Cruising Life

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…

Coast Guard Ends Search for 8 Missing in Gulf

By Peter Janssen on April 20, 2021 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the eight crew still missing from the 129-foot commercial lift boat that capsized in a sudden storm in the Gulf of Mexico last week. The boat, the Seacore Power, was eight miles off Port Fourchon, the southernmost port in Louisiana, at the time. Six members of its crew were rescued fairly quickly, and the bodies of five others were recovered. A massive search, covering more than 9,200 square nm and involving four Coast Guard cutters, three 45-foot response boats, six fixed-wing aircraft and three helicopters did not find the eight still missing.…

Ben, an Orca Almost Left for Dead, Now Thriving

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2021 Cruising Life

Ben, an orca in New Zealand, almost died twice more than two decades ago. First, he was stranded, then he was hit by a boat. But since then Ben has been thriving. He’s been spotted in 48 locations around New Zealand, and he’s traveled about 29,000 miles, roughly the distance around the world at the equator. Now he’s the subject of a chapter in a new book. Read about him here at stuff.co.nz: An orca who has twice dodged death is proving to be a poster boy for researchers thanks to the scars of his adventures. Ben the orca is…

Sirena Building New 68 for Experienced Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The highly regarded Turkish builder of luxury yachts, Sirena just announced that it’s working on a new 68 that’s designed for experienced cruisers. The new Sirena 68 has a semi-displacement hull, designed by German Frers; this is the fifth collaboration between Sirena and Frers Naval Architecture. The new boat will be launched in time for the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. Frers’ innovative hull, powered by standard twin 900-hp Volvos with V drives, is expected to top out at 26 knots, and deliver a range of about 1,200 nm at 10 knots. Twin 1,000-hp Volvos are an option, and produce…

Foxy’s Iconic Bar in BVI Adds a Music School

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2021 Cruising Life, Destinations

If you’re heading for Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, you may not find Foxy himself. That’s because Foxy (Foxy Callwood ) is spending a lot of his time at his music school down the road behind the restaurant, helping kids from the islands. Foxy’s has become an institution of almost folklore proportions ever since it opened on the beach in Great Harbour in 1968, a destination for cruisers and charter-boat customers from all around the world. (If you don’t have your own boat, you can take the ferry from West End, Tortola, across…

Browsing: Cruising Life