Cruising Life

New Portraits of Women Running Maine Lobster Boats

By Peter Janssen on July 18, 2019 Cruising Life

Here’s something worth looking at – and thinking about: A new exhibit of portraits of women who run Maine lobster boats. It’s called “Lobstering Women of Maine,” and it’s at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport. As described in MaineBoats.com, the exhibit features paintings by Tobey White of Belfast, whose husband is a part-time lobsterman. It’s not a surprise that women make up a very small percentage of the Maine lobster fishing fleet. Indeed, only 215 of the 4,500 licenses for lobster fishing in the state are held by women. But another 305 women are students or apprentices in the…

Yanmar Building New Flagship X47 Express with a Nod to Ferrari Design

By Peter Janssen on July 16, 2019 Cruising Life

Yanmar just announced that it is building a new flagship X47 Express cruiser that will have more than a fleeting reference to world-class automobile design. Indeed, Ken Okuyama, who designed the new Yanmar X47, also worked for Pininfarina for many years, and in 2016 transformed a Ferrari 599 to the customized kode57 (see picture above), although only five were ever built. The X47 Express is scheduled to be launched at the end of this year, and it already has been named the Official VIP Cruiser of the next America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. It is Yanmar’s second express model,…

Mallards at the Wharf is the only waterfront restaurant in town. Serving casual lunches and relaxes upscale dinners, it offers three dining rooms including deck dining and a dock bar. Virginia Tourism Corporation, www.Virginia.org

Virginia’s Eastern Shore: Some Hidden Cruising Gems on the Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on July 16, 2019 Cruising Life

Here’s a great story from esvatourism.org about The Route Less Travelled: Boating Virginia’s Eastern Shore. If you haven’t been to Onancock (pictured above), Cape Charles, Saxis Island, Wachapreague and Chincoteague, you’ve been missing something: Boaters who typically head down along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay or end their Intracoastal Waterway trip in North Carolina are missing out on charming harbor towns and two pristine coastlines on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Harbor towns like Cape Charles, Onancock, Saxis, Chincoteague and Wachapreague on the 70-mile Virginia Chesapeake Bay coastline, have growing numbers of restaurants, shops and hotels just steps from the town harbors.…

More and More Manatees Killed by Boats in Florida; Heading for a Record Year

By Peter Janssen on July 15, 2019 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 To Launch New Luxurious and Massive 80 Multihull Power Cruiser in Cannes

By Peter Janssen on July 15, 2019 Cruising Life

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…

Three Cape Cod Beaches Closed Briefly Due To Great White Shark Sightings

By Peter Janssen on July 14, 2019 Cruising Life

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…

“Completely New” Leopard 53 PC with Motoryacht Features Will Launch at Miami Show

By Peter Janssen on July 13, 2019 Cruising Life

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…

Giant Manta Ray Stuns Onlookers Off Alabama Coast

By Peter Janssen on July 13, 2019 Cruising Life

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…

Speedboat Crashes Into Boats and Gets Stuck in Dock Roof on Lake of the Ozarks

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2019 Cruising Life

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…

Nebraska Couple Completes the Great Loop on 153 “Good Days for a Boat Ride”

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2019 Cruising Life

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,…

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