Cruising Life

New 82-Foot “Trimonoran” Promises Best of All Hulls

By Peter Janssen on October 24, 2020 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s something new: A “trimonoran.” Yes, trimonoran, a new hull shape that’s supposed to combine the best features of a trimaran with those of a monohull. So far, the trimonoran exists as an 82-foot foot concept yacht with a 32-foot beam designed by Baran Akalin, in Istanbul, working with the Dutch engineer G. Jelle Bilkert and the Dutch builder AnwigemA BV. They have tank tested the first foiling trimonoran, named Escalade, and say it offers 30 percent more space, and 30 percent more efficiency, than a monohull. The main hull is flanked by two thinner hulls beneath the waterline. They…

NTSB Faults Owner, Captain, in Dive Boat Tragedy

By Peter Janssen on October 21, 2020 Cruising Life

The National Transportation Safety Board sharply criticized the owners and captain of the 75-foot dive boat Conception that burned and sank off Southern California last year, killing 34 people, for not posting a night watch and for failing to train the crew in how to handle emergencies. In a virtual meeting of the five-member board, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told Truth Aquatics, the Conception’s owner, to “clean up your act.” And board member Jennifer Homendy, who traveled to Santa Barbara after the fire and toured a sister ship of the Conception said, “I hate the term accident in this case…

Tula’s Endless Summer – Now on a Highfield RIB

By Peter Janssen on October 20, 2020 Cruising Life

You can’t say that Bill Swezey and Sierra Growth, the cruising couple behind the popular Tula’s Endless Summer You Tube videos and blog, aren’t adaptable. Indeed, a few years ago, they cruised up and down the East Coast and the Bahamas on a 34-foot Marine Trader trawler with their dog Jetty, living and working on board. Then they moved to a 40-foot Crowther Spindrift sailboat. Now, they have it for sale and they’ve ordered a new Seawind catamaran. While they’re waiting for it to be built in Australia, they’re driving to the best cruising spots from Florida to New York…

New Unmanned Fleet To Explore Ocean Floor

By Peter Janssen on October 20, 2020 Cruising Life

A Norwegian yard is building a fleet of unmanned exploration vessels, powered by Volvo Penta’s new D8 diesels, that will try to map the entire ocean floor by 2030. This will be the first time that a fleet of autonomous surface vessels, called Armada, will be used for underwater exploration. The Armada fleet will be run by Ocean Infinity, one of the world’s leading marine robotics companies. Founded in 2017, it is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in Southampton, U.K. It hired Grovfjord Mek. Verksted in Norway to build the fleet of up to 13 vessels for entirely unmanned…

New Coast Guard Rules for VHF Radio Check

By Peter Janssen on October 20, 2020 Cruising Life

POSTED BY CWO KURT FREDRICKSON ON OCTOBER 19, 2020 • The Coast Guard Inspections and Compliance Directorate has issued MSIB 20-20 to inform mariners of the proper procedure for performing a VHF radio check. Sea Tow Automated Radio Check System no longer available: For several years, Sea Tow operated an Automated Radio Check System, which was available on VHF Channels 24 to 28 for the benefit of mariners in over 130 locations. However, on October 2nd, 2020 that service was discontinued. How to test a VHF Radio using Rescue 21: The U.S. Coast Guard continues to offer an automated Digital…

Maine: Summer of the Superyachts

By Peter Janssen on October 19, 2020 Cruising Life

Here’s a fun story from maineboats.com about the influx of superyachts this summer, largely because of the pandemic, but also because, well, Maine is simply one of the best cruising destinations in the world in any summer. MaineBoats Blog Not only did boat rentals and sales see a huge surge this summer as pandemic shutdowns sent more people out on the water. In addition more super-sized yachts than ever cruised along the Maine coast, visiting ports both big and small. Normally in the summer many of these boats head across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. But when Europe shut the…

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…

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