Cruising Life

Last Seen Off Cape Cod, Salty the Great White Shark Now Swims with Divers Off Jupiter, Florida

By Peter Janssen on February 19, 2019 Cruising Life

Salty, a great white shark, gets around. He was tagged swimming off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in August, 2012. Now he’s been photographed swimming with some freedivers off Jupiter, Florida, where he was identified by shark experts who saw his picture on the internet. Salty was last seen by a group of friends who were spearing fish in about 60 feet of water off Jupiter. They were diving off a local wreck, and one of them had just speared a cobia. The shark wasn’t particularly interested in the cobia or the divers, they said. It was just swimming big loops around…

Coast Guard Dogs Complete Helicopter Training: Great Video

By Peter Janssen on February 19, 2019 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard Auxiliary just reposted this great video from ABC News showing two Coast Guard dogs completing helicopter training in San Francisco Bay. It was taken a while ago, but it’s very cool. How many dogs complete helicopter efficiency training by getting lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter? The dogs, Evy and Ricky, are explosive detection dogs and have been working with the Coast Guard for many years. In this training, they had to jump on board a Pave Hawk helicopter and perform several hoists, working with a Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team. Called “canine Coasties,” they…

TowBoatUS Captain Saves Boat Owner from Drowning, Crocodiles

By Peter Janssen on February 18, 2019 Cruising Life

The owner of a 40-foot Silverton owes his life to the fast thinking of Captain Lee Hartman, who drives a TowBoatUS vessel out of Black Point Marina south of Miami. We know that Hartman definitely saved the owner from drowning; he probably saved the man from being attacked by the saltwater crocodiles who live there. Hartman was just honored at the annual BoatUS Towing Conference in Arlington, Virginia. He happened to be in the right place at the right time, but his refusal to give up saved the owner’s life. Black Point Marina is the largest public marina in Miami.…

Aquila, Beneteau, Introduce Foils on Cruising Powerboats

By Peter Janssen on February 18, 2019 Cruising Life

Foils, it seems, are coming to powerboats. Introduced on America’s Cup and other racing sailboats a few years ago, they are now being tested and launched on recreational powerboats. At the Miami boat show, Aquila announced it would offer foils as a $27,000 option on their 36-foot cruiser, while in France, Beneteau announced that they had just tested foils on a 31-foot prototype. In Miami, Lex Raas, the president of Aquila (part of MarineMax), displayed a model of the foil that sits between the hulls of the Aquila 36 catamaran. There’s a relatively large foil in the middle of the…

MarineMax Vacations Opens New Charter Base in the Abacos

By Peter Janssen on February 18, 2019 Cruising Life

MarineMax Vacations just announced at the Miami boat show that they’re opening a new charter location at Boat Harbour Marina, part of the Abaco Beach Resort, on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. The new operation, with crewed and bareboat power charters, will open on April 1. The Abaco Beach Resort is in a prime location on the Bahamas’ Out Islands, just 165 miles off the coast of Florida. I’ve been there several times, and it would be hard to find a better, or easier, place to unwind and relax. The resort and marina, pictured above, are in the little…

Greenline 48 Hybrid Coupe: Great New, Light-Filled Diesel or Electric Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on February 17, 2019 Cruising Life

The new Greenline 48 Hybrid Coupe caught my eye as I was walking down the dock at the Miami Yacht Show, and I decided I had to take a closer look when I saw that it was called “the Great Loop edition.” Now that’s what I call target marketing. But whether you want to take the Great Loop or simply cruise anywhere in the coastal United States or Canada, you’d be well served to take a good look at this attractive, light-filled, well-laid-out hybrid cruiser from Slovenia. Powered by two 220-hp Volvo diesels with straight shafts, the new Greenline Hybrid…

The Best Places To Go in Miami, After the Shows, of Course

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2019 Cruising Life

Miami is truly one of America’s great cities – lively, vibrant, multi-cultural, and warm. For many years, it’s been a magnet for Europeans, South and Central Americans, people from all over the world. It’s also a magnet for boat owners, as a destination in its own right, as a stopover on the Great Loop, or as a stepping off point for a cruise to the Keys or over to the Bahamas. Now, of course, it’s a magnet for the more than 100,000 people who will attend the two enormous boat shows in town. The question is, what to do once…

After 35,000 Miles Around the Pacific on Their Selene 53, the Youngbloods are Wintering Over in Sitka, Alaska, and It’s Cold

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2019 Cruising Life

After circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean on their 2004 Selene 53 Mystic Moon, John and Kathy Youngblood have spent the past two months in Sitka, Alaska. And the title of their latest blog says it all: “Captain’s Log: Freezing in Sitka.” The Youngbloods have been cruising on Mystic Moon, usually at 7 or 8 knots, since the spring of 2005. Starting in Seattle, they’ve gone to Alaska, Mexico, Colombia, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Japan. They finished their six-year, 35,000-nm circumnavigation of the Pacific last fall when they reached the Aleutians, and then continued down to spend…

Something New: Cetera 60, with Vertical Repositioning and Lots of Light All Around

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2019 Cruising Life

It’s not often that you see some new concepts in yacht design, but the Italian-built Cetera 60, just unveiled at the Düsseldorf show, has more than its share. Francesco Guida, who usually designs larger yachts, created what Cetera calls “vertical repositioning” on its new 60, meaning that each of the three decks serves a distinct purpose, with the goal of making life on board easier and even more private. The main change is that that the accommodations– three staterooms all with en suite heads and showers – are centered on the main deck. A central passageway then leads to a…

A Tragic Story of Life – and Death – on the Bering Sea

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2019 Cruising Life

The Seattle-based, 92-feet-long crab-fishing boat Destination left Dutch Harbor, Alaska,on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, with six men on board. The weather forecast was dicey at best, calling for 40-mph wind gusts, 13-foot seas and 18-degree temperatures. But Jeff Hathaway,60, the captain, was a veteran of the Bering Sea crab fleet, and he was under time and money pressure to deliver his catch. He also was a driven man; he ran his ship his way. Two days later Destination suddenly sank, taking all six men with her. There was no Mayday, just an EPIRB signal. Later, tracing images from the boat’s transponder,…

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