Cruising Life

Ten Tips for Getting the Best Boat Loan This Spring from BoatUS

By Peter Janssen on April 23, 2019 Cruising Life

Here are ten tips for getting the best boat loan fromBoatUS, just in case you’re still looking for a new ride for this summer. Or print this out and take it with you to the shows next fall. It will help make the boat-buying process a lot easier. 1.Undeerstand the basics. A fixed-rate, simple-interest loan is the most common, with the same monthly payment for the life of the loan, usually from ten to 20 years, after a 10 percent to 20 percent down payment. Variable rate loans usually offer a fixed rate for a few years, and then a…

Three Dead, One Injured, When Boat Hits Miami’s Government Cut Jetty at Night

By Peter Janssen on April 22, 2019 Cruising Life

Three people were killed and one injured when their center console crashed into the north jetty of Miami’s Government Cut at 9:30 on Saturday night. The accident occurred at the same place where Miami Marlin’s star pitcher José Fernandez and two of his friends died in October, 2016, when his boat ran into the jetty at night. In the latest crash, Christopher and Elisaine Colgan, a married couple from Lighthouse Point, were celebrating a birthday on Saturday night when their 32-foot Cape Horn hit the jetty and turned over. (Elisaine would have been 39 on Sunday.) Miami-Dade Fire Rescue found…

How To Leave a Dock Using Spring Lines. See Diagrams and Video

By Peter Janssen on April 21, 2019 Cruising Life

Even in an age of joystick docking, with pods and bow and stern thrusters on many new boats, you still may find yourself needing to use spring lines to get off a dock. First off, your boat may not have all those useful devices, and second, they may not always work. In any event, you’ll be a much more confident skipper if you – and your crew – know how to use springs, particularly if you’re in a tight situation or facing adverse wind or current. Here’s a great story, with diagrams and video, about how to leave a berth…

Torqeedo Launches New, More Powerful, Super-Quiet, 3-hp Electric Outboard

By Peter Janssen on April 21, 2019 Cruising Life

Torqeedo has just launched a new, more powerful and super-quiet 3-hp electric outboard that’s aimed at the dinghy and RIB market. It can power boats up to 3,000 pounds. The top-of-the-line Torqeedo Travel 1103 C motor has new direct drive and a high-capacity 915 Wh lithium-ion battery that give it 10 percent more power and longer range than previous Torqeedos. And it’s quiet, producing only 33dB (the noise level of normal conversation is 50 to 60dB). “The Travel 1103 C does everything a small combustion outboard can do but it’s lighter, much quieter, easier to use, cleaner to handle and…

Salty Dawg Announces Cruising Rallies to Rockland, Maine, and Bras d’Or Lake in Nova Scotia

By Peter Janssen on April 20, 2019 Cruising Life

Salty Dawg, the non-profit cruising group, has just announced two rallies this summer, first from the Chesapeake up to Rockland, Maine, and then the second on up to the Bras d’Or Lake on Cape Breton Island at the top of Nova Scotia (see the picture above). The rallies are open to both power and sail boats. Cruisers can join one rally and continue on, or just go on one, or even join a rally somewhere along the way. Each rally makes several stops to visit local harbors and sample the local food and drink. But the main attraction is the…

Retired Vancouver Couple, Veteran Boat Owners, Cruise Gulf Islands on New Axopar 37

By Peter Janssen on April 20, 2019 Cruising Life

Klaus and Mary Priebe from Vancouver, British Columbia, are hardly new to boating and cruising. Over the years they’ve owned a Nordhavn 62, an Ocean Alexander 55, a Sabre 48 and a Grady-White 36. Now that they’re retired (he was a lawyer, she was an accountant), they’re cruising the gorgeous Gulf Islands on a new Axopar 37 Cabin. And they’re loving it. When they started looking for a new boat, the Priebes decided to go with outboard power. Klaus said he wanted a boat that “required no more crawling around in engine rooms any longer.” The Axopar 37 is powered…

Top Ten Beach Bars in the Bahamas. Think Cold Beer, White Sand, and No Worries in the World

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2019 Cruising Life

Just in case you needed an extra excuse to head for the Bahamas, take a look at these waterfront bars and restaurants that are scattered throughout that island nation. Here’s a list of the Top Ten Waterfront Bars there from outislandlifebahamas.com, chosen because of their island ambience, food and drink, and also because they’re all on terrific beaches. Eat, drink, and then take a swim or a walk on the beach. When all that is an alternative, who wants to stay home? The picture above is of Chat ‘N’ Chill on a sandbar on Stocking Island in the Exumas. It’s…

Grand Banks Working on Elegant and Efficient New 54; Will Launch in September

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2019 Cruising Life

Grand Banks has started construction on its new 54, an elegant, efficient two-or-three stateroom cruiser that will make its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival next September. In earlier announcements, Grand Banks had called the new boat a 52, but it’s grown a bit. It also comes in the middle of a growth spurt for iconic builder, following on the heels of the Grand Banks 60 and Grand Banks 60 Skylounge. The new 54 also will have the high-tech, lightweight, warped-hull design as that on the 60; it stays in the water and leaves little wake throughout the speed range.…

Walker Bay Launches Venture 14 RIB, First in Its New Explorer Series

By Peter Janssen on April 16, 2019 Cruising Life

Walker Bay has just launched the first RIB in its new Explorer series, a 14-foot Venture, that is rated for eight passengers and tops out at 30 knots with a 70-hp outboard. The company, based in Union Gap, Washington, says the Venture 14 has a range of 140 miles. The new Venture is nothing if not adaptable. It can serve as a tender to a larger boat, a sport boat, a picnic boat, or you can just use it for fishing, diving and generally having fun. You’ll be comfortable on board since all the seating has thick cushioning, and the…

New Rhode Island Pilot Program Recycles Unwanted Old Fiberglass Boats into Concrete

By Peter Janssen on April 15, 2019 Cruising Life

Where do old boats go to die? Getting rid of old, unwanted boats has been a problem ever since fiberglass replaced wood in production boat building half a century ago. Old boats are a blight at the edges of many boat yards and marinas; some are simply abandoned at water’s edge, turning into eyesores and environmental problems. Now, in a new Rhode Island pilot program, they’re dismantled and recycled into cement. The program, called the Rhode Island Fiberglass Vessel Recycling Pilot Project (RIFVR), was started last year. The state has limited landfill area, where people often discard boats at the…

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