This month, Sabre Yachts announced that it will splash their all new 51 Salon Express in 2026. The new Downeast-style design is a two-cabin, two-head couple’s cruiser that emphasizes warm private spaces in the cabins combined with large people-friendly social areas in the salon, aft cockpit and foredeck lounge. The 51 has the galley down in the cabin, which makes the best possible use of the spacious salon while providing a large sea-going kitchen with plenty of storage for groceries, cook ware and cutlery. The master cabin is amidships with an athwartships island double berth, large hanging lockers and ample…
The Helmsman family of cruising trawlers, now numbering seven models from 31 to 54 feet, has remained true to the trawler ethos from day one. They build semi-displacement cruisers, based on working trawler designs, that are seaworthy, simple to maintain, easy to handle and possess very long range capabilities. The 43E which is now in a second generation, evolved from the highly popular Helmsman 38, hence the E in its branding. By adding almost seven feet and increasing the beam, the new 43 had a much more spacious salon and bridge and enough volume forward for two full cabins with…
At the Newport International Boat Show, Hinckley Yachts of Portsmouth, Rhode Island introduced their new 39 Picnic Boat with a large forward lounge. It’s a first for the company that has nearing 100 years in the boat building business. The addition of forward seating in the 39 creates three distinct social areas on the boat. Aft you have the spacious cockpit with wrap-around sofa seating for six or more people. The stern door opens to the full-beam swim platform that will be easily accessed when boarding the boat from a dinghy. The salon has an L-shaped settee along the port…
The Swift Trawler 37 sedan replaced the venerable 35 and has established itself as a leader in the mid-size trawler market around the world. With top speeds of over 20 knots and efficient cruising speeds in the mid-teens, the 37 has proven that trawler cruising does not have to be equal to slow cruising. This year, Beneteau is debuting their new Swift Trawler 37 Fly which adds a bridge and upper lounge to the design. This new feature effectively increases usable social spaces by about 30 percent and gives the navigator a raised helm for eyeball conning and docking. The…
Here’s a tragic story about a young, adventurous woman whose life was cut short. Last week, while moored in the Harbour Island resort and marina in the Bahamas, the crew of the 142-foot motor yacht Far From It was preparing the vessel for a charter when they noticed that their stewardess Paige Bell was missing. A search of the yacht brought tragic results. Bell was found stabbed to death in the engine room and near her was the yacht’s engineer Birgito Munoz with self-inflicted but non-fatal knife wounds. The scene suggested a violent and likely sexual assault. Munoz was arrested,…
This week at France’s Cannes Festival of Yachting, the Polish builder of sport cruisers unveiled a surprise for the cruising market, the all-new Galeon 430 Explorer. The new 43-footer is their first boat in the long-range trawler style and promises to open new audiences for the builder. The design has a purposeful trawler styling with a fly bridge, a high saloon with expansive glazing and a large aft cockpit and swim platform. This last feature is enhanced by fold-down bulwarks on both sides that almost double the cockpit’s deck area. The helm at the front of the saloon is up…
We had just dropped the mooring off The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda’s North Sound in the BVI and started the 15-mile passage north to Anagada when a gusty squall swept in from the Atlantic and began pelting us with rain drops the size of grapes. But, there was no panic, no rushing to the mast to drop the mainsail, no frantic rolling up of the headsail. That’s because we were snug at the inside helm of a 45-foot power cat. The squall passed and soon we climbed to the bridge to enjoy the sunlight and the view of the…
West Navitech is a relatively new commercial shipyard based near La Spezia, Italy. Over the last decade they have earned a reputation for building robust aluminum commercial vessels of the highest strength and quality. They build passenger vessels, tugs, Coast Guard rescue craft and fireboats. Plus, they build aluminum hulls for other yacht builders in the La Spezia region. So, it is a little surprising to hear this month that the builder was venturing into the luxury yacht market with a new aluminum family cruiser called the Forte 47. The name Forte come from the Italian word for strength and…
When you first glimpse the new Marlow Avalon 65 from Marlow Yachts and owner David Marlow, you know the company and its owner have created an owner-operated cruising boat that has a entirely new look. Gone are the stepped sheer line and the square windows in the salon, bridge and hull. Instead, we have a high sided hull with a straight sheer, a noticeable flare at the bow and a curvaceous cabin and bridge structure with a swept back look and cats-eye windows. Plus the hull ports are oval. The whole look of the Avalon 65 has a retro feel…
