Friday, March 29

Browsing: Cruising Life

The British Virgin Islands are among the world’s best cruising grounds, and have been for generations. They were hit hard by the hurricanes last fall, which decimated some charter fleets, but they have bounced back. Here’s a fun story from The Moorings, the worldwide charter giant, about the ultimate ten-day charter vacation there. Here’s how it starts: “There’s just something about the BVI. We can’t seem to get enough, and neither can our guests. So even if you’ve island-hopped your way through this Caribbean cruising playground once, twice, or ten times before, follow along with our very own Laura Brafford,…

Here’s another step to make your boating and cruising life easier. Garmin and Yacht Controller have joined forces to integrate the wireless Yacht Controller remote with compatible Garmin MFD displays. This means you can use the display to access the remote’s control panel while you’re docking or maneuvering your boat, without having to set up a dedicated Yacht Controller screen. Garmin and Yacht Controller announced the new partnership at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show at a media briefing with Jerry Berton, president of Yacht Controller, and Michael Range, Garmin’s Florida sales manager. Berton said that Yacht Controller is already…

I thought I’d take a quick tour of the new Horizon 65 Power Catamaran during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, where it was just launched. Then I realized there’s no such thing as a quick tour of this boat. It’s huge. It’s luxurious. It has beautiful woodwork – as in the curved railing on the stairs from the salon to the skylounge; it’s like a work of art. You don’t just glance at it and look away. You want to get up close and personal. I forgot about the quick tour and settled in to enjoy this new cat,…

There’s trouble in Richardson Bay, just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco and directly off the well-photographed, steep hillside town of Sausalito. The local police have been placing bright orange warning stickers on the decks of dozens of “anchor out” boats there – boats that have been anchoring there for free, often for many years. “Warning,” the stickers say. “The Sausalito police may remove any vessel which has been left in city waters for 72 hours.” A local police lieutenant told The San Francisco Chronicle, “We’ve been getting more and more complaints, more reports of thefts and other problems.” Another…

Zeelander, the Dutch company that builds boats reminiscent of the classic 1930’s commuter yachts on Long Island Sound, is working on a new 72 flagship that will be launched early next year.  Leonardo van den Berg, Zeelander’s commercial director, says the new 72 carries “a sportier look” than the company’s existing 55- and 44-foot models. The bow is a bit more prominent than in previous boats, but the new 72 carries the company’s signature low profile, long sheerline, reverse transom and suggestive tumblehome that have marked the earlier models. Zeelanders have always looked a bit more Down East than Dutch.…

I slipped on the goggles and all of a sudden, even though I was sitting down, I was so much a part of the scene before my eyes that I wanted to reach out and touch the yacht table in front of me. Then I wanted to walk up one step to cross the salon. But there was no table; there was no salon. In reality I was sitting on a second-floor room at the Bahia Mar Hotel during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, testing a new pair of 3-D goggles that Vripack developed with Nordhavn to offer virtual…

The Coast Guard is investigating why there seemed to be no warning before the 332-foot megayacht Attessa IV, one of the largest private yachts in the world, hit the 65-foot charter fishing boat Prowler at night in the Pacific south of San Diego, killing one man on the fishing boat. The Coast Guard said the accident occurred about 7 p.m. nine miles off Imperial Beach near the U.S.-Mexico border. Prowler was on its way back to its home base in San Diego after a fishing trip in Mexican waters. Attessa hit the starboard quarter of Prowler, causing extensive damage, and critically injuring Richard…

Grand Banks just announced that they are building a new 52, a long-range cruiser with a high-tech, slippery, 30-knot hull that will be launched at the Newport, Rhode Island, boat show next September. The GB 52 will be the latest in the newly reinvigorated Grand Banks lineup, coming after the Grand Banks 60 and Grand Banks 60 Skylounge. Mark Richards, the company’s president and CEO, made the announcement at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. “The 52 will combine weight reduction, strength and a low vertical center of gravity,” he said. “Of course, efficiency doesn’t matter without comfort, so we…

The captain of a Princess 60 that ran into a 23-foot Steiger Craft center console off Westerly, Rhode Island, two years ago, killing its owner, has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Providence to a charge of seaman’s manslaughter. About 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2015, a clear, sunny day, Cooper “Chick” Bacon, of Cape May, New Jersey, a Coast-Guard licensed captain, was driving the Princess from Newport to Stamford, Connecticut. The Princess ran into the Steiger Craft, the Peggy K, killing Walter S. Krupinski, 81, the only person on board, who was returning home to Stonington, Connecticut, after…

Every once in a while, we all should have a chance to treat ourselves, to do something simply because it’s fun, or adventuresome or memorable. That’s the way I think about taking a crewed charter vacation. Over the years, I’ve done this both ways – chartered bareboat, and chartered crewed. Bareboat, of course, is where the charter company gives you the boat and you do everything yourself. That’s all great; you get to play captain again but in a new setting in a new boat. A crewed charter, however, is where you just show up, and the charter company does…

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