Ron and Nancy Goldberg are experienced cruisers from San Diego. Their Nordhavn 50, Duet, is their third cruising boat, and they plan to take it across the Pacific at some point. But in this story, Baja Bash, they tell about their recent 950-nm trip north from the tip of the Baja Peninsula up to Ensenada, and not all of it was fun. Here’s a great story that will take you along for the ride. http://seamagazine.com/this-too-shall-pass/
Over the years, I’ve cruised through this area near Bella Bella, B.C., many times. It has some of the most beautiful scenery on the entire Inside Passage. But now there have been two accidents in the past month involving a barge that turned over and sank in heavy weather and a tug that ran aground, sank and released large quantities of diesel fuel that have raised questions about marine safety in the area. The Heiltsuk First Nation is seeking a moratorium on oil tankers all along the northern British Columbia coast, plus improvements in boating safety. The life ring pictured…
Manatees are back in Florida; the manatee slow-speed restricted zones go into effect this Sunday, Nov. 13. These smile-producing creatures grow to 9-10 feet and weigh about 1,000 pounds, and they’re totally harmless. Every year this time they head south as the water cools; they can’t tolerate water colder than 68 degrees, and they tend to congregate near power plants. Unfortunately, they also swim where boats cruise; last year 80 were killed by boats in Florida alone. Here’s a good story about what you can do to keep them alive and well: https://southernboating.com/manatees-return/?utm_source=SE+non-spon+manatees+20161108&utm_campaign=SE+%28manatee%29+11%2F9%2F16&utm_medium=email
Alex Benson has been cruising up and down the West Coast, from Alaska to Mexico, on his Selene 53 Wild Blue ever since he retired from his real estate business many years ago. Here he is in Alaska: Benson, the past commodore of the California Yacht Club in Los Angeles, most recently cruised from Anacortes, Washington, to San Francisco.. Here’s his blog about that trip, including a fun video about entering San Francisco Bay (this definitely made me homesick). Take a look: http://mvwildblue.blogspot.com
Four years ago, Hurricane Sandy ripped into Freeport, a major boating area on the south shore of Long Island, NY, destroying boats and marinas and damaging 3,500 homes. Now Freeport has come back. Its famed Nautical Mile is open with its traditional seafood restaurants, bars and boat slips. The water taxi and sunset cruises were busy this summer; so was the waterfront steel band. Here’s a great story from The New York Times about how Freeport made a comeback. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/realestate/freeport-ny-a-waterfront-community-rebuilds.html
Here’s a group of cruisers who are living the dream. So far, ten Nordic Tug owners have joined Ben Wilde’s “ICW Nordic Tugfest,” cruising down the Waterway together, heading for Marathon in the Florida Keys. Wilde, who runs Wilde Yacht Sales, the largest Nordic Tugs dealer in the world, started out on his personal Nordic Tug 54, Nordic Lady, from his office in Essex, Connecticut. The cruise officially got underway from his other office in Rock Hall, Maryland, on the Chesapeake. The picture above is of the group leaving Spring Cove Marina on Solomons Island on the Chesapeake. The Nordic Tug…
Winter’s coming. Those of us in the north can extend our boating season by staying warm, and by installing a heater if our boat doesn’t have one already. Even in the south, a heater can take the chill out of the air and make winter boating more enjoyable for all on board. Here’s a great how-to article about how to install a heater. Even though the example is on a sailboat, the installation (and benefits) are exactly the same as on a cruising powerboat. Read on: http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/installing-a-boat-heater-33132
The newest Seakeeper gyro stabilizer, just introduced at the Fort Lauderdale show, is specifically designed for boats from 30 to 39 feet, and it runs exclusively on 12-volt DC power without any need for a genset or AC input. The new Seakeeper 3 model is 30 percent lighter, and 25 percent smaller, than any previous Seakeeper, and is the first streamlined for smaller boats. The Seakeeper 3 has a new touch screen control panel with an intuitive user interface and the company says installation is easy, without requiring any structural modifications, and can be completed in two days. Seakeeper is…
Volvo is continuing to make boating easier. At the Fort Lauderdale show the Swedish company introduced its 8-liter diesel engine and its matched IPS pod drive to the United States market for the first time. They are designed primarily for cruising boats in the 30- to 45-foot range (we wrote about these a few months ago). Also new is Volvo’s key fob for powering up your boat before you even climb on board; indeed, you can be standing as far as 100 yards away. You can use the remote key fob to switch on the battery, turn on the deck…
. The iconic Fort Lauderdale show just got off to a good start, with blue skies, large crowds, and boats, boats and more boats. Indeed, at breakfast just before the show opened, Skip Zimbalist, who runs the show as the head of Show Management, said there were more boats than ever before, including eight over 200 feet, while advance ticket sales were up 20 percent from last year. The Lauderdale show, arguably the largest show in the United States, has seven locations with small boats, big boats, superyachts and all the appropriate toys. Zimbalist noted that a $7 million helicopter…