Cruising Life

Tugs Try, Fail, To Budge Grounded Container Ship

By Peter Janssen on March 30, 2022 Cruising Life

The 1,095-foot-long Ever Forward container ship, which draws more than 42 feet, is still hard aground in the Chesapeake in 24 feet of water despite the efforts of five tugs earlier this week to refloat it. The Ever Forward ran aground on March 13 after it left the Port of Baltimore with a pilot on board. AIS data says the ship was running at 13 knots when it left the dredged Craighill shipping channel and stopped suddenly outside the Patapsco River. The Coast Guard has not yet determined what caused the ship to leave the channel. In an effort to…

Sweden’s J Craft Torpedo Ready for U.S.

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

If you really want to make an entrance, or just turn heads everywhere you go, take a look at the J Craft 42 Torpedo that just made its U.S. debut at the Palm Beach show. Made in Sweden and powered by Volvo IPS drives, this Swedish beauty is a combination of meticulous craftsmanship and modern technology. Each boat takes 8,500 man hours to make; the mahogany deck has 18 coats of lacquer and varnish before it leaves the factory floor. J Craft boats are made on the island of Gotland, by descendants of Vikings of ancient lore. King Carl XVI…

New Partnership Strengthens Electric Boating in U.S.

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2022 Cruising Life

Aqua superPower and X Shore have joined forces to electrify American boating. Indeed, the two companies had one of X Shore’s Eelex 800 electric boats plugged into an Aqua superPower fast charger last week at the Palm Beach boat show. The idea behind the collaboration is to promote electric boating in the U.S. by creating a fast-charging infrastructure. “Electric boats and watercraft are here now,” said Alex Bamberg, the CEO of Aqua superPower, “and they require the charging infrastructure we provide with our dedicated marine fast-charge network.” Aqua superPower says it has the first fully dockside network of fast chargers…

Prince Philip’s Runabout To Be Auctioned

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2022 Cruising Life

The late Prince Philip’s much-used and beloved British speedboat, a 1956 Albatross Super Sport Runabout, is coming up for auction. The prince, married to Queen Elizabeth for 73 years, was a British naval officer and an avid sailor. The Royal Yacht Britannia carried his Albatross for more than ten years. In 1967, the boat was moved to Balmoral, the Queen’s estate in Scotland, where the late Princess Diana is said to have driven it. Here’s the auction announcement from Bonhams: A classic motorboat formerly owned and driven by HRH the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for more than 30 years,…

Iliad To Launch 53S Long-Range Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Iliad Catamarans just announced that they’re making a new 53S low-profile, long-range power cat with outstanding space, economy and performance. Founded in Australia in 2019, Iliad so far has produced a fleet of 50, 62 and 74 power cats, but they’re all flybridge models. The new 53S is a sporty looking sedan, with an air draft of just 14’ 7” so it can slide under bridges along the waterways of the world. Iliad says the 53S comes with twin 440-hp Volvos or Yanmars, producing a top speed of 24 knots and a range of more than 3,000 nm. The new…

Stunning Sirena 68 Makes U.S. Debut

By Peter Janssen on March 28, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The stunning new Sirena 68, a luxurious long-range cruiser with a hull from Germán Frers and an interior by Cor D. Rover, just made its U.S. debut at the Palm Beach show. With standard 900-hp Volvos, the latest Sirena has a range of 1,200 nm at 10 knots, and a top speed of 26 knots. With optional 1,000-hp Volvos, top speed goes up to 28 knots. Designed for long-range cruising, with input from previous Sirena owners, the Turkish-built boat is both comfortable and seaworthy. Frers, the legendary Argentine naval architect who has designed all the Sirena hulls, drew a semi-displacement hull…

Ice Shelf Size of L.A. Collapses in Antarctica

By Peter Janssen on March 28, 2022 Cruising Life

An ice shelf the size of New York City or Los Angeles collapsed two weeks ago during an Antarctic heat wave, sending a massive slab of ice into the ocean. Satellite imaging showed that the Conger Ice Shelf on East Antarctica, which had been there for thousands of years, suddenly disappeared between March 14 and 16. The ice shelf has been shrinking slowly since the 1970s. Even though the shrinkage was accelerating lately, the entire disappearance of the ice shelf was totally unexpected. East Antarctica is one of the coldest and driest places on earth. But the collapse of the…

Couple Save Drowning Man, Shoot Him

By Peter Janssen on March 22, 2022 Cruising Life

Here’s our bizarre boating story of the week: On a popular boating lake in South Carolina, a Good Samaritan rescued Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, and a woman companion after they fell off their Jet Ski and appeared in distress. The Good Samaritan subsequently shot and killed him after Morgan threatened him. The Good Samaritan, 74, was with his wife (the police are withholding their names) on their pontoon boat on Lake Keowee, a man-made lake with sandy beaches, waterfront homes and 300 miles of shoreline. They saw Morgan, from nearby Walhalla, and his companion in the water waving for help.…

New Seavy 11 Power Cat from France

By Peter Janssen on March 21, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s an early look at a sporty new entry in the growing power catamaran field, the 38-foot Seavy 11 from a new French builder, Sea Venture Yachting. The Seavy 11 is an ultra-modern, ultra-modular cat. It already has more deck space, by a long shot, than a similar-sized monohull, but you can fold down the platforms on each side of the aft deck to add another three feet to the already large 14-foot beam. And it comes with three power options – sterndrives, outboard, or electric. The company says that with twin 370-hp sterndrives, the Seavy 11 tops out at…

New Daychaser 48 To Be Launched Soon

By Peter Janssen on March 20, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Doug Zurn-designed Daychaser 48 Down East day boat will be launched this spring by Boston BoatWorks. The Daychaser is being built exclusively for members of the Barton & Gray Mariners Club. The boat is made for a perfect day on the water. It was designed by Zurn Yacht Design in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and built by Boston BoatWorks, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. “We think the high level of detail and foresight that went into the design will satisfy Barton & Gray’s ever-expanding membership,” Zurn said. The new Daychaser is basically an entertainment platform, built for picnics, cocktail outings, and day cruises.…

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