Cruising Life

New Coast Guard Warning: LED Lights Can Interfere with VHF, AIS Reception

By Peter Janssen on August 20, 2018 Cruising Life, Electronics

The Coast Guard warns that LED lighting may interfere with VHF radio and AIS reception. The Coast Guard says it has received reports from crews and others about poor reception on VHF frequencies, DSC (digital selective calling), and AIS (automatic identification systems) when they are used near LED night-time lighting, nav lights, searchlights and floodlights on boats. The interference can create potential safety hazards. In one port, a rescue coordination center was not able to contact a ship in a traffic separation incident by VHF radio; that ship also reported poor AIS reception. The Coast Guard says that ships in…

Charter Fishing Boat Rides Over Top of Sailboat in the Chesapeake; No Serious Injuries. Plus: First-Person Account of What Happened

By Peter Janssen on August 20, 2018 Cruising Life

You don’t see this very often. But here’s a startling picture showing the results of a collision between a sailboat and a powerboat on the Chesapeake near Thomas Point, just south of Annapolis. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. About noon on a summer Friday, Hunter, a 37-foot charter fishing boat out of Kent Island, ran into Levitation, a 35-foot J/105 out of Annapolis. Levitation had its sails up, but authorities don’t know if its engine was running. Seven people were on board the fishing boat; two on the sailboat. The fishing boat ended up basically straddling the sailboat, with its bow…

First Look at New, Outboard-Powered Back Cove 34O Running at 39 Knots. See the Video

By Peter Janssen on August 19, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a first look at the brand-new Back Cove 34O running with twin 350-hp Suzukis. The first outboard Back Cove (and the first twin-engine Back Cove), this new made-in-Maine cruiser topped out at a rapid pace of 39 knots right out of the box. It is still being tweaked, and will make its first public appearance at the Newport International Boat Show starting Sept. 13. The boat represents a major breakthrough for Back Cove, which has been building single-engine, diesel-powered cruisers since 2003. It is based on the Back Cove 32, a classic Down East couple’s boat, which was named…

To Totally Relax, Take a Le Boat Charter Through the Canals in the South of France

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

For a different kind of charter vacation, think about an idyllic, serene and totally relaxing canal cruise in the Petite Camargue area in the south of France. Life on a 49-foot canal boat from Le Boat, with three staterooms, all with en suite heads and showers, is about as easy as it can ever can be, and watching the sun go down from the top deck, eating some local cheese and oysters and sipping some of the local rosé is pretty hard to beat. Here’s a first-person story from The Guardian about four people spending five days along the Canal du…

New Axopar 37: A Fun, Fast and Very Cool Cruiser from Finland

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The long, low, slender Axopar 37 Cabin, along with its smaller sibling, the Axopar 28 Cabin, caught my eye as I was walking down the dock at the recent Maine Boat Show in Rockland. The Axopars are definitely distinctive; they don’t look like any other boat out there. And they did attract a lot of attention, for two obvious reasons: They look like they’re fun, and they’re built for the way a lot of people are using their boats today. Axopars, it turns out, have impressed a lot of people around the world. Indeed, the 37 was voted Motor Boat…

How To Dock a 1,187-foot-long Cruise Liner in St. Thomas, a Very Tight Harbor. See the Video

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Cruising Life

You think you have a hard time docking? Consider the Oasis of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world. coming in to a very tight entrance at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The ship is 1,187 feet LOA, so the captain has to thread a needle into the harbor, making a tight turn in a narrow channel with sailboats moored all around. And with a 30-foot draft, there are only six feet to spare under the keel. Power for the ship, which carries 6,000 passengers, comes from three 26,800-hp ABB Azipods, driving 20-foot props.…

State of Emergency in Florida as Red Tide Spreads, Killing Fish and Marine Life

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Cruising Life

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency as a toxic red tide has killed fish and marine life, disrupted boating and tourism and has sickened residents with respiratory problems. The growing bloom of toxic algae, which started last October, has darkened waters in the Gulf of Mexico and strewn beaches with dead fish, eels, porpoises, turtles, manatees and even a 26-foot whale shark. The state of emergency exists in seven counties from Tampa Bay south to the edge of the Everglades; the governor has promised $1.5 million in emergency funding. The red tide season usually lasts from…

Boating is Good for Your Brain, Your Health and Your Happiness, New Research Says

By Peter Janssen on August 14, 2018 Cruising Life

You probably already knew this, but boating, it turns out, is good for you. Indeed, some new research shows that being on the water can make you happier and healthier, and that simply being near the water delivers cognitive, psychological and social health benefits. According to Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, a marine biologist and the author of Blue Mind, a sense of calm, peacefulness, unity and happiness are all associated with water. When you’re on a boat, he says, the good hormones (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin) go up, while stress (cortisol) goes down. The mere sight and sound of water increases…

Living On Board For the Summer: Cheaper than a Second House with a Much Better View

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2018 Cruising Life

A lot of people are finding that a living on a boat is a lot cheaper, and a lot more fun, than living in a second home on land. And living on the boat definitely has better views. You’ll always have views of the water, and if you don’t like it where you are, you can fire up the engine and move somewhere else. Here’s a fun look at people who are living aboard this summer from observer.com: “The advantages of living aboard a boat are many,” says David Doody, general manager of the big Brewer Capri Marina in Port…

Mercury Introduces New Line of Diesels To Boost Mid-Range Performance

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2018 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Mercury Marine just introduced a new line of diesel engines to boost mid-range performance. Developed and tested over the past three years, the new 3.0 liter Mercs come in 150-hp, 230-hp and 270-hp sizes. Mercury launched them at the big Sydney boat show in Australia. The company says the new diesels will lead their class in acceleration, reliability, ease of installation and maintenance, and mitigation of noise and vibration. The new line complies with Tier 3 emissions standards, which are meant to reduce diesel engines’ impact on the environment. “There is an active segment of the boating market that requires…

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