Cruising Life

Beneteau Launches New Antares Line of Outboard-Powered Pocket Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Beneteau has just launched a new line of outboard-powered pocket coastal cruisers. Called the Antares, the new line has a 27, 23 and 21, all products of the Beneteau design team and meant to be introductory boats for coastal or lake cruising. All powered by Mercury outboards, the 27 has twin 200-hp engines; the 23 a single 250-hp engine, and the 21 a single 175-hp engine. A bow thruster is optional to help with docking. The Antares 27 has a glass sliding door opening to the salon from the cockpit. With light coming in from a panoramic sunroof and large…

Owner of Miami Vice Charter Yacht Charged in Death of Passenger

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2018 Cruising Life

The part-owner of Miami Vice, a 95-foot fast charter boat, was charged with misconduct and neglect of a ship officer that resulted in death after the boat ran over a passenger and killed him as he was swimming behind the boat in Biscayne Bay, just off Miami. Federal prosecutors charged Laurent Marc-Antoine Jean Maubert-Cayla, the part-owner of the boat. They had already charged Mauricio Alvarez, 49, the driver of the boat. The two will face trial on Sept. 4. The government charged that Maubert-Cayla hired Alvarez to drive the boat in November, 2017, even though he knew that Alvarez did…

For a Cruise Off the Beaten Track, Here Are 19 European Islands, from Norway to the Med

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

Summer seems to be speeding by, but there’s still time for a special cruise this year, and there’s always time to plan for a special cruise in the years ahead. For something different, here’s a look at 19 often-overlooked islands in Europe, from the far north of Norway down to the Med, that could make it to your eventual bucket list, as developed by mydomaine.com. In the north, Denmark’s Faroe Islands (pictured above) are a string of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic between Norway, Iceland and the UK. They’re rocky, with jagged, steep cliffs, lots of hiking trails and…

Record Tides, Storms Hit Scituate, Massachusetts. Residents Wonder How Long They Can Hang On

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2018 Cruising Life

We hear a lot about the fears of climate change and rising sea levels in Miami Beach, say, or the barrier islands of North Carolina. But nowhere are those problems more pressing than in Scituate, Massachusetts, a waterfront community of 18,133 people on the South Shore about 30 miles below Boston, where a series of nor’easters this year caused enormous damage. In three weeks this March, four nor’easters hit the area. Two of the four high tides were strong enough to rank as numbers one and three on Boston’s all-time record tide list. Residents say that after March, Scituate looked…

For a First, Selene Builds a New 19.5-Knot 59 Ocean Clipper, A Pilothouse Trawler with a Touch of Speed

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The 59 Ocean Clipper represents a new chapter for Selene, which has a well-earned reputation for building traditional full-displacement trawler yachts. But a Selene repeat owner wanted a faster boat to explore the Med. As a result, Selene built the new 59 Ocean Clipper, which combines all the long-range cruising comfort and space of a trawler with a new semi-displacement hull and twin 715-hp Cummins diesels that produce a top speed of 19.5 knots. For the new 59 Ocean Clipper, Selene worked with the veteran Dutch designer Guido de Groot. The boat is a contemporary, teak-filled pilothouse cruiser, with three…

Raymarine Launches New App that Combines a Drone and an Axiom MFD Screen

By Peter Janssen on August 6, 2018 Cruising Life, Electronics

How would you like to have a real-time aerial view of that gnarly inlet before you have to commit, or of that secluded cove that lies around the next peninsula, or of that anchorage that you hope still has room for you that’s 10 minutes away? Now you can do all that, and much more, with Raymarine’s new app that combines all the navigation attributes of a state-of-the-art MFD with a high-flying unmanned drone. In what Raymarine calls an industry first, it has created an aerial imaging platform that works with Axiom or Axiom Pro displays. It’s a new LightHouse…

U.S. Boat Builders Hit Hard By New Tariffs, Trade Wars. MJM Loses $2.2 Million Sale

By Peter Janssen on August 6, 2018 Cruising Life

“NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) – MJM Yachts has already felt the sting of tariffs. “CEO Bob Johnstone was negotiating the sale of a 53-foot, $2.2 million yacht to a buyer in Monaco when the European Union announced a 25 percent tariff on American-made boats as retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported aluminum and steel. “The deal is now dead. So is the Rhode Island-based company’s plan to expand sales into Europe. “American boat builders are getting pummeled on multiple fronts by tariffs and stand to be among the industries hardest-hit in an escalating trade war. “President Donald Trump’s decision to…

Schaefer Yachts Launches New 580 Without a Steering Wheel, Just Volvo IPS Joystick

By Peter Janssen on August 6, 2018 Cruising Life

What’s missing from this picture? Here’s a close-up look at the helm station of a new Schaefer 580 yacht with just a Volvo Penta joystick. There’s no steering wheel at all on this new boat that made its debut at the recent Rio Boat Show in Brazil. The twin 670-hp Volvo IPS800 diesels and pod drives are totally controlled by the joystick. Marcio Schaefer, CEO of Schaefer Yachts, Brazil’s biggest builder, said there was considerable interest in the wheel-less 580 at the show, calling it the biggest nautical event in South America. He said Schaefer will continue to use joystick-only…

Good Samaritans Rescue Seven from Sinking Charter Fishing Boat Off Cape May

By Peter Janssen on August 6, 2018 Cruising Life

The website for the Beach Runner, a 32-foot Rampage sport fishing boat based in Wildwood, New Jersey, says, “Whether you want to fish the Delaware Bay or inshore shoals and reefs, the Beach Runner provides a fun, relaxing day for parties of one to six people.” On a recent Saturday, things didn’t work out that way. At 9 a.m. the Beach Runner issued a Mayday call, saying it was taking on water about nine miles off the Cape May reef. Crews from two other boats, Miss Addison 2 and Porgy IV heard the call and sped to the stricken boat. “As we…

After a Strong Start, This Years’s Atlantic Hurricane Season May Be Less Severe than Average

By Peter Janssen on August 5, 2018 Cruising Life

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season started early and it started strong, but it may end up as something of a fizzle. That’s according to the latest report from the experts at Colorado State University, who now are predicting that we’ll have fewer named storms than average for the remainder of this hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30. Now the Colorado State forecast calls for 12 named storms this year, way under last year’s 17. Three have already formed in the Atlantic, and two – Beryl and Chris – became hurricanes. The new forecast calls for only nine more for the…

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