspected that the phenomenal success of eBay would by now have touched the boating world, but get this: in the third quarter of last year a boat was sold on eBay Motors every 9 minutes. The total number of powerboats sold over these four months was 2,732, and the total number of sailboats 326…

Trying to explain the points of sail to a non-sailor in words can feel like eating a burger with chopsticks. Nautica Marketing Inc. has addressed this difficulty by creating the Sailing Wind Wheel as a visual and hands-on aid to learning. The device trumps any diagram you could draw: It has a clear rotating disc with a boat whose sails can be moved independently, as well as full explanations on the reverse side. It retails for $20…

Northern Lights, an expert in marine propulsion and power generation, has acquired Rich Beers Marine, the Fort Lauderdale manufacturer of Technicold air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The acquisition will allow them to offer more comprehensive and efficient solutions to boaters, with refrigeration systems engineered in tandem with generators.