Here’s an intriguing story about a new type of battery that could change the face of electric-powered boats. As reported by Forbes, the new graphene aluminum-ion battery cells charge faster, are safer and will provide more range than existing lithium-ion cells. Read about them here: Range anxiety, recycling and fast-charging fears could all be consigned to electric-vehicle history with a nanotech-driven Australian battery invention. The graphene aluminum-ion battery cells from the Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) are claimed to charge up to 60 times faster than the best lithium-ion cells and hold three time the energy of the best aluminum-based…
Browsing: Cruising Life
The European Union will not double its tariffs on boats made in the U.S. to 50 percent on June 1 after all. Earlier this week, negotiators for the EU and the U.S. announced that the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. boats and some other American-made products would remain at 25 percent for the next six months or so. The temporary truce was regarded as a victory for Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and Gina M. Romando, the new Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Rhode Island, who is particularly responsive to the needs of American boat…
Here’s a story about a dream charter in the Bahamas over the Christmas holidays that went terribly wrong, ending with two lawsuits seeking $10 million in damages and charging that the captain was “odorous, ill-tempered, curt and dismissive, outright angry and abusive.” The suits also say that instead of dropping the passengers off on Exuma Island, he cruised back to Nassau, leading to “false imprisonment” and “panic attacks, trauma, fear of death.” The name of the yacht is Dream, and it’s a 196’9” Abeking & Rasmussen launched in 2001. It charters from Burgess for $420,000 a week, and it has…
I’ve been a fan of the Hinckley Picnic Boat ever since I tested hull number with Shep McKenney, then the president of the company, just after it launched in 1994 in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Since then, the Picnic Boat has become an icon, imitated and envied around the world. Here’s a great story from Bloomberg about how the Picnic Boat changed Hinckley and boating: Hinckley Yachts, a storied shipwright that was founded in 1928 and has been building out of Southwest Harbor, Maine, since 1933, has a rule: construct no boat until it’s been purchased. A client buys a boat…
The Coast Guard has reopened the Mississippi to river traffic three days after it was closed because of a structural crack in the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis. More than 45 tugs hauling 700 barges had been waiting for clearance on both sides of the bridge. We don’t have any word about how many recreational boats also were affected by the closure. The Coast Guard closed the river to all traffic between mile 736 and 737 after a crack was found in one of two 900-feet-long horizontal steel beams that are critical to the bridge’s integrity. Authorities said repairs…
Zeelander, the Dutch builder of high-end yachts, just announced that it’s building a new 48-foot Zeelander 5, replacing the award-winning Z44. The Zeelander fleet also includes a 55 and a 72. A rendering of the new Z5 is shown above. The new Z5 will be the second in a new generation of yachts for Zeelander, following the 72 (pictured below) that was launched in 2019. The company announced that it is changing its naming convention, so the Z72 will be rebranded as the Zeelander 7. Zeelander owner Sietse Koopmans says the new yacht will be made for people who want…
Nordhavn owners got together in Poulsbo, Washington, last week, for their annual event called Nordhavn Across Puget Sound (NAPS). As it turned out, 37 Nordhavns came to the Port of Poulsbo Marina, and 13 more Nordhavn owners came without their boats. This was the largest gathering of Nordhavns ever, and more probably would have come except the border with Canada is closed because of the Covid-19 crisis. The NAPS rendezvous was started by Nordhavn owners in 2018 simply as a way to get together and share notes about their boats, stories about their adventures, and plans for voyages to come.…
Here’s a different kind of fish tale, one with a bad start, but a surprise ending. On May 9, 2020, Henry Danzig, who lives in Tavernier on Key Largo, was coming back from a fishing trip in the Bahamas with his son and three friends on his 39-foot Contender, Bodacious. The Coast Guard boarded the boat and busted him. Danzig, 56, an advisor at Morgan Stanley and co-owner of a small diner, had 167 reef fish of various species on board that they had caught in the Bahamas (see the picture, above). Danzig did not have a license to fish…
SPRINGFIELD, Va., May 10, 2021 – It’s a double whammy for coastal boat owners this Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1 and runs through November 30. Not only are more storms predicted for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, but also the average annual number of storms has increased from 12 to 14 because of updated storm season data. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is urging boaters to adjust to this new reality for the potential for more frequent storms that can damage, sink, or total their vessels, and offers free help – boat prep videos, downloadable…
By Alexandre Minguez (Reuters) A young grey whale lost in the Mediterranean, thousands of miles away from its natural habitat in the Pacific ocean, is desperately seeking its way home, but biologists are worried it may not survive. Grey whales normally migrate along the U.S. west coast, but biologists think that with global warming opening northern routes, the whale became lost and swam into the Atlantic ocean via the Arctic. Named Wally by biologists, the whale is around two years old and eight meters (26.25 ft) long, but his rapid weight loss is causing concern as he cannot find the…