Cruising Life

Missing Boater Rescued 86 Miles Off Florida Coast

By Peter Janssen on November 30, 2020 Cruising Life

Stuart Bee, 63, is a lucky man. He was rescued, clinging to his sinking 34-foot Sea Ray, about 86 miles offshore on Sunday morning, almost two days after he left his marina in Port Canaveral, Florida. Here’s the story from the Coast Guard: Bee left Cape Marina in Port Canaveral about 4 on Friday afternoon. When he didn’t return Friday night, his family raised the alarm, since he usually didn’t spend the night on the water. The Coast Guard said it got a call at 11:40 on Saturday morning from someone at the marina, also saying Bee was overdue. The…

New Folding Electric Bike Goes 20 mph

By Peter Janssen on November 29, 2020 Cruising Life, Gear

Here’s a new high-tech, folding, electric-powered bike that could fit in your lazarette of your boat and then give you a comfortable ride on shore. It has a top speed of 20 mph and a range of about 50 miles on a single charge. The new bike is the Gocycle GXi, just named one of Time’s 100 Best Inventions for 2020, and in ten seconds it folds into a package that’s about two feet high and 14 inches wide. With a frame made from injection-molded magnesium alloy, the Gocycle GXi weighs just 38.6 pounds, and it can carry a load…

Okean Launches Prize-Winning 80 With Open Layout

By Peter Janssen on November 18, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Okean 80 Flybridge gives a whole new meaning to an open layout. Made in Brazil, the new cruiser won the Revelation of the Year Award at the 2020 World Yachts Trophies ceremony in Cannes in September. The flagship of the Okean fleet (there’s also a 50 and a 55), the new 80 delivers on Okean’s signature “Open Up Your World” theme. Indeed, it features a seamless transition between the interior and exterior spaces in the salon, where the hull sides drop down to form balconies and the side doors open wide to let in the sea breezes. The…

Jeanneau Launches All-New NC 795 Weekender

By Peter Janssen on November 18, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Jeanneau has just launched its NC 795 Series 2 weekender, an all-new version of the best-selling NC 795 (more than 1,000 built so far). Among other things, the NC (for New Concept) 795 Series 2 has a new, 26′ 8″ hull, and it can be powered by a 250-hp Yamaha outboard. The new Jeanneau is built as an all-around coastal cruiser, with a V-berth forward that can sleep two, and a convertible dinette that can sleep two more. The protected helm deck is filled with natural light with windows all around and a sliding glass door aft that leads to…

Five Great Gifts for “The Boater Who Has Everything”

By Peter Janssen on November 18, 2020 Cruising Life

Even though we still haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving yet, it’s not too early to start thinking about Christmas and, even in a time impacted by the pandemic, also thinking about what to give to our favorite boat owners. Here are some fresh ideas from West Marine that they say are the “Five Top Gifts for the Boater Who Has Everything:” Magna Newport 2 Gourmet Series Gas Grill (pictured at top): Designed for the marine environment, the grill has rounded edges and a dynamic combustion system that keeps the grill lit even in heavy winds. It’s made with a double-walled case with…

Researchers Save Orca Stranded on the Rocks. See Video

By Peter Janssen on November 18, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a heart-warming story from the CBC about how a group of whale researchers and volunteers kept an orca whale alive for eight hours after she was stranded on the rocks off the coast of Hartley Bay in northern British Columbia. See the video: An orca that was stranded on some rocks was kept alive for eight hours by a dedicated team of whale researchers and volunteers on the North Coast of B.C. “She cried often, which tore at our hearts, but as the tide came up there were many cheers as this whale was finally free,” said in a…

Silent Yachts Expands with New Battery Power. See Video

By Peter Janssen on November 17, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Silent Yachts, the innovative Austrian builder, is on a roll. Silent sold its first solar-powered catamaran just two years ago. Now it just ordered 500 lithium-ion battery packs to power the 15 catamarans it has orders for next year, and it’s opened new plants in Thailand and Fano, Italy. The state-of-the-art battery packs add up to 2.5 megawatts; their energy storage is equal to that of 25 new Teslas, or enough to run three U.S. homes for a month. The lithium-ion chemistry comes from MG Energy, a Dutch company started by two winners of the Monaco Solar & Energy Boat…

Garmin Introduces New, More Powerful GPSMAP X3 Chartplotters

By Peter Janssen on November 17, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics

Garmin just launched its new GPSMAP x3 mid-sized chartplotters with more power and higher-res displays; they’re available with or without built-in sonar. The new units were shown at the recent Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Designed for a wide range of helm configurations, the new X3 series have streamlined borders with edge-to-edge glass displays and they can be installed in bail-, flush-, or flat-mounted configurations. The 12×3 and 9×3 models offer touchscreens with accurate colors that you can see from all viewing angles, even if you’re wearing polarized sunglasses. The 9×3 and 7×3 models offer 50 percent and 60 percent…

Brabus Shadow 500: Head-Turning Looks and Fun

By Peter Janssen on November 16, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

If you want to add a little juice to your life in these trying times, try the Brabus Shadow 500, built in conjunction with Axopar Boats. It’s a tricked out, semi-custom version of the Axopar 28, and it hits 50 knots with twin 250-hp Mercury outboards. You can order it with an open deck or optional aft cabin. Fun, as in a major adrenaline rush, is standard equipment. The fun comes from Axopar’s twin-stepped hull with a sharp entry and 22-degree deadrise at the transom, all driven by two Mercury V8 Pro XS outboards. The lightweight Mercs produce head-snapping torque;…

Sunreef Building New 60 with Solar Power

By Peter Janssen on November 16, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef Yachts just announced that it’s building a new 60 Sunreef Power Eco luxury power cat that seems to be covered with Sunreef’s proprietary state-of-the art solar panels for art totally green cruising. Indeed, the solar panels cover up to 738 square feet of the yacht’s surface; they’re fully integrated into the hull sides, the superstructure and even curved areas all over the yacht. They are designed to generate 13kWp of solar power. The 60 Sunreef Power Eco uses cutting-edge electric motors powered by a dedicated ultralight battery bank for silent and emissions-free cruising. The big cat’s other green features…

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