Mercer Islander launches Nautical Northwest magazine

Published 8:30 am Friday, January 23, 2026

Mercer Island resident Todd Feinroth’s sailing journey began at around the age of 10 when his father taught him the ways of gliding on the water near his New York home.

That early experience had an immense impact on the youngster, who wanted to become a single-handed sailor at the age of 12. Feinroth started going out on his family’s fiberglass boat and would later become passionate about woodboating.

Over the years, he got into competitive sailboat racing, completed a couple of solo ocean trips to Baja, Mexico, and added powerboating to his nautical resume. He’s sailed in the Bay Area, lived on a 56-foot boat in Sausalito, California, and engaged in competitions on Puget Sound when he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1995.

“I’m an avid sailor, an avid powerboater, and it’s really an obsession with me,” said Feinroth, 61, who currently owns two sailboats, three powerboats and a wood rowboat and splits his time between homes on Mercer Island and San Juan Islands’ Roche Harbor. He has resided on Mercer Island since 2013.

Two of his boats are a 24-foot 1938 Hacker Craft Runabout, which is all mahogany restored and was commissioned by the Kennedy family; and a 51-foot 1938 John Alden Design cutter.

“When you hear a wood hull going through the water, it’s like nothing else you’ve ever felt in your life,” Feinroth said. “I come home, and I get on my boat, and I’m a different person. It really calms me down and brings me back to a more serene time, even for a weekend. And that’s why I fell in love with classic wood boats.”

Feinroth, who worked for 30 years in the technology field, now sails in the magazine realm as owner/publisher of Nautical Northwest. The inaugural 100-page, high-glossy, free publication (also digital) recently made its way into the hands of readers in the maritime community, will be the official magazine of the 2026 Seattle Boat Show at Lumen Field Event Center running from Jan. 30-Feb. 7 and will be placed in every Kenmore Air airplane seat and all eight-passenger terminals. For now, locals can grab the magazine at the Mercer Island Library.

With editor-in-chief Norris Comer, art director Kathy Samuelson and a sales/distribution duo of Craig Perry and Steve Hillman leading the way, Feinroth’s magazine will be funded by advertising and released every other month.

Nautical Northwest’s tagline is, “Your premier connection to life on the water,” and Feinroth discussed the array of topics that readers can expect to dive into each issue. The staff strives to inform, educate and entertain across all sectors of aquatic interests, he said.

“We take a very broad approach, covering everything from scuba diving, paddleboarding, sailing, racing, shipbuilding — everything around the water lover,” said Feinroth, adding that the magazine will also feature fishing articles and government articles about what’s happening in Olympia.

Being a Mercer Islander, Feinroth said that he knows some locals who are either boat builders, owners of beautiful powerboats and sailboats or have been on some amazing aquatic adventures to Alaska and Canada that can be of educational value to readers if included in the magazine.

Feinroth sat down for a beer with Comer at The Sloop Tavern in Ballard — a sailor’s pub with its own yacht club — about six months ago and learned of the future editor-in-chief’s vision for the magazine, which includes a host of editorial contributors.

Comer is deeply entrenched in the maritime scene as a seasoned professional magazine editor, an award-winning journalist, a former oceanographer and someone who’s worked and lived on commercial fishing vessels, yacht charters, sailboats and more.

“I am a part of this water world, not an outside observer. Throughout all these experiences, I’ve been in awe of what is best described as an entirely unique culture of the greater Pacific Northwest and interconnected regions like British Columbia and Alaska. This world is overflowing with amazing, often unwritten stories of inspiring people, innovative industries, wonderful nature, and important news that fully engage one’s senses,” he said.

For more information, visit: https://nauticalnw.com.