Cruising Life

New Sta-Plug Mini Could Keep Your Boat from Sinking

By Peter Janssen on August 20, 2019 Cruising Life

Here’s something you’ll probably never use, but if there does come a time when you need it, you’ll really need it. The new Forespar Sta-Plug Mini, designed to fill small holes in your boat’s hull in an emergency, is making its debut at the Newport International Boat Show in September; it’s part of the Newport for New Products promotion. The Sta-Plug Mini is cone-shaped and made from high-strength, rubber-like composites with riblets that help it conform to the shape of the hull. It’s four inches high and two inches across the base and you can compress it by hand and…

Prestige Launching New, Two-Stateroom, 420 Fly at Newport Show

By Peter Janssen on August 20, 2019 Cruising Life

Prestige is launching its new 420 Fly, an upscale, contemporary, French-styled cruiser, at the Newport (Rhode Island) International Boat Show, starting Sept. 12. Powered by twin Cummins diesels, the two-stateroom Prestige is said to have a top speed of 30 knots, and a range of 210 nm at its cruising speed of 22 knots. The new Prestige is filled with light woods and colors, and lots of natural light in the salon from its large side windows and sliding glass doors aft. It has more than enough seating, lounging and sunning areas on the flybridge, the cockpit, the foredeck and…

Algae Bloom in Lake Erie: 8 Times Larger than Cleveland

By Peter Janssen on August 20, 2019 Cruising Life

A toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie has grown to be eight times the size of Cleveland in the past few weeks. It’s so big that NASA is taking pictures of it from outer space. The bloom has now spread over 620 square miles, more than twice the size it was when NASA first measured it on July 30; then it was just the size of New York City. In its pictures, NASA says that “green patches show where the bloom was most dense and toxicity levels were unsafe for recreational activities.” Water in the lake is changing color because…

Frauscher Launching New, Much More Powerful, All-Electric Boat

By Peter Janssen on August 19, 2019 Cruising Life

As evidence of the rapid advances in electric-powered recreational boats, Frauscher Bootswerft is introducing its new 740 Mirage Air all-electric upscale day cruiser at the European shows this fall, and it has much more power and twice the battery capacity than Frauscher had in previous models. With its light weight (4,188 pounds), and 100-kW Torqeedo Deep Blue inboard motor, the new Frauscher tops out at about 31 mph. Dialed back to 6 mph, it can run silently, with no fossil emissions, for ten hours. The electric power is provided by two 40-kWh Deep Blue batteries, the same batteries that MBW…

Retired British Submariner Completes Great Loop in a Kayak

By Peter Janssen on August 18, 2019 Cruising Life

After more than 5,700 miles and 14 months, Steve Chard, a retired Royal Navy submariner, is going to hang up his paddle. He’s tired. Chard, 61, just completed the Great Loop in his kayak, and he was all alone the entire way. Even more remarkable, Chard went the long way around. He started on June 1, 2018, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and went counterclockwise, up around Nova Scotia, past Prince Edward Island, into the St. Lawrence and down to the Rideau Canal, where he joined the Great Loop as most people know it. He lost 46 pounds in the first…

Boston Ferry Runs Aground in Heavy Fog. Four Hurt

By Peter Janssen on August 17, 2019 Cruising Life

A commuter ferry ran aground in heavy fog in Boston Harbor, injuring four passengers. The captain told the Coast Guard he had been cut off by a passing sportfishing boat. The ferry, the Lightning, left Hull, a small town on the southern edge of Boston Harbor, at 7:30 on a Friday morning, with 81 passengers on board. Normally, the trip to Boston takes 23 minutes. But about half way through the trip, the ferry ran aground near Long Island in five feet of water. The captain said that when the sportfishing boat cut off the ferry, he had to swerve to…

Yacht Crashes While Captain and Mate Have Sex on Bow

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2019 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

I’ve never seen a story like this before, as reported in Australia’s Daily Mail. According to court documents there, the captain of a charter yacht, Crystal Blue, and a deck hand were having sex on the bow while the boat crashed into a nav beacon and another yacht on the northern part of the Gold Coast. The accident, in March, 2018, caused $140,000 damage to the Crystal Blue. The deck hand, Cheya Handley, said she had been drinking beer and vodka with the captain, Jeremy Kane Piggott. They were bringing the boat back home from a charter up the Brisbane…

Big New Carver 52 Command Bridge: Built for Cruising Comfort

By Peter Janssen on August 14, 2019 Cruising Life

The new Carver 52 Command Bridge, the flagship of the Carver fleet, takes some cues from European yachts in maximizing space to make cruising and entertaining easy. The blunt bow, for example, creates more space in the forward VIP stateroom on the accommodation deck, as well as providing for an inviting lounging and sunbathing area on the foredeck. The Carver 52 also has a staircase from the salon to the large, full-beam master stateroom amidships, providing a degree of privacy usually found in much larger yachts. With three staterooms, two heads, a light-filled salon and a protected flybridge, the Carver…

Bitter End To Reopen, Starting with a New Nautical Village

By Peter Janssen on August 14, 2019 Cruising Life

Almost two years after it was devastated by Hurricane Irma, the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands is coming back, starting with the building of a new quarterdeck that will overlook the marina (see the rendering above). The resort, one of the most popular in the British Virgin Islands, has been closed since the hurricane in September, 2017. Since then, the owners have removed damage from more than 100 buildings and cleaned up and restored more than 64 acres. Now they say they want to reopen the Bitter End with a nautical village, yacht management programs, a…

Seattle Boats Afloat Show To Open with 225 New Boats

By Peter Janssen on August 13, 2019 Cruising Life

You really don’t need a special reason to visit Seattle; it’s one of the most interesting cities in the world. But if you need an extra nudge, you might want to make some plans for the Lake Union Boats Afloat Show, running from Thursday, Sept. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 15. It’s certainly easy to get to, since it’s on Chandler’s Cove in South Lake Union, almost in the middle of town. (If you can’t find it, just follow the float planes.) In addition to the 225 boats on display, there’s plenty to see and do at the show. There’s a…

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