Cruising Life

Is Our GPS System Too Vulnerable?

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2021 Cruising Life, Electronics

What would happen if your GPS went down? I don’t mean just the GPS on the chartplotter on your boat, or on your smartphone, or on your tablet, or even on your fitness watch. I mean the entire system. What would happen? Total chaos. Much of our infrastructure and our national defense is based on GPS. Forget about autonomous trucks on the interstate, or getting your next delivery from Amazon. GPS has become an unseen, but invaluable, part of our daily life. The problem is, at least according to this thought-provoking story in The New York Times, it’s too vulnerable.…

Eastern Boats Coastal 30 Cruiser, A New Flagship

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Eastern Boats Coastal 30, the new flagship of the New Hampshire builder’s fleet, is a two-cabin, no-nonsense, 36-knot outboard-powered cruiser that’s ready for the Great Loop or just messing around the harbors and fishing grounds of the Northeast coast. Eastern Boats, which has been making smaller Down-East style boats since 1981, specializes in lobster-boat hulls that provide a stable platform for fishing and cruising. The new Coastal 30, however, is the first with a deep-V hull and 22 degrees of deadrise at the transom, designed to give a boost to its twin 250-hp Honda outboard performance. It’s an efficient hull…

Maine Man Charged with Making False Mayday Call

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2021 Cruising Life

The moral of this story is this: Do NOT mess with the Coast Guard. More specifically, do NOT transmit a false mayday call on channel 16. Here’s what we know so far: On the urging of the Coast Guard, a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine, charges Nathan Libby, 31, a dock worker in South Thomaston, with placing a false mayday call on Channel 16 that sparked a five-hour search involving a Coast Guard boat, a Maine Marine Patrol boat, and a Coast Guard helicopter. “Calls like this hoax unnecessarily put our rescue crews at risk, drain…

Fun New Sea Scooter: Take It Anywhere

By Peter Janssen on January 30, 2021 Cruising Life, Gear

The new Geneinno S2 underwater sea scooter seems to have a lot of things going for it. It’s fun, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it fits easily in a lazarette or other stowage space on your boat. Ideal for underwater exploring, filming and diving, the Geneinno has two speeds, with a top end of 2.4 knots. You ran ride it for 45 minutes, and then you need to recharge it from a battery pack. That takes 90 minutes, but you can buy an extra battery pack so you can just swap one out for the other. The sea scooter has a…

New Sunreef 40 Diamond Edition Cat Now in Miami

By Peter Janssen on January 27, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The head-turning, eye-catching 40 Open Sunreef Diamond Limited Edition is now in Miami, and it’s bound to get a lot of attention even before you consider its 60-knot performance. Sunreef, the Polish builder of both power and sail luxury cats, says the new 40 Open Sunreef Power “is an ultra-dynamic day cruiser taking speed and elegance to a whole new level,” and who’s to argue with that. For the 40 Open Diamond Limited Edition, Sunreef worked with Jean Boulle Luxury (currently named Sun King Diamonds) and AGL Marine to apply Sun King Diamond Coating on the hull. Sun King Diamond…

Crewsaver Building 3 New Inflatables

By Peter Janssen on January 27, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Crewsaver, the well-established British supplier of marine safety and survival equipment, is entering the inflatable boat market. Part of Survitec, with a 60-year history, Crewsaver just announced that it is making three sizes of small inflatables, suitable for the tender or stand-alone boat market. “Survitec is well recognized as a leading rescue boat supplier to the commercial marine and defense industries,” said Matt Bridge, commercial director of Survitec. “As such, we are well positioned to transfer these technologies into an inflatable boat range for the leisure industry, helping to ensure a design and build quality that our customers can trust…

Adopt a Manatee for Valentine’s Day

By Peter Janssen on January 26, 2021 Cruising Life

In case you were running out of ideas about how to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Sunday, Feb. 14, here’s one you probably haven’t considered yet: Adopt a manatee. The large, slow-moving aquatic mammals aren’t your typical Valentine. Adults are usually about ten feet long and weigh in at about 1,000 pounds. But they do have lots of personality, once you get beyond the face whiskers. Jimmy Buffett, who knows about these things, recognized the manatees’ appeal when he helped start the Adopt a Manatee program in 1984. It’s part of the Save the Manatee Club. Now, adoptions start at $25…

EPropulsion Announces New Electric Outboard Lineup

By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2021 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Here’s some interesting news if you’re thinking of getting a new outboard for your dink or RIB. EPropulsion just announced its 2021 model lineup with seven electric outboards, ranging from 3- to 9.9-hp, including the first with hydrogeneration capabilities. A Hong Kong company founded in 2012, ePropulsion now has standardized its lineup. All new motors are built on a 48-volt architecture to allow greater flexibility and a consistent performance delivering up to 3,000 charging cycles. The new motors also come with an easy-to-wear safety wristband, instead of a kill switch, and their Spirit battery is said to be the first…

New Aquila 54 Power Cat: An Instant Hit

By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

It would be a considerable understatement to say that the new Aquila 54 Yacht Power Catamaran is a hit right out of the box. Indeed, the big new Aquila has already been nominated as a finalist for the Multihull of the Year Award, and it hasn’t even officially been launched yet. But it’s easy to see why the judges choose the Aquila. Lex Raas, the president of Aquila product development, says that the 54 “breaks new boundaries, bow to stern, on a boat of this size.” He said it has “integrated hull bulbs, optional fully enclosed flybridge, Portuguese bridge, choice…

New Prestige 630 Sport Flybridge: Light-Filled and Elegant

By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Prestige 630 Sport Flybridge is a light-filled contemporary cruiser with an elegant French touch and a 30-knot top speed from twin Volvo IPS950 pod drives. Below, the yacht has three staterooms, all with en suite heads, and the mid-ship, full-beam master has a private entrance from the salon. On the main deck, there are social and entertaining centers from stem to stern, and up top, the low, set-back flybridge is home to another social area, complete with a grill, in addition to the upper helm. On its website, Prestige says the 630 has “a refined, luxurious interior and…

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