Cruising Life

Elling E4: Tough-As-Nails Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 11, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

To say that the 49-foot, Elling E4 cruiser is built to be a safe boat is a bit of an understatement. Just take a look at the video below, showing the boat doing a complete rollover, with company head Anton van den Bos at the helm. And that’s a standard E4, complete with a washer, dryer, pop-up TV and furniture. After the boat righted itself, van den Bos fired up the boat’s 425-hp Cummins and went out for a spin around the harbor. Because they’re built like a lifeboat, Ellings have a CE ocean Category A rating for safety. Back…

88-Foot Superyacht Burns in Spain

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2022 Cruising Life

An 88-foot Sanlorenzo yacht caught fire and burned in Puerto de Valencia, Spain, a few days ago. Port authorities said the fuel tanks, with a capacity of 2,457 gallons of diesel, were not affected, and no one was injured in the fire. (See a video of the fire below.) Orange and black smoke poured from the yacht, offering a stark contrast with the Mediterranean blue waters. It took three platoons of firefighters 12 hours to put out the fire. The yacht, named Pesa, was launched in 2020. Local reports said that fire officials thought the fire may have been caused…

Soel Unveils 62 Electric Long-Range Cat

By Peter Janssen on April 9, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Soel, the innovative Dutch builder, just unveiled a new Senses 62 electric-powered catamaran with a massive 564 kWh battery that the company says provides “trans-ocean range.” The 62 is Soel’s latest and largest yacht, and it uses battery packs and solar panels to replenish its power supply at sea. It’s also a massive yacht, with a 33’ 6” beam that represents more than half the cat’s length. That means it carries a lot of luxury space, inside and out. The 62 has sleeping accommodations for nine passengers, plus three crew, who have separate cabins with outside access for privacy. It…

How To Swing Your Compass

By Peter Janssen on April 9, 2022 Cruising Life

Here’s a great primer from Ritchie about how to adjust your compass for deviation and compensation: As any new boat owner soon learns, the sport has a lingo all its own. But even old salts often have a hard time grasping the magnetic compass dialect. Ritchie Navigation explains two unusual but easily understood terms that are vitally important to the accuracy of a compass: Deviation and Compensation. Compass needles or dials react to the earth’s magnetic field and point true north. The trouble is, certain electrical equipment or metal items on the boat—and even local magnetic fields—can interfere with the…

Boating Luxury Tax (Again) in Canada

By Peter Janssen on April 6, 2022 Cruising Life

To quote Yogi Berra, this is a case of déjà vu all over again. Canada’s on-again, off-again 10 percent luxury tax on boats costing more than $250,00 looks like it’s on again, with new draft legislation calling for it to start on Sept. 1. Canada’s Liberal government last year enacted legislation for the tax to take effect on the first of January, 2022. But vigorous lobbying from the boating industry and others warned that the tax would lead to millions of dollars in lost sales, while costing almost 900 full-time jobs. In December, the government postponed the Jan. 1 deadline.…

Take Everything on ROAM 35 Shadow Yacht

By Peter Janssen on April 6, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

In case you’re worried about how to fit your dink or RIB on your boat’s swim platform for this summer’s cruise, take a look at the new ROAM 35 Shadow, a 120-foot cat that the company calls “the ultimate expedition vessel.” With the ROAM 35, you shouldn’t have to leave any toys behind. ROAM already makes two lines of smaller shadow boats, but it designed the 35 for a client that wanted room for his 50-foot Cigarette, as well as a host of other boats and toys. The flagship of the ROAM Shadow fleet, the 35 has a touch-and-go helipad,…

Next Step: Remove Containers from Stuck Ship

By Peter Janssen on April 5, 2022 Cruising Life

The 1,095-foot container ship Ever Forward is still stuck in the Chesapeake, and the Coast Guard just announced that salvors will have to unload some cargo containers in an effort to refloat it. Two separate attempts to move the ship by a series of pull barges and tugboats, plus continuing dredging, have all failed. The ship, which draws more than 42 feet, is hard aground in 24 feet of water. The Ever Forward ran aground on Sunday, March 13, after leaving Baltimore, heading for Norfolk, Virginia, with a pilot on board. AIS data indicate it was running about 13 knots…

Greenline 48 Fly: Hybrid Family Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 5, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Greenline 48 Fly, equipped with solar panels, electric motors, lithium batteries and two traditional Volvo 220-hp diesels, is a hybrid family cruiser that lets owners choose how they want to spend their time afloat. Under diesel power, the Greenline 48 tops out at 17.4 knots, a comfortable cruising speed for when you want to put some easy miles under your belt. At 15 knots, it has a range of 279 nm. (The Slovenian company says that at 5.1 knots, the range climbs to a staggering 1,668 nm, but I don’t know many people who want to cruise at 5.1…

Rescue Boat Sinks, Crew is Rescued

By Peter Janssen on April 5, 2022 Cruising Life

Here’s something you don’t see very often: A fire department rescue boat sank during a training exercise in the Chesapeake and the crew had to be rescued themselves. All four people on board, who were wearing life jackets and survival suits, were back on duty that evening. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department says they don’t know why their boat sank. It was refloated a few days later. The problem started when Fire Department Boat #1, based in Shady Side, Maryland, started to take on water off Gibson Island and the crew had to abandon ship. The Coast Guard and…

Eastport Growing, Moving to Florida

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Eastport Yacht, the boutique builder in Annapolis, is moving to Florida, and launching a flybridge version of its classic Chesapeake Bay deadrise 32 at the same time. Eastport started in 2006 in the Eastport section of Annapolis, basically a boater’s haven, and they made a practical, no-nonsense 32 with inboard diesel power and a transom that dropped down to open the cockpit fully for loading dinks, diving gear, large fish, whatever. It was a true original of the SUV-of -the-water style that had the looks of a working bay boat. The original Eastport 32 (pictured at top) had a shallow…

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