Browsing: Cruising Life

Cruising Life
By

More Remains Revealed of Historic Shipwreck

The sands of time are finally taking their toll, revealing more of the remains of a historic shipwreck on a beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts, just above Cape Ann. Indeed, the shifting sands are now uncovering more pieces of the hull of the Ada K. Damon, an 84-foot Grand Banks schooner that ran aground on Crane Beach on Dec. 26, 1909. The Ada K. Damon was launched at Burnham Boat Building in Essex, Massachusetts, in 1875. A sturdy vessel, it had a 23-foot beam and an 8-foot draft. At first, it was used for fishing, and later for transporting sand. It …

Cruising Life
By

George Bush’s Fidelity V Sold at Auction

Former President George H.W. Bush’s much beloved fast fishing boat, a 38-foot Fountain named Fidelity V, was just sold at an auction in Houston for $435,000. An anonymous buyer phoned in his winning bid at the auction conducted by the George and Barbara Bush Foundation. The auction, called the 2024 Presidential Salute, raised money for the Bush library and for the school of government at Texas A&M. President Bush died in 2018. Built in 2011, the Fountain 38CC carried the presidential insignia on the hull midships. It had Fountain’s twin-step hull, a beam of 10’ 6”, and was powered by…

Boat Reviews
By

Johnson Launches Large New 70

Johnson Yachts is showing its newest model, a 70-footer, at the Palm Beach show. Designed by Bill Dixon, the well-known British naval architect, the Johnson 70 is meant to provide the usable size of a superyacht in a manageable size. Johnson has been making yachts for the past 37 years in Taiwan; it’s built 350 of them so far, selling them all around the world, but with the United States as a major market. The new 70 is the smallest in the fleet, with five models now going up to 115 feet. The 70 takes advantage of its 18’ 3”…

Boat Reviews
By

New Off-Grid Cat with “Muskoka Room”

A small Canadian company is building the prototype of a 30-foot, off-the-grid blend of a houseboat and a unique catamaran cruising boat. The main cabin is designed as a “Muskoka Room” to resemble a cabin in the north woods. The new NC9 is the creation of the North Channel CabinBoat Company and it’s being built of aluminum by Henley Boats on Manitoulin Island. It’s originally meant for the rugged North Channel, part of the Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, one of the most popular cruising grounds on the Great Lakes, and a favorite spot on the Great Loop. The semi-displacement…

Boat Reviews
By

New Fairline Targa GT 50 High-End Cruiser

Fairline, the big British builder, is showing its sporty new Targa GT 50 at the Palm Beach show. It’s a two-stateroom, two-head, 33-knot cruiser with some luxury touches and contemporary lines. Once you walk from the wide, submersible, teak swim platform into the cockpit, the Targa GT 50 is one large entertaining space, from the transom to the helm. There’s an L-shaped settee and a high-low table on the port side, and an outdoor wet bar with a grill, sink and entertainment system to starboard. You can open three-part glass doors to the salon, where the galley is aft on…

Boat Reviews
By

New Prestige 460 Fly at Palm Beach Show

Prestige, the prestigious French builder, will have the latest version of its popular 460 Flybridge yacht on display at the Palm Beach show, which starts on March 21. The two-stateroom, two-head, flybridge yacht, now powered by twin 440-hp Volvo IPS600 pod drives, is designed for easy living inside and out, while at the dock or underway. You can climb on the 460 via the supersized teak swim platform, and you then can raise or lower it hydraulically, making it easy to enjoy water sports. But then you’ll find a surprise, when a mini outdoor galley, complete with sink and grill,…

Boat Reviews
By

Invictus Showing New 42 Outboard Model

Invictus Yacht will be showing its new, sporty and outboard-powered TT420S at the Palm Beach show, starting March 21. The new Invictus, with its distinctive lines and signature axe bow, is really an outboard version of the Italian builder’s most popular model. Powered by three 350-hp Yamaha outboards, it’s aimed specifically at the U.S. market. The original TT420 was introduced in Europe with inboard power from two 440-hp Volvos, but Invictus realized that outboards are growing in popularity here. The design, by Christian Grande, remains the same as the original, other than some tweaks aft for the outboards. The original…

Cruising Life
By

Converting Waves to Electricity

By now, we all know what offshore wind farms look like, and there’s little doubt that we’ll be seeing more of them dotting the cruising grounds of the east and west coasts before too long. But here’s something new that just completed a six-months test in the Atlantic off Portugal, a 62-foot high, 30-foot wide Wave Energy Converter that’s also designed to deliver clean energy to communities and businesses near shore. CorPower, a Swedish company, is developing WECs that float and bob up and down on the ocean’s surface. The massive C4 test WEC looks like an anchored buoy. Waves…

Cruising Life
By

New Powerful AquaDart 770 Dive Scooter

You may not know you need this, but the new AquaDart Pro 770 Xtreme dive scooter seems like a toy that’s just waiting to be used. The AquaDart’s builder, iAqua, says the 770 is the most powerful sea scooter in the world, and is so powerful that it can pull two boats full of passengers. More specifically, it produces more than 52 kW of power and has a thrust of 770 Newtons, so it actually can move a lot. It’s also fast, reaching a top speed of 15 mph in just three seconds; that would be fun indeed. The Chinese…

Cruising Life
By

Ferry Rescues People from Stricken Axopar

A 362-foot-long Washington State ferry and the Coast Guard rescued six people and two dogs after a wave smashed the windshield of their 37-foot Axopar in the San Juans earlier this week, shorting out the boat’s electronics and cutting some of the passengers. The Coast Guard in Bellingham says it got a distress call from the boat asking for help just before their fixed VHF radio shorted out. The crew on the Axopar was able to give the Coast Guard their GPS position, which was on Rosario Strait near Decatur Island. The seas were running at 4 to 6 feet…

1 2 3 307