With the new 46, Aquila catamarans is venturing into the explorer or adventure cat realm by combining big-boat innovations with a power plant designed to travel long distances without refueling. The target market will be independent, adventurous couples. The published specs call for twin Volvo 320-horsepower engines that will deliver a top-end-speed of 28 knots. The tanks hold 425 gallons of diesel so running at moderate cruising speeds of 15 knots or so and burning about six gallons an hour, you have a useful range of roughly 1,000 miles. For long-haul and off-the-grid capabilities, you can opt for Aquila’s Hydroglide…
De Antonio Yachts, based in Barcelona, Spain recently launched its new 60-foot flagship, which they intend to debut at the Cannes Festival of Yachting in September. As an outboard powered family cruiser, it will be interesting to see how well the now-recognized De Antiono design aesthetic works in a boat of this size. The boat has the builder’s signature stepped hull, slab sides with stylish glazing and a plumb bow, all very much family resemblances. The salon is based around the full side decks for easy access to the lounge at the bow, while the cockpit features a near full-width…
On September 10, 1982, three passengers aboard a light aircraft crashed into the sea off the Canadian Maritimes. They were able to deploy their life raft and they had with them the earliest version an Emergency Position Indicating Beacon (EPIRB). They switched it on and set in motion the very first COSPAS-SARSAT rescue. They were found and rescued in a matter of hours instead of the days such search and rescue missions took before the satellite rescue system was in place. Since then, more than 50,000 people have been saved from a watery end by EPIRB technology. For those of…
Whether you are looking to add radar to your boat or it’s just time to replace an old and out of date unit, there are a lot of considerations that should go into the decision-making process. To start, you need to be certain that a new or replacement radar is compatible with your existing marine electronics. In other words, will the radar display appear on your multifunction display so you can overlay the images onto the digital chart. For simplicity’s sake, it makes sense to stick with one brand for all electronics. The size of radar you choose depends on…
This is a down-and-dirty topic but fuel-water separators in your boat’s fuel lines are without doubt your first and most important line of defense in the war against contaminated diesel fuel. This is particularly true of you are cruising away from your home fuel dock and taking on diesel of unknown purity. Water in your fuel can come from several sources. First, it may be in the fuel dock’s own tanks that may have a leak or may not be well insulated and thus can sweat condensation in humid conditions Or, your own on-board metal tanks can sweat moisture from…
Volvo Penta introduced Joystick steering two decades ago and has continued to pioneer ways to use the combination of engines, thrusters and GPS to help skippers maneuver their boats more easily and precisely. I was involved in the early demonstrations of the Volvo Dynamic Positioning technology back then and was amazed at how well even the prototype held a boat in position and allowed the skipper to turn a boat inside its own length. Last fall at the Ft. Lauderdale show, I got to test the latest Volvo Joystick iteration with the new Assisted Docking Function that allows you to…
The Great Loop has many attractions from the coral reefs of Florida’s Dry Tortugas to the wilds of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, but many a veteran looper will tell you that Canada’s Trent-Severn Waterway is the jewel in crown of the loop experience. And, for those who are not ready to ditch the work-a-day life and spend a year on the Loop, you can still experience the Trent-Severn aboard a self-drive or bareboat charter boat. The French canal charter boat company Le Boat has a base on Lake Ontario and from there you can spend days or weeks discovering…
Picture yourself at the helm of a 40-foot cabin cruiser motoring at 5 knots or so along a narrow canal that is bordered on both sides by towering plane trees whose roots form the natural reinforcement for the canal’s sides. Beyond, there are wide open fields of ripening wheat and sunflowers and huge rolling vineyards. It is hot and the air is still. You are on the Canal du Midi in the south of France and you are very close to heaven. For many a cruiser, a week or two on this ancient and historic canal ranks high on their…
The British Virgin Islands are the world’s most popular charter destination. There are hundreds of boats to charter, both power and sail. There are dozens of anchorages, some with moorings and some without. And, there are a score of beach bars and restaurants that all have been rebuilt since Hurricane Ivan struck the islands in 2017. If you are in the BVIs on your own boat or aboard charter boat, there are some regular attractions that most people tick off. There’s the Bite an Norman’s. There’s the wreck of the Rhone to snorkel over. There are the famous Baths on…
