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Cruising Odyssey
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Fishing Trawler Sinks Off Block Island. Two Missing Despite Massive Search

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By on Cruising Life

A 52-foot fishing trawler capsized and sank just after midnight on New Year’s Day in 10-foot seas and 30-knot winds near Block Island, Rhode Island. A nearby fishing boat picked up one crew member but the other two were missing despite a massive search effort by the Coast Guard and local good Samaritan vessels. The Coast Guard suspended the search effort after two days. The first sign of trouble came at 1:30 a.m. when the captain of the Mistress, based in Point Judith, sent a Mayday call to the Coast Guard saying the boat was taking on water. It was…

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Six Great Cruising Destinations for 2019

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By on Cruising Life, Destinations

The start of a new year is always a good time to plan for cruises in the next 12 months. But where to go? Here’s a list of Six Top Spots To See in 2019 from Southern Boating, spread along the east coast from the southern Caribbean up to Nantucket. Take a look, and start planning your cruises for the year ahead. The six top spots, working from south to north: 1.Bonaire, Caribbean. Just 100 miles northwest of Venezuela, this pretty island with a Dutch heritage is part of the ABC group, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. Outside the hurricane belt, Bonaire…

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What Boaters Want: The Top Ten Videos of 2018 from BoatUS

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By on Cruising Life

Here’s a fun story from BoatUS about their most popular videos last year. The top ten list starts with anchoring, and ends with maintenance. Here’s the list: 1.How To Drop and Retrieve Your Anchor: Eric Sorenson shows how to drop anchor for a nice afternoon in calm conditions. 2.How To Dock a Twin–Engine Outboard in a Really Tight Slip: Lenny Rudow shows stress-free techniques for backing into the worst slip in the marina. 3.Five Outboard Maintenance Jobs Most People Forget. Sean Stahl, a Yamaha technician, explains five often-overlooked outboard maintenance jobs. 4.How To Make a Fender Board To Protect Your…

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How To Read Bottom Symbols on a Chart and Make the Right Course and Anchoring Decisions

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By on Cruising Life

Can you read all the bottom symbols on the chart above? Do you know the difference between “M” (mud) and “Ms” (mussels)?  Such knowledge could save you from running hard aground; it certainly could help in choosing your next anchorage. If you give them a good look, nav charts can tell you the type of material on the bottom, and help you decide your course (and what to avoid) as well as guiding you to the best anchorage for your boat. The symbols on the chart also will tell you which type of anchor to use. You probably know much…

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Congress Requires Coast Guard To Improve Response to 911 Cell Phone Calls

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By on Cruising Life

For generations and generations, this basic concept was drilled into new boat owners: When you have an emergency, call for help on VHF channel 16. The Coast Guard monitors that channel, other marine authorities monitor that channel, other boaters monitor that channel. If you’re in VHF range (and most of the time most boaters are), help will be on the way. But times change. Now we’re in the age of cell phones, and it’s safe to say that almost everyone on a boat has one. In recent years, boaters have taken to dialing 911 on their cell phones to call…

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Navy Ends Bread-and-Water Punishment: No More Flogging, Either

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By on Cruising Life

Good news for sailors: The Navy just ended its punishment of bread and water, dating back to the 19th Century, on January 1. Under the punishment, sailors could be confined to the brig and fed only bread and water for a period of time; it was considered a more humane treatment than flogging. Congress outlawed flogging on U.S. ships in 1862, but Navy captains could impose the bread-and-water punishment for up to 30 days at a time, and sailors could be shackled in the brig. In 1909, that period was reduced to seven days and shackles were banned; by 1951 it…

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2018: A Bad Year for Manatees in Florida and Whales off California

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By on Cruising Life

Last year was a bad time for manatees in Florida and whales off California, with an increasing number of boat-related manatee deaths and more whales entangled in fishing nets and lines. In Florida, 2018 saw the second-highest number of manatee deaths ever. Indeed, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) reported that more than 800 manatees died in 2018, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission said it was the highest number of deaths in any year except 2013, with 818, a year with a long cold spell. More than a quarter…

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French Adventurer Trying To Cross Atlantic in a Big Orange Barrel

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By on Cruising Life

Please don’t try this yourself, but you’ve got to give a lot of credit for courage and an adventuresome spirit to Jean-Jacques Savin, a 71-year-old former French paratrooper, who’s now trying to cross the Atlantic in a big orange plywood barrel, propelled only by the ocean currents that he hopes will carry him to the Caribbean. “I have the soul of a sportsman and am using my retirement to set myself a number of challenges,” he told The Telegraph, just before he shoved off from El Hierro in the Canaries. Savin has already sailed across the Atlantic a few times,…

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New Ocean-Crossing Leopard 51 PC: A Big, Fast, Family Cruiser or Charter Boat

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By on Boat Reviews, Charter, Cruising Life

A seakindly, large, long-range cruising boat, the new Leopard 51 PC comes in either a three- or four-cabin configuration, and is designed for either private or charter use. In either configuration, the Leopard 51, which is delivered on its own bottom from the Robertson & Caine yard in Cape Town, South Africa, is a fuel-efficient family cruiser with a nice turn of speed and enough interior volume to make a long cruise or charter enjoyable and comfortable. Designed by the Dutch firm of Simonis Voogd, the Leopard 51, with a beam of more than 25 feet, provides a stable platform…

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A Climate Crisis in the Galapagos Starts To Change Life There

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By on Cruising Life, Destinations

Climate change, a combination of warming ocean water and the storms caused by El Niño, is threatening the unique sea and land life in the Galápagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. As a result, life on the Galápagos is changing, often in ways that have not been seen before. The Galápagos, which lie 846 miles west of Ecuador, are at the intersection of three major ocean currents. They also are in the cross hairs of El Niño , one of the world’s most destructive patterns, which causes rapid and extreme ocean heating across the tropics…

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