With the realities of a slowed economy keeping some yachts tied to the dock, it was no surprise to discover that fewer yachts are headed to the shipyard this fall than two years ago.

We tried an experiment this month by revisiting our November 2007 survey about fall shipyard periods. We were curious to see if times had changed much.

They have.

Blame the economy, perhaps again. But this month we asked megayacht captains and crew if they were thinking about retirement.

Turns out that a full 75 percent of the 188 respondents to this month’s survey are not only thinking about retiring but have begun planning for it, including saving some of their salary and making plans to do other things ashore.

We asked respondents to share who or what had the biggest influence on their time in yachting, good or bad. Many responses credited a thoughtful and experienced captain who offered words of advice or took the time to teach others what they know. Another large group of responses said the traveling and their love of the ocean had the biggest impact on their lives.

There is a higher being, that’s for sure, but to buy into snakes in the garden of Eden that could speak the spoken word is a bit much. Jesus was a prolific carpenter in his time, we’re told. For such an important figure, why wasn’t any of his work preserved? … History has taught us that kings tolerated religion as a helper to keep the flock loyal to the hierarchy. Evolution and science dictate our past and our future.

While there is no indication that the yacht captain and chef who were murdered in the Caribbean in the past few weeks died because they were yacht crew, the fact remains that the industry lost two of its own. (Read more about those incidents on page A8.)

Statistics by Lawrence Hollyfield

When a captain e-mailed in that he had a story to tell about advancing an owner more than $100,000, we questioned why he ever let the debt grow so high.

His response shocked us.

Statistics by Lawrence Hollyfield

After nearly two years of campaigning, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in November. The popular vote by Americans was tight (53 to 46 percent) but the electoral college votes that actually elect the president were strongly in Obama’s favor (364 to 163).

The summer is coming to an end and many crew are beat from long days, long weeks, and a long season. So the subject of exercise sounds like homework after exams: More work? Haven’t we done enough?

Exercise – regular exercise that gets the heart rate up for an extended period of time – is vital to mental as well as physical health. But we have no idea how busy crew can fit it all in.

A captain who survived Hurricane Hugo on an 87-foot sportfish has a fool-proof hurricane plan: spend the summer on Lake Michigan.

Not everyone can stay clear of the storms, but of the nearly 200 captains who answered The Triton’s survey on hurricane plans this month, many gave similar advice: "Don’t do it again."