Cruising Life

Two U.S. Navy Subs Surface in the Arctic, Join Temporary Camp on a Moving Ice Floe

By Peter Janssen on March 14, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s something we haven’t seen before: Pictures of two U.S. Navy submarines that broke through the ice and surfaced below the Arctic Circle. The fast-attack subs, the USS Hartford (SSN 768) and the USS Connecticut (SSN 22), were taking part in a multi-national training exercise in the Beaufort Sea. They were joined by the Royal Navy sub HMS Trenchant. After the surfacing, the crews joined a temporary ice camp on a moving ice floe about 150 miles off the northern slope of Alaska in international waters. The exercise is designed to train submarine crews how to operate in extreme cold…

Good News for Crabs, Fish and the Rest of Us: More Seagrass Growing in the Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on March 14, 2018 Cruising Life

Seagrass is growing again on the floor of the Chesapeake, and that’s good news, since the grass shelters crabs and fish and other aquatic species (see the picture above of some healthy new grass with a crab pot near Crisfield, Maryland). Scientists say there had been no grass until recently on the floor of the Chesapeake off Solomon’s Island since 1972. Now they’re seeing new seagrass beds that are growing and healthy, the result of reduced pollution, particularly from farm runoff. The water is clearer and more sunlight can reach seagrass. A new study, recording years of monitoring, says that…

Google To Map 143 nm in South Florida for New Waterway View App, Showing Marinas, Restaurants and Businesses

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Cruising Life

Once Google started mapping streets across the United States, we should have seen this coming. In a logical extension of its Google Maps, showing street views of homes and businesses across the United States, Google is now partnering with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida to create a new Google Waterway View of 143 nm along the Intracoastal Waterway and Biscayne Bay. Google will use boats provided by MarineMax and Boat Owners Warehouse for their cameras, and they will cover the Waterway from the Palm Beach County line in Jupiter through Ocean Reef in Key Largo, plus some adjoining…

A Fast Refresher on What All Those Lights Mean When You’re Cruising After Dark

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Cruising Life

The problem with coming in to a strange harbor at night is determining which lights are which. Which are the ATONs, marking a jetty, a shoal, a side of the channel? And which are merely background lights – a house, a car, a bridge? I once cruised down the Florida Keys in a fast boat after dark and thought I was looking at lights marking one of the resort marinas I was aiming for, until I realized the lights were from a night game at a Little League baseball diamond. Time to throttle back. For navigating at night, you can…

A Connecticut Couple Live Aboard – on Dry Land – and Love It

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Cruising Life

Jim and Cathy Barnard of Waterford, Connecticut, are giving a new meaning to the idea of living aboard. They don’t actually live on a boat that floats; instead, they live on a house they built on dry land that looks like a boat. And a classic boat at that. According to this story in The Day, the Barnards designed their 4,400-square-foot house so it would look like a vintage steamship. They had some property on a 60-foot bluff overlooking the Niantic River, basically between East Lyme and New London, and about six years ago they started designing the house “on…

New Greek-Made TECHNOHULL 23-Foot RIB Tops Out at 50 Knots

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

TECHNOHULL, the Greek yard that’s been making high-performance RIBs since 2005, has just introduced a new T688 model, it’s smallest yet at 23’ 6”. Powered by a 250-hp outboard, the new RIB tops out at 50 knots, and can be used as a tender to a larger boat or as a fun sportboat in its own right. The T688 is designed with a center console with an optional T-top; the passageways mean you can walk from bow to stern on either side. The driver and a guest sit in two wrap-around, shock-absorbing seats, while another seat is built into the…

Ten Best Beach Bars in the U.S. Is Your Favorite on the List?

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Cruising Life

For the moment, let’s forget about the issues of war and peace, of taxes and immigration, of politics and Washington and Congress. Let’s deal with things we really care about: Where can we find the best beach bars in the United States? To help us along, Coastal Living has compiled a list of the ten best beach bars, including spots from Massachusetts and Rhode Island to Oregon and California, plus two in Florida. (I must be doing something wrong, because I haven’t been to a single one of them, although now I can add them to my ever-growing must-visit list.)…

Award-Winning Azimut S7: Lots of Innovation, Performance and Luxurious Italian Style. See the Video

By Peter Janssen on March 13, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new, highly creative 70-foot, four-cabin Azimut S7 won the “European Power Boat of the Year” for over 45-foot yachts at the Dusseldorf show in January, recognizing its innovative features inside and out. Azimut used a lot of carbon in the S7, particularly in the superstructure, to keep the weight – and the CG – down, while triple Volvo IPS1050 pod drives propel the luxury-filled Italian-built cruiser to a 36-knot top speed. The exterior styling, by Stafano Reghii, gives the boat an aggressive low profile with a raked front windshield, aft-set flybridge, and diamond-shaped deckhouse windows that showcase the play…

A Weakening Gulf Stream, and Rising Sea Levels, Mean More Trouble for the New England Coast

By Peter Janssen on March 12, 2018 Cruising Life

A weaker Gulf Stream, combined with overall global warming, could mean a lot of trouble for the coast of New England, according to this well-documented story from Weather Underground meteorologist Bob Henson. The New England coast already has been hit hard by storms and surging high water (see the picture of Scituate, Massachusetts, above) in the past few months. Two nor’easters earlier this month produced two of the three highest water levels ever recorded in Boston Harbor, and things could get worse. A basic problem is that the sea level along the Northeast coast is rising faster than it is…

Woman Taking Selfie Falls 15 Decks off a Cruise Ship at Night off the Bahamas. Crew Rescues Her. See Video

By Peter Janssen on March 12, 2018 Cruising Life

A woman taking a selfie fell 15 decks off her cruise ship balcony into the water near the Bahamas at night, but quick action by the captain and crew of the Norwegian Epic liner saved her life. Passengers said they could hear her screaming as she fell. It was about nine at night, with many passengers still eating dinner, when the announcement “Code Oscar portside” came three times over the intercom. The ship, which had been at cruise speed, came to a stop, turned around and launched a tender. Passengers watched as the boat searched in the darkness, using searchlights,…

Browsing: Cruising Life