The Great Loop circles the eastern half of the United states and is comprised of 6,000 miles of connected rivers, waterways, canals and lakes. It can take nine months or more to complete a full circuit of the loop and along the way you’ll explore the whole east coast, the Great Lakes, the mighty rivers running south to the Gulf of Mexico and both coasts of Florida. Such a journey has long been on the bucket lists of many a cruiser, yet it is a big bite of the adventure apple to undertake with many challenges to impede your progress.…
At last September’s Cannes Festival of Yachting in the South of France, I attended Beneteau’s annual press event and was introduced to the innovative electric Island Cruising Concept Yacht. Always an innovator, Beneteau had a vision of boating and chartering in the future. Now, Dream Yacht Charters is offering that future in the BVI. Their fleet of sail and power boats now includes the boxy-looking electric hybrid power boats that are like floating beach houses with accommodations for a normal chart6er party The Island Cruising Concept is all about indoor-outdoor living and practical sustainability. The idea is to be close…
In the last few years as I’ve been making offshore trips as crew for my friends, whether back and forth to the Caribbean from New England or across the Atlantic, it seems that a lot of the crew aboard show up with their own hand-held GPSs and an InReach or a satphone. This is a “just-in-case” level of preparation by sailors who have in fact been on boats that were hit by lightning or suffered a battery bank collapse that meant built-in marine electronics were no longer working or reliable. Garmin has long been a leader in hand-held GPSs and…
Volvo Penta has been working on electric propulsion and hybrid diesel-electric systems for a decades. The diesel-electric system coupkled to IPS drives is now available for commercial and recreational use and provides an elegant and proven technology that will allow boats to run silent and carbon free. The electric motor in the system fits between the main engine and the IPS pod and is engaged with a clutch. The motors run off a bank of lithium-ion batteries that can be sized for each boat’s specific tasks and requirements. “A hybrid provides a flexible solution, one that maintains the high efficiency…
Most of the modern fast cruisers that run at planing speeds have trim tabs that are adjusted manually to level the boat off and make it run more comfortably and efficiently. Adjusting trim tabs takes practice and skill and affects trim slowly, not dynamically. Swedish inventor Niclas Olofsson, who has a PhD in hydrodynamics had a better idea. In 1994, while on a business trip to Fremantle, Australia, the boat builder he was calling on had a problem. The Chinese company that had ordered several small fast ferry boats had rejected the products because the ferries could not reach the…
The Galley Guys are three couples who often take boating vacations together and then write up their adventures in Canadian Boating magazine. This installment saw them chartering a power cruiser from Le Boat in which to explore the famously beautiful Trent-Severn Waterway. Le Boat charter craft have been designed to be simple to operate and safe for all levels of expertise. They only go six knots and have fenders all around in anticipation of collisions with lock sides, marina pilings and other boats. They have bow and stern thrusters so they are simple to maneuver and will turn in their…
This week, MarineMax Vacations announced its recognition as a recipient of the 2024 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award. This coveted honor celebrates businesses that consistently deliver exceptional experiences, placing MarineMax Vacations among the top hospitality companies worldwide. This achievement reflects the dedication and passion of the MarineMax Vacations team, whose mission is to provide unforgettable charter experiences in some of the most beautiful destinations on earth. From the British Virgin Islands to other idyllic locations, MarineMax Vacations has become synonymous with luxury, adventure, and seamless customer service. “We are incredibly honored to receive the 2024 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award,” said Raul Bermudez, Vice President of MarineMax Vacations. “This…
Now, here’s something new from the market disrupters at Uber. Uber Europe, which pioneered facilitating Uber users to book yachts for day trips or more, announced this month that the service would be expanded to deluxe resort areas in Ibiza, Venice, Paris and Greece. A typical Uber Yacht experience in Ibiza would get you and up to seven friends aboard a private Sunseeker for eight hours of touring the island as well as swimming and other water sports. It would cost $1,600 for the day and comes with a complimentary bottle of champagne. Uber also noted that the ride sharing…
The Moorings, the worldwide charter giant, is adding a new location in La Paz, on the tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico. The Moorings new base there, with sail and power charter boats, will open in time for the 2025 season. La Paz is at the entrance to the Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau called “the world’s aquarium” – for good reason. Also known as the Gulf of California, it’s one of the most biodiverse ecological regions in the world, and its warm waters and low surfaces protect coral reefs, plankton and algae. The area was declared a…