Cruising Life

New Search for Endurance in Antarctic Ice

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2022 Cruising Life

Earlier this week, a team of scientists and adventurers left Cape Town, South Africa, on a 440-foot icebreaker, trying to find the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance in 10,000 feet of water in the Antarctic. The team, called Expedition Endurance 22, will use two high-tech autonomous drones and two helicopters to find the Endurance, which sank 107 years ago and resulted in one of the most heroic rescue stories of all time. Shackleton’s adventures in managing to save the lives of all 27 members of his crew are taught to this day in leadership classes around the world. The Endurance…

Yes, They Really Are Killer Whales

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2022 Cruising Life

Orcas, aka killer whales even though they’re members of the dolphin family, really are vicious. In fact, a new study reports that a group of scientists actually saw more than a dozen orcas attack and kill a 70-foot blue whale off the southwest coast of Australia, the first time that such an attack has been recorded. The study was published last month in the journal Marine Mammal Science. It notes that scientists had known that orcas attacked and killed blue whales before, but they were always juvenile blue whales. (Blue whales are the largest creatures that ever lived, and can…

See Horizon 60 Power Cat at Miami Show

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Horizon Power Catamaran PC60 will be on display at the Miami show, starting Wednesday, February 16. Horizon will also have a 52 at the show, but the 60, which was first built in 2013, is one of the company’s most popular models. Indeed, it is now working on hull number 25. The 60 is a sophisticated, stable and long-range cruiser with an enormous amount of interior volume and exterior lounging and entertaining space. You can order it with three or four staterooms with en suite heads and a vast open salon, or you can have the master stateroom forward…

Highly Stylized Invictus 46 To Debut in Miami

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The highly stylized Invictus TT460 flagship, made in Borgia, Italy, will make its U.S. debut at the Miami boat show, starting February 16, along with a smaller outboard-powered GT280S. Invictus Yacht started just six years ago, with another 28, and has grown rapidly in the European market, largely because of the boats’ unique lines and the company’s semi-custom approach where owners can choose among a variety of upholstery, colors, decks and, in the case of the TT460, the interior arrangements. All Invictus Yachts are designed by Christian Grande, who has won a lot of international awards for his innovative thinking.…

Capt. Cook’s Endeavour Found in Newport – Maybe

By Peter Janssen on February 5, 2022 Cruising Life

An unusual, and unseemly, public dispute has broken out between two scientific organizations trying to identify the remains of a sunken ship in the Newport, Rhode Island, harbor that may be the historic 18th Century Endeavour that once explored the South Seas under Capt. James Cook. In one corner, we have the Australian Maritime Museum, whose chief executive, Kevin Sumption, announced last week that the Newport shipwreck was indeed the Endeavour and was “the final resting place of one of the most important and contentious vessels in Australia’s maritime history.” In the other, the head of the Rhode Island Marine…

Dutch To Dismantle Bridge for Bezos’ Yacht

By Peter Janssen on February 3, 2022 Cruising Life

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world, is paying the city of Rotterdam to dismantle a historic bridge so his 412-foot yacht can pass from its shipyard to the sea. Earlier this week, Bezos and Oceanco, the Dutch yard that’s building the yacht, reached an agreement with the Rotterdam city council about the bridge. Bezos’ yacht has three 229-foot masts. The Koningshaven Bridge, built in 1927, has a clearance of 131 feet. The central portion of the bridge will be reassembled after Bezos’ yacht, which will be the largest sailing vessel in…

NOAA: Satellites Saved 330 People Last Year

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 Cruising Life

Here’s some important news from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, showing the life-saving importance of having EPIRBs, PLBs or other emergency rescue beacons on board your boat: NOAA’s fleet of advanced satellites are essential for predicting weather and climate, and last year they also helped rescue 330 people from potentially life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters. Of the 330 U.S. rescues, 195 were water rescues, 29 were from aviation incidents and 106 were from events on land. Alaska had the most SARSAT rescues with 55, followed by Florida with 52 and California with 37.…

55-Foot Yacht Stuck on North Carolina Beach

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

A 55-foot Novatec flybridge motoryacht has been stuck on a North Carolina beach for more than a week after it ran aground about 1 a.m. on January 25. The Coast Guard, TowBoatUS, and the owner have been trying to get it floating again ever since. The boat is named Vivens Aqua and it ran aground after the owner, Scott Pumphrey, from Salisbury, Maryland, said it suffered steering failure. It ended up on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore near the south end of Ocracoke Island. Pumphrey was trying to get through Ocracoke Inlet, notorious for its shifting sand, and…

Azimut Launches Flagship Magellano

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut just launched its first Magellano 30 Metri, the flagship of its long-range cruising fleet, at its yard in Viareggio, Italy. The new 30 Metri (measuring 97’ 6”) carries on the Magellano identity of providing Azimut’s traditional comfort and elegance in a boat that’s designed to cruise far afield in all sorts of weather and sea conditions. The first Magellano, launched in 2009, was a 74, with a completely new look and hull, designed by the Dutch naval architect Ken Freivokh. It had a range of more than 1,100 m at 11 knots, considerably more than possible on any of…

Vripack Designs Dramatic 79-Foot Project Meteor

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2022 Cruising Life

Vripack, the Dutch yacht design firm, just unveiled plans for its 79-foot Project Meteor yacht that has more than its share of head-turning and fresh-thinking features. The yacht has been developed with Van der Valk, the Dutch builder that usually produces larger yachts, and recently has built several explorer yachts. Van der Valks are known to be safe, comfortable, and efficient. The new, champagne-colored Project Meteor yacht has, among other things, a folding-out aft deck and a transom glass door as part of its beach club affect at the stern, and a tender garage under a hatch on the foredeck.…

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