Cruising Life

First Yacht with Dog-Rescue Buoy

By Peter Janssen on April 9, 2024 Cruising Life

Now here’s an idea that I really like. Heesen’s new 197-foot superyacht Ultra G has a built-in U Safe smart rescue buoy to save the owner’s dog if the pet falls overboard. It’s built into a hatch on the starboard side just in front of the main steering system. As far as we know, it’s the first such system built into a new boat. The bright-orange U Safe buoy has already won a DAME design award and an innovation award at the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s self-powered and you can steer it with a remote to reach a pet, or…

Aquila Unveils New 50 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on April 9, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Aquila just announced that it’s building a new 50 Power Yacht Catamaran that will make its public debut at the Fort Lauderdale show in October. The 50 replaces the now-retired Aquila 48, which was the very first power cat that Aquila made in partnership with MarineMax 12 years ago to supply boats to MarineMax Vacations’ growing charter fleet. Aquilas are made in China by Sino Eagle and sold in the U.S. by MarineMax, the largest powerboat dealer in the world with more than 60 retail locations. The new Aquila will measure 52’ 2” overall with a beam of 25’ 6”;…

How To Watch the Eclipse from Your Boat

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2024 Cruising Life

A rare total eclipse of the sun will move across North America on Monday, April 8, starting in Mexico, moving across the U.S. from Texas to Maine, and then exiting along the coast of Canada. A total eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, covering the full disk of the Sun and briefly revealing the Sun’s corona, its wispy, white outer atmosphere. You can watch the eclipse anywhere along its route (see the NASA map). If you’re in the “path of totality,” you’ll experience a period of total darkness as the umbra, the darkest part of…

Aspen L107 CLX: A Family-Friendly Cat

By Peter Janssen on April 3, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Larry Graf, the founder and “chief adventurer” of Aspen Power Catamarans, has launched an updated version of the 36-foot Aspen L107 that he ran 1,200 miles up the Mackenzie River in Canada’s Northwest Territories to the Arctic Circle – and back – in 2019. Now, Graf has launched the L107 CLX, a new and improved version of his Arctic Circe boat with enough amenities to make it much more family friendly than the original. The CLX version stays true to the original design, but it now can be used as much more than an adventure or day boat. Indeed, it…

Temporary Channels Open in Baltimore

By Peter Janssen on April 3, 2024 Cruising Life

The first ship, a barge carrying jet fuel to Dover Air Force Base, passed under the wreckage of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Monday afternoon, almost a week after the 984-foot container ship Dali lost power and crashed into it, sending it toppling into the Patapsco River. The accident, at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 26, killed six construction workers filling pot holes on the bridge, and shut down the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest commercial ports in the U.S. (More imported cars land in Baltimore than anywhere else.) Colonel Estee S. Pinchasin, commander of the U.S. Army…

SACs Rebel 50: A Luxurious RIB

By Peter Janssen on April 2, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The SACS Rebel 50, recently introduced to the U.S. at the Palm Beach show, just may be the most luxurious RIB in the world. It’s certainly one of the most good looking, and it comes with the fit and finish of a five-star motoryacht. Actually, the Italian-built Rebel 50 isn’t a traditional RIB at all; it’s somewhat in its own category. Its RIB credentials come from foam-filed collars (instead of inflatable tubes) that are mounted around the bulwarks; they are D-shaped fenders that do the same job as inflatable tubes, but they don’t take up as much room, leaving more…

Riviera Belize 54 Daybridge: High-End Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 2, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Belize 54 Daybridge motoryacht from Riviera manages to have some retro design appeal combined with all the elements that make a high-end family cruiser so appealing. With three staterooms and two heads and a blue-water hull, the Belize 54 can hold a family of six or a group of friends for an overnight excursion or a long cruise. A convertible dinette in the salon can sleep two more. Standard power comes from twin 725-hp Volvo IPS950 pod drives, delivering a top speed of 33 knots, and a range of 370 nm at its cruising speed of 20 knots.…

New Design for Exploration Yacht

By Peter Janssen on April 2, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

By now, we’re all familiar with the “beach club” or “terrace” trends in current yacht design, where the aft deck and swim platform combine into a social zone that extends out over the water or the sides of the bulwarks drop down to provide more useable space when the yacht’s stopped. To varying degrees, you could see these concepts on boats both large and small at boat shows all around the world in the past few years. Now, Pastrovich Studios in Monaco has taken those ideas one step (or several steps) further. Pastrovich, a highly regarded firm with a reputation…

Lyman-Morse Building New Hood 42

By Peter Janssen on April 1, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Lyman-Morse just announced that it’s building a new cold-molded Hood 42 flybridge cruiser, representing the third joint venture between Lyman-Morse, in Thomaston, Maine, and C.W. Hood Yachts, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The two companies have already created the Hood 35 LM and the Hood 57 LM, all carrying a timeless Downeast profile, lines and pedigree. The design is inspired by classic Wasque cruisers. Lyman-Morse says that while the new Hood 42 LM “may evoke a golden age of yachting on the outside, under the waterline she sports a modern hull shape optimized for comfort and performance, and she’s constructed with the…

How To Avoid Underwater Hazards

By co_admin on April 1, 2024 Cruising Life

Do you recognize these hazards to safe navigation? Here’s some great advice from Skipper Tips about how to recognize underwater objects that could sink your boat: Can you look at a paper or electronic navigational chart and identify dangerous submerged piles, posts, or stakes? Hazards like these can damage your costly hull, keel, rudder, or propeller. Use these navigation tips for safer sailing worldwide. Look to Section K in Chart No. 1 to know what these symbols and abbreviations look like on your chart. This vital section deals with Rocks, Wrecks, Obstructions and Aquaculture. And indeed, dangers like these are…

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