Cruising Life

Runaway Boat Threatens Swimmers. See Video

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2021 Cruising Life

A runaway boat near St. Pete Beach in Florida caused some havoc as a boat from the local sheriff’s office rescued the driver from the water while officers in a helicopter overhead urged swimmers to head for shore. You can see all the action in the sheriff’s video below. The rescue started when the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office got a call that the driver had been thrown from his boat about half a mile off Pass-a-Grille Beach, just south of St. Pete. The sheriff’s office then launched a boat and a helicopter to the scene. They found the driver treading…

We Test New Vicem 50 Classic in Newport

By George Day on September 22, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Last Monday, the day after the close of the successful Newport international Boat Show, I had the good luck to join professional captain Louis for a quick sea trial of the new Vicem 50 Classic. The dawn was clear and cool without a breath of wind brushing Newport Harbor. Louis fired up the twin Volvo IPS600 engines and with bow thruster and IPS pod drives engaged, he inched the 50 out of her tight slip at Bannister’s Wharf and drove her slowly into the fairway. As always on late summer mornings, Newport was filled with an amazing collection of sail…

New Reports: Right Whales Nearing Extinction

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2021 Cruising Life

North American right whales are in trouble. In fact, according to several new studies by marine scientists, they are in danger of becoming extinct. Three recent research papers say the whales’ problems are caused by a combination of climate change and increasing interactions with ship and fishing gear. Climate change means the waters of the Gulf of Maine, the right whales’ traditional favored waters, are warming faster than any other marine ecosystem on earth. And right whales are increasingly the victims of being hit by ships and getting entangled in fishing nets and other gear. The North Atlantic right whale…

Nouvoyage 33: Amphib Tender for Megayachts

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2021 Cruising Life

For me, the Monaco Yacht Show was always fun. Forget about playing James Bond at the Casino in Monte Carlo, the really outrageous action was down on the docks at Port Hercules, where the megayachts and the helicopters and the toys were usually way over the top. I’m not at the show this week – the pandemic and all – so I haven’t seen the latest, a 33-foot-long amphibious limousine tender that fits in the garage of a megayacht (a large megayacht). The new tender, the Nouvoyage 33, answers the problem of how to get from your jet to your…

Kadey-Krogen, Summit, Building New Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Kadey-Krogen and Summit Motoryachts, its new brand, just announced two new boats at the Newport show. Building on the reception to the Kadey-Krogen 50 Open, the company will introduce a new 60 Open, with the same living concept joining the salon and galley area with the pilothouse. And Summit will launch a new 54 Coupe (see rendering, above) to add on to the 54 Motoryacht it just displayed in Newport. Kadey-Krogen has a rich history, having built more than 600 cruising yachts in the past 44 years in its yard in Taiwan. Full-displacement, blue-water trawlers, they have earned a reputation…

Boat Hits ICW Nav Aid in New Jersey. 6 Hurt

By Peter Janssen on September 20, 2021 Cruising Life

Six people were rescued from the water after their Bertram 25 ran into a fixed navigation aid just after midnight Sunday on the ICW near Beach Haven, New Jersey. They were taken to area hospitals with various injuries. The Coast Guard says a Good Samaritan called them at 12:18 a.m. to report hearing a loud crash and calls for help near Ham Island, which is just north of Beach Haven on the Waterway. (Beach Haven is about half way between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light.) The Coast Guard launched a 29-foot response boat from Beach Haven and a Dolphin helicopter from…

Hylas Building New 49 Motoryacht for U.S. Owner

By Peter Janssen on September 19, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hylas Yachts, which makes high-end cruisers at the Queen Long yard in Taiwan, just delivered a new M44 motoryacht to an American owner in the Chesapeake and is finishing up a new M49 motoryacht for another American owner on Lake Michigan. Andy Huang, the Hylas CEO, said the M44 “has been an evergreen model for Hylas, with good levels of interest shown across the boating world.” Hylas has sold ten M44s since it started the model in 2015. The new M49 is a larger version of the M44, with more room in the cockpit and in the accommodations area below.…

Autonomous Tug Ready for 1,000-nm Cruise

By Peter Janssen on September 18, 2021 Cruising Life

A 35-foot totally autonomous tugboat is ready to start a 1,000-nm cruise around Denmark controlled by captains operating a computer system with 300 main processors back in Boston, Massachusetts. The tug, named Nellie Bly, was made by the Damen yard in the Netherlands, and it is run by Sea Machines Robotics in Boston. The goal of the cruise, named Machine Odyssey after Homer’s epic poem, is to determine if such a voyage, including stops at 14 ports along the way, is possible for a commercial vessel. The tug is scheduled to leave Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 30. It will have…

The Story Behind a Terrible Bridge Accident. Video

By Peter Janssen on September 15, 2021 Cruising Life

Here’s the full story from gCaptain behind a frightening video of a bridge on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada, crashing down on the 730-foot-long bulk carrier Windoc. Take a look: In August, 2001, the Bulk Carrier Windoc was lined up on the Welland Canal’s Bridge 11 in Ontario, Canada. After receiving the flashing amber approach light indicating that the bridge operator was aware of the vessel, the captain lined up on the centerline and maintained a speed of 5 knots. Minutes later while the vessel was half way through the bridge started descending. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Wn2RDzsvg When the vessel was…

New Aroha 29: A Light, Fuel-Efficient Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on September 14, 2021 Cruising Life

The new, lightweight Aroha 29 was launched at the Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine a few months ago. It then was taken down to the Newport boat show where it was entered in the new green products category. The Aroha is indeed fuel efficient. Powered by a 38-hp Beta Marine diesel, the wooden coastal cruiser will cruise at 12 knots and top out at 16 knots. What’s most remarkable is the Aroha’s fuel burn: 0.26 gallons per hour at 7.5 knots, and 2.1 gallons per hour at 17.5 knots. The boat’s back story starts in New Zealand, where Maynard Bray,…

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