Cruising Life

New Dive Spot: The Museum of Underwater Art

By Peter Janssen on October 18, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a new cruising/diving/charter destination, although it is a bit far away: The Museum of Underwater Art, about 50 miles off the coast of Australia in the Great Barrier Reef. The non-profit museum, a highly creative venture, features sculptures of 25 people housed in a Coral Greenhouse some 53 feet under the surface (see them in the video below). The sculptures, all molded from real people and all anchored to the seafloor, were crafted by Jason deCaires Taylor, a British artist. As opposed to many other contemporary artists, Taylor used heavy-set models for his sculptures, thinking they would attract more…

Boat Fire Burns 13 in Lauderdale Music Video Shoot

By Peter Janssen on October 18, 2020 Cruising Life

By Brooke Baitinger and David Lyons Sun Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Nearly two dozen people were aboard a boat that caught fire on the New River in Fort Lauderdale Thursday, and at least 13 have burn injuries of varying degrees, authorities said. The blaze broke out just before 2 p.m. on a 41-foot Wellcraft pleasure boat that was cruising the New River toward the Intracoastal Waterway. A blast rang out over the narrow waterway, and the next thing nearby boaters knew the boat was floating down the river, engulfed in flames. Multiple boaters called 911 to report the explosion as people fell or jumped into the water to escape…

New Study: Great Barrier Reef Has Lost Half Its Coral

By Peter Janssen on October 14, 2020 Cruising Life

(CNN) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost 50% of its coral populations in the last three decades, with climate change a key driver of reef disturbance, a new study has found. Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, in Queensland, northeastern Australia, assessed coral communities and their colony size along the length of the Great Barrier Reef between 1995 and 2017, finding depletion of virtually all coral populations, they said Tuesday. Coral reefs are some of the most vibrant marine ecosystems on the planet — between a quarter and one third of all marine species…

New Navetta 64: Prize-Winning Beach Club

By Peter Janssen on October 13, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Absolute Yachts Navetta 64 just won the Best Innovation of 2020 award at the World Yachts Trophies event in Cannes for its creative day-and-night beach club that opens from two slightly curved, watertight doors in the transom. By day, it serves as a patio or lounge on the ocean; by night, it’s an extra VIP stateroom with its own head and shower, a lot of privacy, and a chance to go swimming whenever the mood strikes. The new Navetta 64 is distinguished by other singular design trends, particularly the super-sized windows in the hull…

Whale Watching Aboard Idyll Time in Alaska

By Peter Janssen on October 13, 2020 Cruising Life

It’s the end of the season for Jeff and Susie Parker on Idyll Time, their Kadey-Krogen 48 North Sea Trawler, up in Petersburg, Alaska. They just posted their last wildlife pictures, of whales this time, that they took earlier this month in Frederick Sound for their blog idylltime.com. The Parkers, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, certainly qualify as veteran cruisers. After they bought Idyll Time new in 2006, they cruised up and down the East Coast, completed the Great Loop, and did the ICW so many times that they said they were getting bored. So two years ago they shipped the boat to…

Passengers Fall Off Boat During Photo Shoot. See Video

By Peter Janssen on October 13, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a weird story from Petapixel.com. This past weekend, all three occupants of a speedboat in Martin County, Florida, somehow fell overboard while “doing a photo shoot,” sending the unmanned boat careening towards the shore at full speed, where it hit a dock and went airborne. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted an aerial video of the incident on Facebook two days ago under the ALL CAPS headline: “Unmanned Out of Control Boat Goes Airborne After Smashing Into Concrete Dock, Ending Dangerous Ordeal.” In a description accompanying the video, the sheriff’s office says that all three people aboard were “doing…

U.S. Maritime Administration Warns of GPS Signal Loss

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2020 Cruising Life, Electronics

Here’s another warning about possible GPS signal problems from the U.S. Maritime Administration, part of the Department of Transportation. It said it has received reports recently of lost or inaccurate GPS signals in various parts of the world. To be safe in areas where GPS is potentially unreliable, mariners are urged to use redundant nav systems. The Maritime Administration just issued its warning, called “Various GPS Interference.” It says, “Multiple instances of significant GPS interference have been reported worldwide in the maritime domain. This interference is resulting in lost or inaccurate GPS signals affecting bridge navigation, GPS-based timing, and communications…

Meet Nukumi, the “Grandmother of Sharks.” See Video

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2020 Cruising Life

Scientists from OCEARCH just tagged a 50-year-old female great white shark off Nova Scotia that was so big they called her the Queen of the Ocean and the Grandmother of Sharks. Indeed, the shark was 17’ 2” long and weighed 3,541 pounds. You can see her in the video below. The OCEARCH researchers had tremendous respect for the shark, and officially named her Nukumi (noo-goo-mee), representing a wise old grandmother figure in the culture of the indigenous people of Nova Scotia. She was the largest of eight great whites that the OCEARCH expedition tagged there in the past month. Chris…

Top 5 Islands in the World: Conde Nast Traveler

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2020 Cruising Life, Destinations

Conde Nast Traveler just announced the winners of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the best islands in the world (not counting the United States; that’s another story). This is the 33rd annual survey, and more than 600,000 readers voted. They chose the five best islands in seven regions of the world. Here are the winners: Caribbean and the Atlantic Winner: St. Barts. “While any mention of St. Barts tends to conjure up images of Rolexes and caviar, the tony territory has enough natural beauty and scenic views to give any five-star hotel a run for its money.” Also, #2. St. Vincent…

Fast New Yanmar X47 Makes a Debut in Genoa

By Peter Janssen on October 7, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Yanmar just displayed its new X47 Express Cruiser, the official VIP Cruiser of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada, at the big Genoa boat show. Yanmar designer Ken Okuyama worked with Azimut to install three 370-hp sterndrives in the new yacht. After Genoa, the next stop for the Yanmar X47, the company’s flagship, will be the America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, starting March 6. It will offer VIPs a fast ride to the course and then a luxurious viewing platform to enjoy the races. Power for the X47 comes from three Yanmar 8LV turbo diesels with XT370 sterndrives,…

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