Cruising Life

Yamaha Introduces New, More Powerful, 25- and 20-hp Outboards

By Peter Janssen on January 29, 2019 Cruising Life

Yamaha has just introduced two new outboards, a 25-horsepower, high-thrust model to power heavier small boats, and a 20-horsepower unit to drive a wide variety of boats, with faster acceleration and better performance under a load. The new T25 “has the best power-to-weight ratio of all high-thrust 25-horsepower outboards,” said Ben Speciale, president of the Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “If you have a small but heavy vessel to power this outboard delivers on every level.” It has electronic fuel injection, variable trolling rpm control, lightweight technology, and the ability to connect to Yamaha’s digital gauges. The T25 comes with…

Seven Beautiful New Boat Salons, From Classic to Ultra-Modern

By Peter Janssen on January 28, 2019 Cruising Life

There probably are as many different types of salons on boats as there are living rooms and dens in people’s homes on land. You often really don’t have all that much of a choice on most production boats; you pretty much live with the salon that comes with the boat. Still, it’s fun, and instructive, to take a look at a variety of salons on other boats. Here are seven, chosen by Motorboat & Yachting, and they range from traditionalist to modern. My personal favorite is the salon on the Fleming 65, shown at top. I could say that’s because…

What Causes Rogue Waves? New Research Says Two Waves Crossing at 120 Degrees

By Peter Janssen on January 28, 2019 Cruising Life

The mere prospect of a rogue wave is enough to strike fear in the heart of most cruising skippers. Rogue, or freak, waves appear without warning, and they are strong enough to sink large ships. But what causes a rogue wave, and how bad can they really be? Now researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have determined what causes rogue waves. The answer: Smaller groups of waves that cross at an angle of 120 degrees. To work out the conditions that cause a rogue wave, which is at least twice as high as surrounding waves, the researchers tried…

Martinique: A French-Caribbean Haven Where Cruising Is Easy

By Peter Janssen on January 28, 2019 Cruising Life

If you really want to get away from the winter chill, think about heading for a cruising or charter vacation in Martinique, the French-Caribbean haven in the Lesser Antilles, about 440 miles south of Puerto Rico. The beaches are beautiful (see Les Salines, above), the cruising is easy, and life on shore is an exotic combination of French flair and laid-back Caribbean vibes. If cruising down there on your own is too far, there are direct flights from New York, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Then you can check into The Moorings for a bareboat or crewed charter. Seven nights on…

Lots of Enthusiasm, Happy People, at the New York Boat Show

By Peter Janssen on January 27, 2019 Cruising Life

It seemed like old times, the best of times, on Saturday afternoon at the New York Boat Show. The aisles at the Javits Center were filled with people looking at the 350 new boats and probably a thousand or so new boating accessories, and everybody seemed in a good mood. “We just had one of our best years ever,” a New England dealer told me. “And it looks like this one is off to a pretty good start.” People were lined up to look at the new boats; indeed, the line to climb on the Azimut 60, the queen of…

Increasing Noise from Ships, Offshore Drilling, Threatens Marine Life

By Peter Janssen on January 23, 2019 Cruising Life

The oceans are getting louder, with increased noise levels coming from ever-larger commercial ships and new offshore drilling. And the new sound levels are so high that they pose health problems for marine life from right whales to plankton. The newest problem is coming from seismic air guns used for offshore drilling in oil and gas exploration. The Administration has allowed offshore drilling, with seismic mapping, along the Atlantic coast from Florida to the Northeast. Similar exploration and seismic mapping, with the use of air guns, is expected soon along the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Coast as well. “They…

Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, 42-years-old, Reaches Antarctica, but with Problems

By Peter Janssen on January 23, 2019 Cruising Life

The aging Cutter Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only heavy icebreaker, just reached Antarctica, cutting through ice up to 31 feet deep, but it ran into some problems along the way. The 399-feet long, 42-year-old ship with a crew of 150, completed its mission, leading a support vessel with 400 containers to resupply McMurdo Station, the main U.S. logistics center in Antarctica. But the Polar Star developed a leak from the prop shaft, and it also experienced several electrical problems while in deep ice. The crew had to halt icebreaking operations to send a scuba diver in the water to repair…

Aspen Launches New 34-foot Cat with Two Offset Yamaha Outboards

By Peter Janssen on January 22, 2019 Cruising Life

Aspen Power Catamarans is launching its new 34 Aspen C107 with two outboards at the Seattle Boat Show that opens this Friday, Jan. 25. The new Aspen, with the company’s patented asymmetrical proa hulls, is similar to its previous C100 model, except that it has a 200-hp Yamaha on the starboard hull and a 70-hp Yamaha on the port hull, instead of the earlier single-diesel application. Larry Graf, Aspen’s CEO, founder and “chief adventurer,” started testing a 32-foot outboard-powered prototype last summer, in response to the increasing popularity of outboard cruising boats. The trick was to get the right balance…

Cranchi and Garmin Big Winners of European Powerboat of the Year Awards

By Peter Janssen on January 22, 2019 Cruising Life

Cranchi and Garmin were big winners at the 13th annual European Powerboat of the Year awards at the Düsseldorf boat show. The prestigious awards were decided by a jury of editors from eight European boating magazines; they considered 24 finalists drawn from more than 200 new boats launched in Europe last year. The awards were divided into four size categories, a displacement hull category, and an innovation category. The Nordkapp Noblesse 660 won in the small boat class, up to 25 feet. The judges said it was a new concept in the day cruiser segment, with a protected cockpit and excellent…

Docking Made Easy (Very Easy) with Raymarine’s New DockSense and Virtual Bumper

By Peter Janssen on January 21, 2019 Cruising Life

With a little help from its own brand of artificial intelligence, Raymarine just developed a new DockSense system with a Virtual Bumper zone that automates docking. It introduced the new system at the Düsseldorf boat show, and will demonstrate it on a new Prestige 460 at the Miami boat show, starting Feb. 14. Prestige, a Beneteau brand, is the first production boat company to use the new system. DockSense uses intelligent object recognition and motion sensing to help dock a boat. It relies on FLIR vision camera technology and video analytics to integrate information from the boat’s surrounding imagery with…

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