Cruising Life

A New Luxury Thoroughbred from Michigan

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

If you’re thinking about a second boat or a runabout, take a look at the new U23i Thoroughbred from a small startup company in Manistee, Michigan, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The new 23-footer is a product of the Thoroughbred Boat Company, and the brainchild of Mike Kamaloski, the company’s founder and president. “We decided we were going to take the excitement and style of boats of the past and bring it to today’s generation,” he told upnorthlive.com. “We built a modern-day classic.” The new 23, called “Maiden Manistee,” has inboard power from a single 365-hp Ilmor engine,…

Tiara Building New 60 Flagship Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Tiara is now making its new EX60 flagship, the largest vessel the Holland, Michigan, builder has ever produced. Offered with several versions of Volvo IPS pod drives, the new 60 will be ready by the end of the year. Tom Slikkers, the Tiara president and CEO, said, “For this particular design, we’ve blended elements we know are proven in our outboard line and have taken portions we’ve learned from the inboard models.” With three staterooms and two heads below, the new 60 comes with several creative and expandable living features, including side decks that fold out of the bulwarks aft…

Sergio Davi Transits Panama Canal

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2022 Cruising Life

Sergio Davi, the 65-year-old Italian adventurer, just transited the Panama Canal on his 10,000 mile expedition from Sicily to Los Angeles on a 36-foot RIB. It took Davi 8 hours and 30 minutes, mostly at night, to travel 49-nm across the canal. He was joined by Stefano Germani, the financial manager of the Italian tech company I-Tronik. Davi needed extra help on board to help with the radio and lines once inside the canal. Davi started his epic expedition on Dec. 15 in Palermo, hoping to reach L.A. in about 100 days. His schedule was set back when he tested…

21 Tips For Saving Fuel from BoatUS

By co_admin on March 19, 2022 Cruising Life

SPRINGFIELD, Va., March 17, 2022 – Gas prices are up. What can boaters do to prepare for a summer of boating? The 800,000-plus member Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has 21 fuel-saving tips boaters can do to help save on fuel and still enjoy a fulfilling season on the water. While some of these techniques may sound obvious, there may be some you never considered. Before Heading Out: Tune your engine now. A once a year for a tune-up and service will help it run more efficiently. Match the boat’s prop to the boat and activity. Propellers…

Cruise With Lots of Friends on Nazareth Aquadomus

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2022 Cruising Life

You probably don’t want to climb on the Nazareth Aquadomus for your next cruise to Bermuda, but it certainly looks like it could be fun for the calmer sections of the Great Loop. The Aquadomus is a 41-foot catamaran that’s basically a houseboat with a flybridge. Built in Portugal by Nazareth Boats, the Aquadomus can hold 12 people in the vast spaces inside and out. It’s powered by two 200-hp outboards, and tops out at 12 knots. The big boat also has a draft of just 1’ 8,” meaning you can explore all those small coves and gunkholes that usually…

I Just Built My New (Virtual) MJM 35

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2022 Cruising Life

I just built my new MJM 35 (see the picture above). It was easy, and it was fun. You can build yours too. I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for MJMs for many years now. Even before I tested their then-new, four-outboard 53z in July, 2019, in Newport, Rhode Island, I’d driven all their new boats, all inboards, all designed by Doug Zurn. (I’ve also had another soft spot for Zurn’s classic Down East designs ever since I met him during the launch of Billy Joel’s 57-foot commuter Vendetta in 2005, which Zurn also designed. In fact, while…

Guilty! Murder on the High Seas

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2022 Cruising Life

The Justice Department says a Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to charges of a gruesome murder on a scallop fishing boat 55 miles of coast of Nantucket. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Vazquez’ attacks took place on Sept. 23, 2018, on The Captain Billy Haver, an 82-foot fishing with seven people on board. The Justice Department says the attacks started when Vazquez hit Victim A over the head with a hammer…

Legacy Building New Outboard Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

Legacy Yachts in Ohio is working on a new Legacy 12, the first model in its new Legacy Mark 11 Series, a 45-knot, twin-outboard pocket cruiser with a Down East heritage. Legacy hopes to introduce the new 12 at the Miami show next February. It has an LOA of 39′ 4″ and a beam of 12′ 3.” About two years ago, Seattle Yachts bought Tartan, the sailboat company that had acquired Legacy earlier. Seattle formed a new company, Marine Manufacturing Group, LLC, to make both brands under Phil Friedman, the former president of Palmer Johnson, and moved the plant to…

Favors Trailer New Ranger 25 from Seattle to Florida

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

Jim and Lisa Favors are certainly veteran travelers, but even for them this was a major undertaking, a 3,400-mile expedition from Seattle, where they picked up their new Ranger Tugs 25, to Fort Myers, Florida, where they started cruising on it. This trip actually started just before Thanksgiving when the Favors left their home in Traverse City, Michigan, to head for Des Moines, just below Seattle, to pick up their new boat. This is the third Ranger Tugs they have owned (after a 27 and a 29). They wrote on their blog, trailertrawlerlife.com, that they downsized because they want to…

Ships Run Aground in Chesapeake, Caribbean

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

In the past few days, a 1,050-foot container ship ran aground in the Chesapeake after leaving the Port of Baltimore, and a 1,070-foot cruise liner with 3,000 passengers ran aground after leaving Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. There were no reports of injuries in either grounding. In the Chesapeake, the container ship Ever Forward ran aground near Craighill Channel outside the Patapsco River. The ship, holding 11,850 20-foot containers, draws 42.6 feet; it was sitting in 24 feet of water. The Coast Guard and the state’s Department of the Environment were trying to coordinate efforts to refloat it. Local…

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