Cruising Life

Iconic Hurricane Hole Marina To Reopen in Bahamas

By Peter Janssen on January 5, 2021 Cruising Life, Destinations

A new and improved version of the iconic Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island in the Bahamas is being built now, with 6,100 linear feet of deep-water concrete docks and slips for up to 420-foot superyachts. The new marina will be renamed Hurricane Hole Superyacht Marina at Paradise Landing. It’s scheduled to open by the end of this year. Hurricane Hole, within easy walking distance of the Atlantis Resort, has been a favorite destination for yachts cruising in the Bahamas for years. The new marina is designed to offer boat owners even more, including gourmet dining, exclusive retail stores and…

New 82-foot Crabmaran Cruises on Land and Sea

By Peter Janssen on January 5, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

You can’t say that Pierpaolo Lazzarini, the head of his own design studio in Rome, doesn’t think outside the box. Now he’s come up with an 82-feet-long, crab-inspired luxury power catamaran that runs on land and in the water. Lazzarini calls the new craft Pagurus, or a Crabmaran. It has a total of six different diesel engines, plus solar power, and it costs just $29.4 million. And it has a garage that can be lowered into the water (or the ground) that can hold a tender or a Tesla Cybertruck. Viewed from the front or the rear, the Pagurus looks…

Endless Summer: YuJet Electric Surfboard

By Peter Janssen on January 4, 2021 Cruising Life, Gear

Here’s a new toy that could be a lot of fun for the whole family next summer: The YuJet Surfer, an electric surfboard that doesn’t need surf and that hits a top speed of 24 mph. The YuJet is fun, fast, and easy to ride. You control the speed with a floating wireless hand trigger that has two modes: Beginner, for starting out, and Sport, for full performance, The board, which is just shy of eight feet long, weighs in at 20 pounds with the battery removed, so it’s easy to maneuver from your car or boat to the water.…

More Manatee Deaths: Calls for Boater Safety Courses

By Peter Janssen on January 3, 2021 Cruising Life

Manatee deaths were up again in Florida in 2020, and the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has written a draft of new legislation that would require all boat operators to have a boater safety identification card by January 1, 2023. Last year, 593 manatees died in Florida, according to the commission, almost two dozen more than the average number of deaths in the previous five years. The commission estimates that 90 of the 593 were killed by boats. The actual number of boat-related deaths is probably higher, because the state stopped doing autopsies for two months last spring during…

Search Ends for Missing Boat with 20 on Board

By Peter Janssen on January 2, 2021 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard has suspended a search for a 29-foot Mako with about 20 people on board that was three days overdue on a trip from Bimini to Lake Worth, Florida. The search, involving planes and boats, lasted 84 hours and covered an area of 17,000 square miles, about twice the size of the state of Massachusetts. The boat was reported missing a day after it was scheduled to arrive in Lake Worth, crossing the Gulf Stream from the Bahamas. The search did not turn up any trace of the boat or its passengers; there was no record of any…

Iridium Launches First World-Wide Marine Distress Service

By Peter Janssen on December 15, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Iridium just launched the first world-wide, real-time emergency marine distress service. The new Iridium Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) started last week; it is the first immediate response and rescue service that works anywhere in the world, even in the Arctic and Antarctic. At a virtual press conference from its headquarters in McLean, Virginia, Iridium officials said the new service can provide life-saving help to mariners at sea. “This is a historic moment in both the satellite and maritime industries,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. “It is not every day that you get to announce the launch of…

BoatUS Warns of Documentation Letter Scams

By Peter Janssen on December 15, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a new warning from BoatUS that’s important for anyone with a documented boat: SPRINGFIELD, Va., Dec. 15, 2020 – Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is advising boaters with vessels that have a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation to be wary of any letter arriving by U.S. mail offering renewal. BoatUS advises that while the Coast Guard does send official annual renewal notices by U.S. mail, other notices being received by members are not from the Coast Guard, but rather third-party companies whose name or return addresses may appear similar to that of the official U.S.…

Arcadia Launches New Sherpa XL Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on December 15, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Arcadia Yachts just launched its second Sherpa XL, a creative cruiser with lots of light-filled spaces on all three decks. The Italian builder worked with Hot Lab, the Milan-based design studio, to create a new look for the new 79-foot yacht. Ugo Pellegrino, the sole director of Arcadia, says the new Sherpa “is perfect not just for owners who want to use it for day cruising with all the guests they desire, but also for people who want to experience a long cruise with very high levels of service, embracing the ‘slow yachting’ philosophy that Arcadia itself introduced ten years…

Seven Tips for Plotting Your Next Cruise

By Peter Janssen on December 15, 2020 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Here are seven tips from Skipper Tips about how to plot your next cruise in advance to make it safer and easier. One tip: Plot waypoints around hazards along the way. Read on: 1. Get Ready to Navigate Now! Make your piloting preparations in advance to save time and effort underway. Complete 90% of navigation plotting in the comfort of your home or apartment. Plot your base sailing courses onto each chart you will use. Highlight dangers, emergency anchorages, and prominent aids to navigation (i.e. lighted aids or those with sound signals). Plot waypoints at the start and finish of…

Navy Combat Ship Makes Big Pacific Drug Bust

By Peter Janssen on December 15, 2020 Cruising Life

The USS Gabrielle Giffords, a Navy littoral combat ship, just seized more than $100 million worth of cocaine from a low-profile smuggling boat in the Pacific. Here’s the story from Seapower, the official publication of the Navy League of the United States: AT SEA — The Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 407 seized an estimated 2,810 kilograms of suspected cocaine, Dec. 5, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs Office said in a Dec. 11 release. While on routine patrol, Gabrielle Giffords was diverted to intercept a low-profile vessel…

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