Cruising Life

New Cape Powercat 3500: It’s All About the Ride, and the Room

By Peter Janssen on May 9, 2019 Cruising Life

Taking advantage of two trends, the increasing popularity of power catamarans and the explosive growth of outboard power, Cape Powercats is introducing its new 3500, and it comes in either a center console or a pilothouse version. And you can customize either one to fit your cruising lifestyle. The good news is that the new Cape Powercats use the same hull as the one on the Buzzards Bay 34 power cat that received rave reviews when it was launched in 2010. When I was talking to JP Skov, a partner in Northstar Yacht Sales in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who’s handling…

Heading for the Bahamas? Here Are the Top Five Islands Right Now

By Peter Janssen on May 8, 2019 Cruising Life

If you’re thinking of heading for the Bahamas, take a look at these five islands that are at the top of Coastal Living’s list right now. After all, the Bahamas consist of 700 islands all told; so many choices, so little time. To cut through the clutter, here’s a look at the top five: Nassau. Think about the island nation’s capital for high-end escapism. There’s the Atlantis, of course, for a family-favored, all-inclusive beach resort. But there’s also the new Rosewood on the white sands of Cable Beach, if you want more privacy, or the new Baha Mar complex with…

How To Spend a Weekend on Lake Como: First, Get a Boat

By Peter Janssen on May 8, 2019 Cruising Life

Here’s a fun story from metro.co.uk about how to spend a weekend in Lake Como, nestled up against the Swiss Alps in northern Italy and surely one of the most beautiful spots in the world. One suggestion: Get a boat. As it happened, I did just that about ten years ago with my wife Renée (see picture above), when I tested a new Hinckley 29R; it had already been launched in Maine and displayed at the U.S. shows, but it then was being introduced in Europe. We spent a long October weekend on the boat in Lake Como, and heads turned…

Nine Winners of Annual Motor Boat Awards: Hardy 65 Is Best Passagemaker

By Peter Janssen on May 8, 2019 Cruising Life

Motor Boat & Yachting, the British publication, just announced its annual Motor Boat Awards at a ceremony in London, naming the winners in nine different categories. All the boats had been tested by the magazine’s technical editors. A big winner was the Hardy 65 (pictured above), the flagship of the British builder’s fleet that reaches 30 knots and is aimed at the serious cruising market. The Hardy 65 won in the Passagemaker category. Here’s the entire list of winners: Sportboats and RIBs: Jeanneau Cap Camarat 9.0 Superboats: Zeelander Z44 Sportscruisers Up To 45 Feet: Fairline Targa 43 Open Sportscruisers Over 45 Feet: Sunseeker Predator…

Nordhavn Owners Get Together in Anacortes, Washington, At Start of Cruising Season

By Peter Janssen on May 7, 2019 Cruising Life

Nordhavn owners like to get together with other Nordhavn owners. A shared spirit of adventure and pride of ownership go a long way. And, as it happens, this is the time of year when a lot of Nordhavn owners are starting their cruising season in the Pacific Northwest, cruising in the San Juans and the Gulf Islands or heading up the Inside Passage to Alaska. So it’s not surprising that the second annual Nordhavns Around Puget Sound (NAPS) rendezvous last week at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, Washington, was a big success, drawing 19 boats plus seven sets of owners…

“Hit-And-Run” Driver Kills Diver in Australia

By Peter Janssen on May 6, 2019 Cruising Life

The man whom police described as the driver pf a “hit-and-run-on-the-water” surrendered to authorities in Australia after they said he ran down and killed a scuba diver there. They had been searching for him for more than a day. The accident occurred on a clear Sunday afternoon several hundred yards offshore in Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne. The victim and a friend, both 29 years old, were scuba diving. The friend had waved down a nearby boat to make sure the driver could see them, before he found the victim lifeless in the water. A passing commercial boat picked up…

Pirates Kill New Zealand Husband Cruising in Panama, Slash Wife with Machete

By Peter Janssen on May 5, 2019 Cruising Life

Two men have been arrested on charges of killing a New Zealand man on his 65-foot cruising boat off the Caribbean coast of Panama and slashing his wife with a machete before stealing the boat’s outboard motor. A third person, a minor, also was held in the murder. Alan and Derryn Culverwell had sold their home on the South Island of New Zealand so they could spend time cruising with their two children. They bought a 65-foot powerboat in Florida and were cruising back home. It’s not clear whether they were anchored out or at a dock, but the murder…

French Adventurer Crosses Atlantic in a Barrel. Reaches Caribbean After 122 Days

By Peter Janssen on May 5, 2019 Cruising Life

After 127 days and 3,125 nm, Jean-Jacques Savin, a 72-year French adventurer, is back on dry land, having crossed the Atlantic in his ten-foot-long barrel propelled only by the ocean currents. He left El Hierro in the Canary Islands in December, hoping that the currents and winds would carry him to the Caribbean. He sent out a message after 122 days that his GPS showed that he had reached the meridian marking the Caribbean; he then drifted for five more days before a passing oil tanker picked him and took him to the small Dutch island of St. Eustatius, the…

Canada Ends 10 Percent Tax on Boats Imported from the U.S.

By Peter Janssen on May 5, 2019 Cruising Life

The Canadian government has some good news for the U.S. boating industry, and for new boat buyers there. It just announced that it is ending the 10 percent retaliatory tariff on boats imported from the U.S. The Canadian government imposed the 10 percent tax on boats imported from the U.S. last July 1 in retaliation for President Trump’s 10 percent tariff on aluminum and 25 percent tariff on steel imported from Canada. The tax hurt many U.S. builders who had been selling a significant percent of their new boats to dealers and buyers in Canada (see picture of the Cutwater…

A Fast Look at AIS: How To See and Be Seen

By Peter Janssen on May 1, 2019 Cruising Life

Although it’s been around on commercial vessels for many years, AIS (Automatic Identification System) is growing in popularity and use among recreational boat owners, particularly owners of cruising powerboats. It is indeed a major advance in boating safety and navigation, and a terrific tool in aiding situation awareness on board any boat. In brief, AIS is a digital, VHF-based transponder system that uses GPS, VHF radio and digital processing to communicate automatically among AIS-equipped vessels. You can integrate it on a chart plotter, radar or other display screen, put your curser on the target (another boat in the neighborhood) and…

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