Cruising Life

21 Tips For Saving Fuel from BoatUS

By co_admin on March 19, 2022 Cruising Life

SPRINGFIELD, Va., March 17, 2022 – Gas prices are up. What can boaters do to prepare for a summer of boating? The 800,000-plus member Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has 21 fuel-saving tips boaters can do to help save on fuel and still enjoy a fulfilling season on the water. While some of these techniques may sound obvious, there may be some you never considered. Before Heading Out: Tune your engine now. A once a year for a tune-up and service will help it run more efficiently. Match the boat’s prop to the boat and activity. Propellers…

Cruise With Lots of Friends on Nazareth Aquadomus

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2022 Cruising Life

You probably don’t want to climb on the Nazareth Aquadomus for your next cruise to Bermuda, but it certainly looks like it could be fun for the calmer sections of the Great Loop. The Aquadomus is a 41-foot catamaran that’s basically a houseboat with a flybridge. Built in Portugal by Nazareth Boats, the Aquadomus can hold 12 people in the vast spaces inside and out. It’s powered by two 200-hp outboards, and tops out at 12 knots. The big boat also has a draft of just 1’ 8,” meaning you can explore all those small coves and gunkholes that usually…

I Just Built My New (Virtual) MJM 35

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2022 Cruising Life

I just built my new MJM 35 (see the picture above). It was easy, and it was fun. You can build yours too. I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for MJMs for many years now. Even before I tested their then-new, four-outboard 53z in July, 2019, in Newport, Rhode Island, I’d driven all their new boats, all inboards, all designed by Doug Zurn. (I’ve also had another soft spot for Zurn’s classic Down East designs ever since I met him during the launch of Billy Joel’s 57-foot commuter Vendetta in 2005, which Zurn also designed. In fact, while…

Guilty! Murder on the High Seas

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2022 Cruising Life

The Justice Department says a Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to charges of a gruesome murder on a scallop fishing boat 55 miles of coast of Nantucket. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Vazquez’ attacks took place on Sept. 23, 2018, on The Captain Billy Haver, an 82-foot fishing with seven people on board. The Justice Department says the attacks started when Vazquez hit Victim A over the head with a hammer…

Legacy Building New Outboard Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

Legacy Yachts in Ohio is working on a new Legacy 12, the first model in its new Legacy Mark 11 Series, a 45-knot, twin-outboard pocket cruiser with a Down East heritage. Legacy hopes to introduce the new 12 at the Miami show next February. It has an LOA of 39′ 4″ and a beam of 12′ 3.” About two years ago, Seattle Yachts bought Tartan, the sailboat company that had acquired Legacy earlier. Seattle formed a new company, Marine Manufacturing Group, LLC, to make both brands under Phil Friedman, the former president of Palmer Johnson, and moved the plant to…

Favors Trailer New Ranger 25 from Seattle to Florida

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

Jim and Lisa Favors are certainly veteran travelers, but even for them this was a major undertaking, a 3,400-mile expedition from Seattle, where they picked up their new Ranger Tugs 25, to Fort Myers, Florida, where they started cruising on it. This trip actually started just before Thanksgiving when the Favors left their home in Traverse City, Michigan, to head for Des Moines, just below Seattle, to pick up their new boat. This is the third Ranger Tugs they have owned (after a 27 and a 29). They wrote on their blog, trailertrawlerlife.com, that they downsized because they want to…

Ships Run Aground in Chesapeake, Caribbean

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2022 Cruising Life

In the past few days, a 1,050-foot container ship ran aground in the Chesapeake after leaving the Port of Baltimore, and a 1,070-foot cruise liner with 3,000 passengers ran aground after leaving Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. There were no reports of injuries in either grounding. In the Chesapeake, the container ship Ever Forward ran aground near Craighill Channel outside the Patapsco River. The ship, holding 11,850 20-foot containers, draws 42.6 feet; it was sitting in 24 feet of water. The Coast Guard and the state’s Department of the Environment were trying to coordinate efforts to refloat it. Local…

New Switlik Head-High Life Vest Design

By Peter Janssen on March 14, 2022 Cruising Life, Gear

Here’s a new look in life vests from Switlik Survival products – the eVolution UA-80 that provides under-arm floatation to keep the wearer’s head and arms higher out of the water than traditional vests do. So far, most vests are the yoke type that you wear around your neck. Switlik takes a different approach, going under the arms. Switlik, with headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey, says the eVolution UA-80 is the first of its kind to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for professional aviators and flight crews. The new Switlik uses a two-chamber inflatable air bladder, an approach…

New Protector 410 RIB with 600-hp Outboards

By Peter Janssen on March 12, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, Engine Room

Rayglass Boats just announced they’ve built a Protector 410 Targa with twin 600-hp Mercury Verado outboards, the largest outboards ever mounted on a RIB (and Mercury’s most powerful production engine). Rayglass, a New Zealand builder, said they had to customize and strengthen the transom to handle the weight and torque of the massive V12, 7.6 liter displacement outboards. A new 600-hp Verado weighs 1,260 pounds. In an announcement, the company said, “The result is one of the world’s most capable all-water vessels, combining the unmatched power of the Verado V12 engines with the Protector’s world-leading capability for safety and handling.”…

User-Friendly Spring Commissioning Checklist: BoatUS

By co_admin on March 12, 2022 Cruising Life

Here’s an easy-to-follow, quite thorough spring-commissioning checklist from BoatUS: SPRINGFIELD, Va., March 10, 2022 – Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) offers its Spring Commissioning Checklist to help boaters start the season right. The nation’s largest advocacy, service and savings group also offers BoatUS.com/Spring, a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about the yearly ritual of recreational boat commissioning. A PDF copy of the checklist is available to download, print, and take to the boat with you. Be sure to follow all manufacturer recommendations for your specific boat, engine and accessories. Before You Launch Inspect all around…

Browsing: Cruising Life