Cruising Life

Monte Carlo Yachts Launching New 76 Skylounge

By Peter Janssen on September 29, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Monte Carlo Yachts will introduce its new 76 Skylounge at the Fort Lauderdale boat show that starts on Oct. 28. It launched the 70 Skylounge at the Miami show last February. The new skylounge on the 76 is a large, light-filled social space with windows all around and full-width glass doors opening out to an upper aft deck. It even has a skylight for more natural light, and ventilation. The skylounge basically functions as a second, all-weather salon, but with a better view. It also is the home of the yacht’s only helm station. It has a large L-shaped settee…

Sealegs New 38: Largest Amphibian Yet

By Peter Janssen on September 29, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sealegs, the New Zealand company that’s been making amphibious boats since 2005, is now making a 12M Cabin RIB, and Sealegs says the 38-footer is the largest amphibious production boat in the world. Powered by twin 400-hp outboards, the new 38-foot Sealegs can top out at 40 knots in the water, while its 94-hp gas engine will propel it to 5 mph on land. With hydraulic wheels and motors built into its 37-inch tires, the 12M Cabin is an all-wheel, all-terrain vehicle; indeed, it can climb a 25 percent grade. On the water, the new 12M Cabin RIB has more…

NMEA Makes New Excellence Awards in 17 Categories

By Peter Janssen on September 29, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics

The National Marine Electronics Association just announced its annual Product of Excellence Awards for products in 17 categories, plus an award to Garmin as the Manufacturer of the Year. Here’s the announcement: SEVERNA PARK, MD—Manufacturers scored big at the 2020 National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) Business Meeting held on September 26, following the NMEA Virtual Education Week held last week. A total of 19 products received the top award, and the NMEA Manufacturer of the Year was named. “On behalf of the NMEA Board of Directors, staff, and membership, we congratulate all 2020 award winners,” said Mark Reedenauer, NMEA President…

1929 Chris-Craft Commuter Restored in Idaho. See Video

By Peter Janssen on September 28, 2020 Cruising Life

A group of craftsmen in Idaho have just restored a 38-foot Chris-Craft that was first launched in 1929. The boat, Willow, was the first Chris-Craft Commuter Cruiser ever built, and it was delivered to William F. Ladd, a New York businessman. At that time, many New Yorkers used the-now iconic commuter boats to cruise from their summer homes on Long Island to their offices on Wall Street. This boat, then named Althea, was designed by Chris Smith, the founder of Chris-Craft. The commuter has a mahogany-on-oak hull, a new teak deck, and a mahogany cabin. The restoration, at Coeur Custom,…

Pregnant Wife Saves Husband from Shark in the Keys

By Peter Janssen on September 24, 2020 Cruising Life

A pregnant wife dove into the water to save her husband from a shark attack in the Florida Keys. She was not injured, but rescue personnel, who flew him to a trauma center in Miami, said his injuries were “severe.” The shark attacked Andrew Eddy, 30, almost immediately after he slid off the back of a 20-foot motorboat on Sombrero Reef in the Middle Keys to go snorkeling about 10:30 in the morning. Eddy, from Atlanta, was there with his wife, Margot Dukes-Eddy, her parents, her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend. Several other people were snorkeling nearby at the time;…

Ray Dalio Launches OceanXplorer To Study World’s Oceans

By Peter Janssen on September 24, 2020 Cruising Life

When Ray Dalio was growing up on Long Island, he used to love watching TV documentaries by Jacques Cousteau, the French oceanographer. Now Dalio, 71, and the founder of one of the largest hedge funds in the U.S., is launching OceanXplorer, his own 286-foot research vessel, with three miniature submarines and two underwater robots, to explore the oceans of the world himself. He also will make some documentaries of his own, starting with a six-part series for National Geographic, produced by the BBC with James Cameron, the director of The Titanic, as executive producer. Dalio is best known as the…

Kris Carroll Named to NMMA Hall of Fame

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2020 Cruising Life

Many years ago, Eddie Smith, the owner and CEO of Grady-White Boats, told me why he kept promoting Kris Carroll, the company’s president who is going to be inducted into the NMMA’s Hall of Fame on Sept. 29. “She was so good at every job she did that she just kept moving up,” he said. The NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers’ Association) will present Carroll with the 2020 NMMA Hall of Fame Award at the opening of the IBEX show online. She is the first woman to get the award. Among the previous 47 recipients are Ray Hunt, Olin Stephens, Nathanael…

NTSB: “Limited Safety Practices” in Fatal Alabama Marina Fire

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2020 Cruising Life

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (AP) — A fire that killed eight people and did more than $500,000 damage at an Alabama marina started accidentally but was worsened by the marina’s “limited fire safety practices,” according to a federal report. The National Transportation Safety Board, in a report released this month, said the Jan. 27 fire started near the electrical panel of a houseboat named Dixie Delight at the Jackson County Park Marina in Scottsboro. The fire spread quickly because of the abundance of combustible lawn furniture and propane cylinders for barbecue grills on the dock and boat decks. The report found…

New Mayflower Plans To Cross Atlantic With No Humans On Board

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2020 Cruising Life

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, a joint project by IBM and Promare, was just launched in England, with the goal of becoming the largest totally autonomous ship ever to cross the Atlantic. After six months of testing, it is scheduled to leave Plymouth, UK, next April, and land in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The $1.3 million trimaran will not have any humans on board, or offering any kind of help once it’s underway. IBM’s advanced AI computing systems, helped by 30 sensors and 6 AI cameras, will make all decisions at sea on their own, with no human intervention. The solar-driven ship is…

Brooklin Launches New Version of Hemingway’s Pilar

By Peter Janssen on September 20, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Wheeler 38, a recreation of Ernest Hemingway’s famous Pilar, was just launched at the Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine, and now is cruising down to Key West with a top speed of 34 knots. The new boat is named Legend, and it was reverse engineered from the original Pilar by Bill Prince Yacht Design. It was built for the Wheeler Yacht Company at Brooklin with modern technology and creature comforts, including a Seakeeper gyro stabilizer. The original Pilar was built by the Wheeler Shipyard in Coney Island, New York, in 1933. Hemingway paid $7,495 for the boat and had…

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