Thursday, March 28

Browsing: Cruising Life

So far, it’s shaping up as a bad year for manatees in Florida. Indeed, 86 have been hit and killed by boats in just the first six months of the year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. If that rate continues, the number of manatee deaths will set a new record. Boats killed 122 manatees in Florida last year. If the current pace continues, that number will grow to 172 this year. The greatest number of boat-caused manatee deaths so far this year – 21 – has been in Lee County, the Fort Meyers, Sanibel and Captiva…

Sunreef is introducing its luxurious and enormous new 80 Power catamaran at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 10. The new multihull, with a sharp and aggressive contemporary hull styling, stretches the boundaries of living and entertaining space to new levels of cruising comfort. Offering power combinations from twin 575-hp diesels to twin 1,200-hp diesels, the new Sunreef 80 Power is designed for long range cruising on a stable and seaworthy platform. With a beam of more than 39 feet (half its length) the new Sunreef offers extra space from bow to stern. The foredeck has virtual acres of relaxing…

Updated: 6:05 PM EDT Jul 13, 2019 BARNSTABLE COUNTY, Mass. — Three Cape Cod beaches were closed for periods Saturday afternoon after sharks were spotted swimming 50 yards offshore. According to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app, the first great white sighting happened at 1:40 p.m. off Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro. The shark was spotted 50 yards offshore and was heading south. Swimming was closed at Head of the Meadow and nearby Coast Guard Beach for an hour. Swimming was closed at Head of the Meadow and nearby Coast Guard Beach for an hour. Truro Recreation@TruroRecreation…

Leopard is building what it calls “a completely new” 53 power catamaran that will have its worldwide debut at the Miami International Boat Show next February. The new 53 PC will succeed the successful 51 PC (135 boats sold) and will have a new interior and more motoryacht features than any other Leopard so far. The 53 PC will be the fourth generation Leopard, built by Robertson and Caine in South Africa. Started in 2002, Leopard is one of the most successful catamaran builders in the world. The 53 PC will be available to private buyers as well as to…

Meghan Overdeep Southern Living July 12, 2019 Boaters off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama, were treated to a special sight over the weekend. Robert Agren told Newsweek that he was fishing for red snapper with his family when he saw a giant manta ray just below the surface of the water. Fortunately, Agren was able to snap a photo (below) of the rare creature which was shared by Dauphin Island Sea Lab on Facebook. “This is definitely out of the norm from what we have experienced!” he told the Alabama-based research lab. “We had encountered gray whales with a…

We usually don’t cover stories about out-of-control speedboats on the Lake of the Ozarks (or anywhere else, for that matter). But this one is just too bizarre to ignore. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says that at 9:45 on the night before the Fourth of July, Rick Hansen, 66, from Wilton, Iowa, was driving his 2003 Baja speedboat down the lake when he crashed into a covered floating dock with a lot of boats at Spring Branch Cove. The Baja hit one boat at the end of the dock and then launched itself up and into the dock’s roof, coming…

Every morning for 340 days, Dale and Merna Hartwig from Grand Island, Nebraska, woke up on their 2002 Navigator 4000 and asked each other, “Is this a good day for a boat ride?” He wrote me that, “if the weather/seas/destination were ok, then we went. If they were outside our ‘good day’ parameters, we simply stayed another day where we were and enjoyed the area.” The Hartwigs found enough good days – 153, in fact – that they just completed the Great Loop, crossing their wake in Savannah, Georgia. All told, they cruised 6,200 miles and went through 123 locks,…

The largest patch of seaweed bloom in the world is stretching some 5,500 miles from Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, threatening marine life and coastal communities. A new study from a team of scientists at the University of South Florida said that the historic patch may become “the new normal.” The patch is so huge that in total it weighs 20 million tons, the same as 200 fully loaded aircraft carriers. The patch is called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (GASB), and it’s made up of floating photosynthetic brown algae. The problem is that such a large amount of…

Here’s a gold-tinted look at ten of the prettiest coastal towns in New England, at least according to New England Today. You probably have your own favorites (I know that a couple of mine aren’t on this list) but at least it’s a start. Take a look: 1.Kennebunkport, Maine (pictured above). The Kennebunk River adds charm to the small shops, ship captain’s houses and fishing areas here. It’s no wonder the Bush clan enjoys it so much. 2.Bar Harbor, Maine. Part of Mount Desert Island and at the gateway to Acadia National Park, this historic resort town still captures the splendor…

It’s that time of year again: The iconic lobster boat races in Maine. Here’s a great first-person story from a writer for Popular Mechanics who’s been there and done that: By Ezra Dyer When you ask a Maine lobster-boat racer what kind of horsepower he’s running, the first answer will always be a dutiful recitation of the factory specification, usually delivered with a smirk. Ask again, and the second answer might be more like the truth. Like if his 18.1-liter CAT diesel was rated for 700 horsepower before he made a few mods—free-flowing intake and exhaust, at the very least—maybe…

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