Cruising Life

Help Wanted: Captain of Fire Island Ferry. Work Nights, Weekends, Must Be Good with Hand Tools, Drunks

By Peter Janssen on September 3, 2018 Cruising Life

The Fire Island Ferries are looking for new blood. The captains of the 26 ferries, which run from Bay Shore on Long Island across Great South Bay to the resort communities on Fire Island on the Atlantic, are aging out, and they’re having trouble finding replacements. “We’re finding very few millennials interested in doing this kind of work,” Luke Kaufman, operations manager for Fire Island Ferries, told The New York Times. “The iPhone is the new torque wrench. We’re trying our darnedest to find replacements, but they’re just not there.” The ferries are busiest during the summer, when they make…

Sleek and Luxurious New Hunton 55: Cruising in the Fast Lane

By Peter Janssen on September 2, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Going back to its racing and high-performance heritage, Hunton Yachts is building a new 55-foot luxury cruiser with twin MAN 1,0000-hp diesels and Arneson surface-piercing drives that is expected to top out at a swift 55 to 60 knots. That means you could cruise from say, Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, or New York to Nantucket, and leave after breakfast and arrive in time for lunch. And with the Hunton’s spectacular looks, you’ll be guaranteed to catch a lot of attention along the way. The new Hunton will be constructed using all epoxy composite and the vacuum bagged, resin-infusion…

New Silent 55 To Make Debut in Cannes. All-Solar Power Provides Unlimited Cruising Range

By Peter Janssen on September 1, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new totally solar-powered Silent 55 catamaran will be launched at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 11. Silent-Yachts, the cat’s Austrian builder, says it is the first production cruising catamaran powered exclusively by solar energy. The self-sufficient Silent 55 uses electric propulsion for unlimited range, with no carbon footprint, no noise and no fumes. It can cruise at 6 to 7 knots, all day and all night. The new Silent 55 is available in several power configurations. In the Cruiser version, it has two 30 kW motors; The E-Power version has two 250 kW motors, and the Hybrid Power…

Azimut 50 Hits Martha’s Vineyard Jetty at Night. Four People on Board Not Injured

By Peter Janssen on September 1, 2018 Cruising Life

The 50-foot Azimut motor yacht named Buffalo Soldier crashed into the Oak Bluffs north jetty Thursday night, crippling the vessel and leaking diesel fuel into the outer harbor. Oak Bluffs Fire Chief John Rose said the incident happened at about 10 pm and none of the four people aboard were injured. A wave heaved the boat into the jetty, he said. The diesel slick is minor, he said but has made the rocks of the jetty slippery and unsafe to walk on. Read more: http://www.mvtimes.com/2018/08/31/boat-crashes-oak-bluffs-jetty/

St. Michaels, Maryland: A Historic Gem on the Eastern Shore, with a Great Maritime Museum and the Crab Claw

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

The first time I went to St. Michaels, Maryland, a gem of a small (pop: 1,029), historic (dating to 1677), waterfront community on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, was about 35 years ago with my friend and colleague, the late Dan Fales. We were delivering a Bertram 46 from Norfolk, Virginia, to Norwalk, Connecticut, and stopped for the night. Actually, we stopped so we could have a crab dinner sitting on the porch of the Crab Claw, looking out over the Miles River and the flow of boats in and out of the harbor. Over the years I’ve gone…

Deep Sea Coral Reef Just Discovered 160 Miles Off Charleston, South Carolina

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Cruising Life

CNN – If you think Charleston, South Carolina, has plenty of history with its pre-Colonial grounds, just look at what’s been hiding 160 miles off the city’s coast for thousands of years: a giant deep-sea coral reef system. The chief scientist who helped make the discovery called it unbelievable. Little is known abut the natural resources of the deep ocean off the United States’ Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia, so Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems. The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of…

New, Creative, Carbon-Fiber Anvera 48: The Coolest Tender Ever?

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

“The new Anvera 48 might well be the coolest, most technically accomplished yacht tender ever,” says the Robb Report. “Drawn by Aldo Drudi, who first imagined the 48 as an ‘elegant and very fast dolphin,’ the carbon-fiber boat is strong, tough and fast. “’While the hull has been developed with hydrodynamic features in mind, the superstructure has been defined by aerodynamics,’ says Drudi. The black profile does indeed have a sleek, aerodynamic look – especially with the nifty hard top that seems to float its way backward over the helm station, across the amidships dining table, and to the rear…

Black Bear Boards Four Boats in North Channel of Lake Huron; Climbs Up Swim Ladders

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Cruising Life

A hungry 250-pound black bear broke into four boats in three days anchored off Heywood Island in the North Channel of Lake Huron, climbing up swim platforms, confronting owners in the middle of the night and generally sowing fear and anxiety. The local paper, The Manitoulin Expositor, says the first reported bear problem came from Brian Laux, from Walworth, New York, who was below in his cruiser Serenity, fixing dinner – a bass he had caught earlier. Laux heard a strange scratching noise and thought it might be a swimmer in distress. “But when I went outside there was a…

Manattees Now Migrating from Florida along Gulf Coast, as Far as Louisiana

By Peter Janssen on August 27, 2018 Cruising Life

Who doesn’t love a manatee? Even when we’re frustrated with all the low-speed manatee zones in Florida, it’s still hard to bear any ill-will to these smile-inducing, half-ton creatures. They’re just big and slow and somehow endearing; children want to hug them. And manatees, at least some of them, migrate, swimming along the northern Gulf Coast from Florida in the summer, traveling as far as Louisiana. Now boaters in the coastal southern part of Louisiana are reporting manatee sightings in places where they haven’t been seen in years, and the state is issuing warnings to protect them. The West Indian…

New Calvin Beal 38 with a Rich Maine-Built Heritage and 20-Knot Speed

By Peter Janssen on August 27, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

It just doesn’t get any more Down East than this – Star, a new, well-appointed 38 Calvin Beal lobster boat with roots in Maine that just won’t quit. First off, Star was designed by Calvin Beal Boats in Beals, Maine, on an island off Jonesport way up the Gulf of Maine (go to Northeast Harbor on Mt. Desert Island and keep on going). It was built as SW Boatworks in Lamoine, back on the mainland at the entrance to Mt. Desert Island. And the sea trials were conducted at Billings Marine in Stonington on Deer Island on East Penobscot Bay. Enough…

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