Friday, March 29

Browsing: Cruising Life

Five people, including four from the same family, were killed in a two-boat collision at the start of the Memorial Day weekend in Georgia. The accident occurred about 10:30 on Saturday morning on the Wilmington River near Savannah. A good Samaritan called the Coast Guard. You can see its helicopter rescue video below. Six people, including the family, were on one boat. Three, including Mark Stegall, 45, from Savannah, who was charged with driving under the influence, were on the other. One person, Robert Chauncey, 37, on his boat was killed. The boats were traveling in opposite directions at the…

Lyman-Morse has float tested hull number one of its new Hood 35 LM series, and the graceful new express cruiser with classic Down East lines is getting ready for its owner soon. Lyman-Morse, in Thomaston, Maine, is collaborating with C.W. Hood, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on the new boat, incorporating quite a few innovations. The boat will be the first recreational in the U.S., for example, to use the new Hamilton HJX29 water jets. Its powerful, military-grade controls are paired to twin 480-hp Yanmars, producing a top speed of 40 knots. The new Hood 35 LM, named Shadow, also will use…

The Coast Guard just rescued seven people and their dog after their boat caught fire off the coast of Gulfport, Mississippi. Even though the boat ended up being engulfed in flames, none of the people (or the dog) were injured. You can see the story from beginning to end in the video below. It starts with several people already in the water as the boat starts to burn. They’re wearing life jackets, one is hanging into the anchor line. The fire spreads, and you can see the shadow of the Coast Guard plane as it passes overhead. At this point,…

NOAA just predicted that we’ll have another above-average hurricane season this year, the seventh one in a row. Read their announcement: Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, are predicting above-average hurricane activity this year — which would make it the seventh consecutive above-average hurricane season. NOAA’s outlook for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which extends from June 1 to November 30, predicts a 65% chance of an above-normal season, a 25% chance of a near-normal season and a 10% chance of a below-normal season. For the 2022 hurricane season, NOAA is forecasting a…

The new ZEN 50, currently being built in Spain, is truly a different boat. It is basically a solar-powered electric power catamaran, although you can order one with an innovative wing sail. And it is totally fossil-fuel free. It has no back-up generator or diesel or gas engine at all. It doesn’t even carry fossil fuel. The tender is powered by a battery that can be recharged from the mothership. The ZEN company, based in Malta, says the ZEN 50 is “a game changer,” certainly an overused term. But in this case, it appears to be true. The ZEN 50…

A young, creative company that calls itself an “innovator for water-related fun,” ePropulsion, from Somerset, New Jersey, just unveiled its new, powerful H-100 electric inboard. The new motor will make its public debut at the Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo starting June 21 in Amsterdam. The H-100 is a 100kW inboard motor, aimed at the OEM market, for power and sail boats from 60 to 100 feet and with a displacement of up to 200 tons. ePropulsion said it would be appropriate for a wide range of boats, including cruisers, fishing boats, work boats and even ferries, and it would…

The Navy just released its report on the investigation of the grounding of the USS Connecticut, a 353-foot-long, billion-dollar nuclear submarine in the South China Sea last October, finding that “an accumulation of errors” caused it. The sub’s commanding officer, executive officer and the chief of the boat had already been relieved of their commands “due to a loss of confidence,” the Navy said. The accident occurred last October 2 when the sub hit an uncharted seamount “while operating submerged in a poorly surveyed area in international waters,” the report said. The accident ripped off the entire forward sonar dome…

The Brandon Road Lock and Dam in the Joliet area of the Illinois Waterway will have restricted passage until August 14, and then a full closure from August 15 to September 4. Anyone planning on the Great Loop needs to schedule accordingly. The Illinois Waterway connects Lake Michigan/Chicago, with the Mississippi. Here is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ schedule for closures along that waterway this year and in 2023: 2022 Brandon Road Lock and Dam – Upper Bulkhead Recess Installation Restriction period/partial closure (will pass traffic under a 70′ width restriction from 6pm-6am): May 9-Aug. 14, 2022 Full closure: Aug. 15-Sept.…

The new Hylas M49, a two-cabin, two-head upscale cruising boat, will make its U.S. debut this summer. The M49 basically is a larger version of the popular M44 that was introduced a few years ago. Both boats are designed by Dean Salthouse, whose family has been designing boats in New Zealand for 65 years. The M49 is powered by twin 370-hp Yanmar diesels, providing a top speed of 31 knots. Hylas Yachts are built at the Queen Long yard in Taiwan, and they have a reputation for their seakeeping ability, offshore performance and versatility. One fan of the brand is…

A Maine fishermen, from a family of Maine fishermen, is among the finalists for a $100 million prize for fighting climate change from Elon Musk. Marty Odlin, whose family has been fishing in Maine for generations, has started a small company named Running Tide (the name of  his boat) to remove carbon dioxide, a main culprit in global warming, from the atmosphere. The company would build buoys in the ocean that would grow microforests of kelp that would gather carbon dioxide and eventually sink down to the ocean floor. Now, Running Tide is a finalist for Elon Musk’s $100 million…

1 69 70 71 72 73 308