Cruising Life

New Regency 65: Designed for Extended Cruising

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Regency 65 is designed for comfortable, long-range cruising anywhere from Alaska to the Caribbean, plus anywhere else you might have in mind. It’s a relatively heavy yacht (88,105 pounds) and its 18-foot-plus beam gives it a large footprint, so there’s lots of room. But that also means it will give you a good ride in a seaway where stability is always a blessing. The Regency 65 is powered by twin 900-hp Volvos, giving it a cruising speed of 15 to 17 knots. Dial back to 8 to 9 knots and the yacht has a range of more than…

Search Continues for 12 Still Missing in Gulf

By Peter Janssen on April 15, 2021 Cruising Life

At 4 on Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in New Orleans broadcast a marine warning, predicting steep waves and winds above 58 mph in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico nearby. At 4:30, the crew of the Seacore Power, a 129-foot commercial lift boat, sent out an emergency distress call. It had capsized eight miles off Port Flouchon, the southernmost port in Louisiana. An odd-looking vessel, the Seacore Power has extendable 250-foot legs that can reach the sea floor; it is used by energy companies for offshore construction projects or to service oil rigs. When the Coast Guard…

Ranger Tugs Launches New 43 CB Flagship

By Peter Janssen on April 14, 2021 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Ranger Tugs has a new flagship, the 43 CB (Command Bridge), that’s powered by twin 340-hp Volvo IPS450 pod drives and hits a top speed of 29 knots but burns only 10 gph at a more tug-like 11 knots. (See the boat in action in the video below.) With two staterooms and two heads, the new Ranger can be just about anything you want it to be: A waterfront property that moves, a comfortable liveaboard, a floating office, or most likely, a family cruiser for everything from an overnight near home to a journey around the Great Loop. And you…

Big Changes at Kadey-Krogen, Summit Yachts

By Peter Janssen on April 14, 2021 Cruising Life

Some big changes are coming at the legendary Kadey-Krogen Yachts and Summit Yachts, its new brand. From its headquarters in Stuart, Florida, Kadey-Krogen just announced that it has secured equity capital to grow from an investor, and the company says the new infusion will fund a multi-year innovation and strategic plan that will be launched in August; the plan will include details about new models. Just two years ago, Kadey-Krogen introduced Summit Yachts, designed to appeal to younger owners, or those who just wanted to go faster than the 8-knot trawler speed of the full-displacement Kadey-Krogens. The Summit 54 (pictured…

Man Rescued from Runaway Dinghy. See Video

By co_admin on April 14, 2021 Cruising Life

Here’s a great story and video from Yahoo News about a man who was had been thrown from his dinghy in Miami; his “runaway” dinghy then ran in circles until the Coast Guard and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue got it under control. Click the link below to see the video: US Coast Guard officials in Miami, Florida, say the operator of a boat that spun out of control near Fisherman’s Channel on Monday, April 12, was lucky he only sustained minor injuries. Footage released by the Coast Guard shows crews from Coast Guard Station Miami Beach and the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue…

Garmin OnDeck: Stay Connected to Your Boat

By Peter Janssen on April 13, 2021 Cruising Life, Electronics

Garmin has launched a new remote OnDeck system that keeps you connected to your boat, no matter where you are. OnDeck lets you track, monitor and control (via up to five switches) what’s happening to your boat. “OnDeck is a comprehensive vessel monitoring and management tool designed to deliver important information about your boat directly to your fingertips, so you’ll always know that it’s safe, secure and ready for your next adventure,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin VP of global consumer sales. Is your bilge pump running, and running and running? You’d certainly want to know. Has your boat moved, and…

5 Tips for Earth Day from BoatUS

By co_admin on April 13, 2021 Cruising Life

Here’s some solid advice from BoatUS about how to observe Earth Day, April 22. Although a lot of these tips deal with smaller boats, the principles are the same, no matter how big, or how small, your personal vessel may be. The basic idea is that the Earth, and all the water on it, belong to us all. Read on: ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 13, 2021 – Back in 1970 on the first Earth Day, going out boating often meant tolerating polluted waterways. We’ve come a long way since then. Largely gone are the foul-smelling air and unswimmable waters, remnants of…

Yanmar Tests Its First Hydrogen-Powered Boat

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2021 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Yanmar just completed the first sea trial of its new hydrogen-powered boat, developed with Toyota, off the coast of Oita in Southern Japan. Yanmar says the 40-foot boat is the first to comply with Japan’s safety guidelines for hydrogen fuel-cell vessels. The boat used a marine hydrogen fuel-cell system that incorporates modules from Toyota’s Mirai car, the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell car in the world; these cells have been used in large trucks and Tokyo’s buses for the past five years. The Yanmar boat, weighing 7.9 tons, was driven by a 250kW powertrain using two modules of polymer electrolyte fuel cells…

Classic Huckins, Restored with IPS, Now for Sale

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2021 Cruising Life

A first cousin to the iconic Second World War PT boats, a 1954, 45-foot Huckins Fairform Flyer, totally restored with 300-hp Volvo Penta IPS pod drives, is now for sale at Yachting Solutions in Rockport, Maine. Yachting Solutions specializes in restoring classic boats, as well as selling new ones. It completed the restoration of the Huckins, named Northern Spy, back in 2012. The boat was the first existing boat to have a factory-authorized repower with IPS drives. The original Huckins, made in the same yard in Jacksonville, Florida, that produced scores of PT boats just a decade earlier, was powered…

New Forecast: More Hurricanes This Season

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2021 Cruising Life

You’ll have to watch the weather even more closely if you’re cruising on the Atlantic coast later this year. The Atlantic hurricane season will be worse than usual. At least that’s the prediction from the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project, which is considered an expert on these things. The project predicts 17 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes (with winds more than 115 mph) this year. All those are above the 30-year average. “We anticipate that the 2021 Atlantic basic hurricane season will have above-normal activity,” said Dr. Phil Klotzbach, the head of the project. The official…

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