Cruising Life

New Porsche-Designed, 35-Knot “Spaceship” Now for Sale

By Peter Janssen on October 29, 2019 Cruising Life

Royal Falcon One, a Porsche-designed, 135-foot, 35-knot “spaceship on the water,” is now for sale. It was launched from the Kockums yard in Sweden earlier this summer, and is now listed by Campers & Nicholsons. The luxury catamaran, with four decks and five staterooms, was built in conjunction with the Royal Falcon Fleet in Singapore; the project took almost a decade. The head-turning, futuristic yacht is filled with large windows, sliding doors and light flowing in from many directions. It has an open sundeck on the upper deck, and an observation lounge forward on the main deck. All told, the…

Idyll Time Ends Season in Alaska, Posts Best Wildlife Photos

By Peter Janssen on October 29, 2019 Cruising Life

It’s the end of the season for Jeff and Susie Parker on Idyll Time, their 48-foot Kadey-Krogen North Sea Trawler. They just hauled the boat in Petersburg, Alaska, and posted their last cruising blog for the year. They also posted their best wildlife pictures, which are a real treat; see them below. The Parkers’ home port is Chattanooga, Tennessee. After they bought Idyll Time new in 2006, they cruised up and down the East Coast, they did the Great Loop, and they spent so much time on the Intracoastal Waterway that Parker said it had become routine. They wanted to…

Cruising Down the Tenn-Tom Waterway on a Nordhavn 59

By Peter Janssen on October 27, 2019 Cruising Life

When we last checked in with Larry and Jamie McCullough on Independence, their Nordhavn 59 Coastal Pilot, they were in Lake Michigan, about halfway through the Great Loop journey they had started last April in Florida. Now they’ve cruised down the Tenn-Tom Waterway, the 253-mile long cut from Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River near Demopolis, Alabama. Before the Tenn-Tom opened in 1985, boats had to continue down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, and then head east across the Gulf of Mexico. The Tenn-Tom basically was a shortcut, saving hundreds of miles. In addition, the…

Popular Panama Posse Fleet Will Leave Mexico in December

By Peter Janssen on October 27, 2019 Cruising Life

The rapidly growing annual Panama Possé, a fleet of some 150 boats, will leave from Mexico on Dec. 5 for a 2,000 nm cruise to Panama. It is timed to pick up after the CUBAR fleet from San Diego ends its own voyage in La Paz. This year will be the third for the Panama Possé, which started with just 83 boats. It now will have power and sail vessels from 27 to 225 feet, and it will make stops in seven countries – Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. It will start at Marina Puerto…

Crew Puts Boat on Autopilot. Falls Asleep. Lands in Cave

By Peter Janssen on October 23, 2019 Cruising Life

TowBoatUS San Diego responds to an incredibly strange distress call caused by a one-in-a-million missed waypoint: SAN DIEGO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2019 — “There are not many times I can say it after 30 years as a towboat captain, but this was a first,” says Capt. Rob Butler, owner of the TowBoatUS San Diego. Butler was describing his company’s recent response to a 26-foot power boat stuck inside a deep sandstone cave along a southern California cliff wall. Butler’s company is one of more than 300 locations across the nation that responds to over 70,000 requests annually for on-water assistance…

Other Than the Show, Here’s How To Enjoy Fort Lauderdale

By Peter Janssen on October 22, 2019 Cruising Life

If you’re one of the 110,000 people going to the big Fort Lauderdale boat show starting Oct. 30, or if you’re just going to Lauderdale at any other time, do yourself a favor and stay for a while. Lauderdale, in my opinion, is one of the most relaxed, enjoyable cities on the cruising boat circuit. The fact that it’s also a major boating center, virtually filled with marinas, boatyards and boating service operations, is just extra filling in the cake. There’s a reason that Fort Lauderdale is called the Venice of America. It has 165 miles of canals, often lined…

The Only Rule for Maine’s Pumpkin Regatta: It Has To Float

By Peter Janssen on October 21, 2019 Cruising Life

Here’s something different: The Annual Pumpkin Regatta in Damariscotta, Maine, where racers paddle of power their super-sized, hollowed-out pumpkins around the harbor. Buzz Pinkham, who co-founded the regatta in 2007, won the powerboat division (as opposed to the paddleboat division), this year; see his picture above. The Regatta is part of the annual Damariscotta Pumpkinfest held over Columbus Day weekend. Up to 15,000 people attend each year. On land, Ed Pierpont set a new state record at the annual weigh-in with his 1,832-pound pumpkin. On the water, the regatta is held at high tide, and the only rule is that…

Text a Buoy on Great Lakes To Learn Sea Conditions

By Peter Janssen on October 15, 2019 Cruising Life

Lake Erie now has smart buoys you can text for water conditions, lake information By: Camryn Justice Boaters on Lake Erie can be prepared for conditions on the water before even leaving their homes, they just have to send a quick text to a buoy. (Yes, you read that right.) New smart buoys on the lake receive your texts and respond with details including water temperature, wave height and weather conditions. Each buoy is a part of the Great Lakes Observing System and has a specific number to text. They are located all across Lake Erie and are accessible to…

Used 213-Foot Cruising Boat For Sale: $250,000

By Peter Janssen on October 15, 2019 Cruising Life

Looking for a well-found cruising boat you can take anywhere in the world? Consider the USCGC Acushnet, a retired Navy rescue boat and Coast Guard Cutter. It’s for sale in Anacortes, Washington, for $250,000, and it’s hard to find another 213-foot cruiser with four working diesels for that price. You may have a hard time fitting the Acushnet into your slip, paying the fuel bill (it takes 191,000 gallons), or finding enough friends to fill the 80 berths on board. And forget about the Bahamas; it has a 19-foot draft. But it’s certainly sea-worthy, and it’s guaranteed to turn heads…

See the Winners of the First Gala Nordhavn Film Festival

By Peter Janssen on October 14, 2019 Cruising Life

Denzil Baynes of the Nordhavn 120 Aurora was the big – meaning $10,000 big – winner of the first Nordhavn Film Festival at the company’s headquarters in Dana Point, California, on Saturday night. (Baynes is the one holding the check in the picture above.) Some 200 people attended the black-tie, red-carpet, Hollywood-style event, which basically celebrated the Nordhavn culture of adventure and creativity. The top ten finalist videos were shown at the dinner. They were chosen by a panel of judges, which included film and television industry veterans, from 18 submissions. Everyone seemed impressed by the quality of the amateur…

Browsing: Cruising Life