Cruising Life

Sunseeker Launches New, Aggressive, Predator 55 EVO

By Peter Janssen on April 29, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunseeker just launched its new Predator 55 EVO, a luxurious cruiser with an aggressive low profile, raked windshield and modern-Euro lines. The black cabin top, stainless steel detailing, carbon-fiber cowling and windows that look like slashes in the hull sides all contribute to the new Predator’s eye-catching looks. The design is sporty, but the interior is comfortable and made for relaxing and entertaining. The Predator has cutting-edge bolstered helm seats for support. The salon has seating for six around a fixed coffee table, and a carbon-fiber sun roof lets in lots of light. Artificial lighting is concealed in the headliner…

Cruisers Yachts Expands in Boating Boom

By Peter Janssen on April 28, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Cruisers Yachts of Oconto, Wisconsin, is on a roll. It’s enjoying rave reviews of its new 42 GLS with its fold-down bulwarks and three outboards, it has a strengthening dealer network, and it just bought the former Carver and Marquis plant in nearby Pulaski so it will have more room to expand. The good news about boating, of course, is not limited to Cruisers. Boat sales across the United States have been booming for the past year because of the pandemic. The National Marine Manufacturers Association just reported that sales of new powerboats in February were up 34 percent, compared…

Mystic Moon: How To Clear Customs in Canada

By Peter Janssen on April 28, 2021 Cruising Life

John and Kathy Youngblood are hardly new to cruising, or to crossing international boundaries. Indeed, three years ago they completed a 35,000-mile voyage around the Pacific with stops in Mexico, Colombia, the South Pacific, Malaysia, the Philippines and Japan, ending up in Alaska on their 2004 Selene 53, Mystic Moon. Since then, they’ve been cruising through the Pacific Northwest. Earlier this month, they started their summer cruise from Washington state to Alaska, involving transit through Canadian waters, which are under Covid-19 restrictions. Here’s John’s account on their website, mysticmoonvoyages.com, of their clearing Canadian Customs in Van Isle, just north of…

Vision Marine Starts Selling 180-hp Electric Outboards

By Peter Janssen on April 27, 2021 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Vision Marine Technologies in Canada just announced that it will start selling its new E-Motion 180, the most powerful electric outboard in the world, on May 1. You can reserve your new outboard on its website, visionmarinetechnologies.com, with a $300 deposit in bitcoins, Paypal or Stripes. Then you will get your outboard within the next six months. The E-Motion 180 delivers the same power as a 180-hp combustion engine. It provides 650 V and is paired to a 60 kWh lithium battery. Vision Marine Technologies, formerly the Canadian Electric Boat Company, is a high-tech builder, just north of Montreal, and it…

Italy’s Robinson Crusoe Forced Off His Island

By co_admin on April 27, 2021 Cruising Life

In 1989, Mauro Morandi was trying to sail around the world. His engine died and he ended up on the Isle of Budelli near Sardinia. He’s been living there, as the sole inhabitant, ever since. Now, Morandi, who’s now 81 years old, has been forced out. Read about him in this story in the Daily Mail: An 81-year-old man known as Italy’s Robinson Crusoe who has lived alone on an island for 32 years is finally moving after surrendering his eviction fight. Since 1989, Mauro Morandi has been the sole inhabitant of the Isle of Budelli near Sardinia, after he…

Dromeas Launches New D28 Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 26, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Dromeas, a Turkish builder, just launched a D28, with the same strong, clean, minimalist lines as those in the increasingly popular Axopar or Nimbus boats. The Dromeas D28 is a little pocket cruiser or weekender, with a protected wheelhouse, a double berth and head below, and outboard power. Dromeas was founded in 2017 in Izmir, on the Med, and it now has a lineup from 28 to 38 feet. It launched a 28 center console and walkaround first, and then recently built the D28 with the fully enclosed wheelhouse, designed by Adam Younger, the British naval architect who has developed fast…

John Wayne’s Old Boat Sinking in San Juans

By Peter Janssen on April 25, 2021 Cruising Life

John Wayne’s first boat, a 76-foot wooden yacht launched in Boston in 1932, is not doing well. Wayne bought the boat from his business manager in 1955, reportedly after Wayne caused some damage while running it himself. Now the boat, which he named Norwester, is partially underwater at Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island in the San Juans. In recent years, Norwester has been used as a floating museum and a charter boat, based in La Conner, Washington. On a recent Saturday, it left La Conner and a few hours later it issued a distress call. It had hit a rock…

Canada Considers Luxury Tax on Boats

By Peter Janssen on April 21, 2021 Cruising Life

The Canadian government is considering a new luxury tax on boats, bringing back memories of the devastating 10 per cent luxury tax that crippled the U.S. boating industry in the early 1990s. The governing Liberal Party in Ottawa proposed the tax as part of its federal budget starting next January 1. The tax would apply to cars and airplanes costing more than C$100,000 and recreational boats costing more than C$250,000. (At current rates, $250,000 in Canadian dollars is equal to just a little more than $200,000 in U.S. dollars.) Chrystia Freeland, the federal finance minister, said it was fair to…

NOAA Unveils Plan To Restore Reefs in Keys

By Peter Janssen on April 21, 2021 Cruising Life

Earlier this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a historic new plan for restoring seven coral reefs in the Florida Keys. NOAA says the plan, called Mission: Iconic Reefs, is an effort to restore almost three million square feet of reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, stretching the length of the keys. The plan is one of the largest investments ever made for coral restoration. The reefs protect the keys, with five million visitors a year, from catastrophic storm surge, while providing some of the best-known destinations in the world for diving, snorkeling and fishing. But…

Maritimo Planning New M600 Offshore Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 20, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Maritimo is working on a new M600 luxury cruiser, the first in its Offshore Series, designed for long-range cruising with a combination of performance, efficiency and blue-water seakeeping ability. The new 60-foot yacht will have a complete package to operate as both a state-of-art offshore fishing platform and a large, comfortable and safe offshore cruiser. It is being developed based on Maritimo’s years of experience in building solid and seaworthy boats in Australia. Tom Barry-Cotter, Maritimo’s lead designer, said “The M600 is centered upon a hull design that is an advanced evolution of Maritimo’s longstanding experience in long-range cruising design…

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