Cruising Life

New FCC Decision Could Hurt GPS Accuracy

By Peter Janssen on June 30, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics

Despite initial opposition from the Coast Guard, the Pentagon, the Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Commerce and Interior, plus NASA and the FAA, the Federal Communications Commission has given a private equity firm permission to run a 5G wireless network that could harm the reliability of GPS signals. BoatUS, part of a new group called the Keep GPS Working Coalition, also opposes the ruling. “With this decision, the FCC is permitting one private company to upend the entire reliability of GPS,” said David Kennedy, the BoatUS manager of government affairs. “It’s unfathomable that the lone federal caretaker of our national…

Fire Destroys Sunseeker 66 on Harbour Island, Bahamas

By Peter Janssen on June 30, 2020 Cruising Life

A fire at a dock at Valentines Resort and Marina in Harbour Island, Bahamas, completely destroyed a 66-foot Sunseeker. The five people on board all escaped without injuries. Harbour Island police say they received a call at 12:35 on Saturday afternoon saying that a boat was on fire at the marina. When they responded, the boat was fully engulfed in flames. A captain from another yacht told The Triton, “I was walking by and the galley window blew out. Smoke and flames followed. I helped the captain with the tender,” which was saved. After the five people on board were…

Manatee Deaths in Florida Up by 20 Per Cent

By Peter Janssen on June 29, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a sobering story from The Guardian about the rising death of manatees in Florida, up by as much as 20 per cent this spring – and rising: The apparent environmental upside of Covid-19, such as lower pollution and emissions, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask manatee conservationists in Florida. Keeping this threatened species safe has increasingly been an uphill battle – especially since manatees were controversially downgraded from “endangered” in 2017. But conservationists are facing unexpected challenges in the face of coronavirus. So far, the pandemic has led to more unsafe boating activity, delays to environmental…

New 150-hp Evoy Pro: World’s Largest Electric Outboard

By Peter Janssen on June 28, 2020 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Evoy, an innovative Norwegian company, is developing a 150-hp, all electric outboard, the largest electric outboard in the world. Evoy is working with two other companies, Hurtigruten and Frybendø Marine, for the new outboard, and will be testing it this fall with hopes of introducing it to the market early next year. Started in 2018, Evoy has already developed inboard electric propulsion for commercial boats, going up to 800 hp. Now it’s turning that technology to the outboard market. The new zero-emissions Evoy Pro 150-hp outboard is built to be installed on Hurtigruten’s smaller tenders. It is specifically designed to…

Raymarine Launches New Line of Faster, Smarter, Axiom+ MFDs

By Peter Janssen on June 27, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics

Raymarine just unveiled its new Axiom+ multifunction navigation displays plus new, updated Lighthouse electronic charts. Axiom+ is the successor to Raymarine’s award-winning Axiom line of MFDs. Raymarine says the new Axiom+ displays are smarter, brighter and tougher than ever before. The new displays come in 7-, 9-, and 12-inch sizes, and they have a quad-core processor for fast chart redraws, multi-channel sonar views, and augmented reality navigation. Storage is increased to 16 MB. (The 12-inch display is shown above.) Axiom+ displays are up to 25 percent brighter than previous models. And they are more user-friendly, with HydroTouch impact-resistant glass that…

Florida Man Charged with Stealing, Crashing, Jeanneau Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 25, 2020 Cruising Life

Donnovan Russell Jester may have plenty of time to study up on his boathandling skills in the days ahead. Jester, 28, from Largo, Florida, was just arrested and charged with stealing a 46-foot Jeanneau cruiser from its slip in St. Petersburg three months ago. He then hit four channel marker pilings before he abandoned it. He now faces up to 30 years in jail. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s office says that Jester stole the boat from its slip at Thunder Marine at 2:15 a.m. on Friday, March 20. After he hit the pilings and abandoned the boat, it drifted into…

Lock Closures on Illinois River Start on July 1

By Peter Janssen on June 24, 2020 Cruising Life

The Illinois River stretches 327 miles, from Chicago down to Grafton, Illinois, where it connects to the Mississippi. It’s a major part of the Great Loop; in fact, it’s the only way to get from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. But there are eight aging dams and locks on the river, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled closings this summer and fall for long-overdue maintenance. Some of the closings, when no vessels will be able to transit, start on July 1 and run as long as Oct. 29. Here’s the…

Toyota and Yanmar Develop Hydrogen-Powered Concept Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 23, 2020 Cruising Life

Toyota and Yanmar have joined forces to create a hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions concept yacht. The new boat uses the high-pressure hydrogen fuel-cell from Toyota’s Mirai sedan as its powertrain. The two companies say the yacht will have smooth, emission-free cruising with “a superior cruising range.” For its part, Yanmar says its goal is to develop an environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel-cell system for a variety of marine vessels. It hopes to install the new H2 system and start demo testing later this year. The Mirai system is well-proven in the automotive market. Toyota launched its Mirai (which means “future” in Japanese) sedan…

Dozens of Massive Blue Whales Feasting in the Farallons

By Peter Janssen on June 22, 2020 Cruising Life

Dozens of blue whales, the largest creatures on earth – ever – have been feeding off the Farallon Islands, about 30 miles west of San Francisco. In one hour-long period, scientists counted 47 of the animals there, the largest group seen in Northern California since they started keeping records in 1968. Beautiful creatures with backs that seen to shine metallic blue when they surface, blue whales can grow to be more than 90 feet long and weigh more than 150,000 pounds. (The largest ever measured was 98 feet long and weighed 346,000 pounds.) They are larger than a Boeing 737-800…

How To Stay Safe During Lightning Strikes

By Peter Janssen on June 22, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s some solid advice from the U.S. Power Squadrons about how to stay safe during lightning strikes on the water: Lightning strikes kill more people in the United States in a year than tornadoes, and boaters are particularly vulnerable. You can stay safe on and off the water by learning more about lightning safety. Many people wait far too long to seek shelter when thunderstorms threaten. Unfortunately, this delayed response leads to many lightning deaths and injuries in the U.S. Lightning dangers for boaters Often the tallest object in a large open space, a boat can be a dangerous place…

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