Cruising Life

Fisherman Hooks 3,000-pound, 16-foot Great White Shark Off Hilton Head. “Holy ….!” See the Video

By Peter Janssen on March 5, 2018 Cruising Life

Chip Michalove, a charter fishing captain from Hilton Head, South Carolina, went out looking for great white sharks recently. He found more than he bargained for. At first, Michalove hooked a 10-foot great white, but it got away. He was going to call it a day, when he saw a giant 16-foot, 3,0000-pound great white swimming under his boat. With only one other person on board (two of his regular crewmen had taken the day off), Michalove called a nearby boat for help. The reinforced crew hooked the great white and brought it near the boat, as you can see…

Simrad Announces Software Update for NSS evo3 MFDs. More Color, Easier Controls

By Peter Janssen on March 5, 2018 Cruising Life, Electronics

Simrad just launched new software for its NSS evo3 multifunction displays with more intuitive controls and lots of color to help you navigate and determine where you’re going and where you’ve been. The software has new control bars so you can make faster autopilot and audio adjustments, and you can expand the autopilot control button to access heading, rudder and steering information. New color tracks are based on SOG (speed over ground), STW (boat speed through water), TWS (true wind speed), and AWS (apparent wind speed). One new feature is a heat map that’s a chart overlay showing a history…

Sudden Gale Destroys Marina in Wales, Damages 80 Boats, Leaves Wake of Accusations

By Peter Janssen on March 5, 2018 Cruising Life

An end-of-winter storm with gale force winds tore through Holyhead Marina on the northwest coast of Wales, the United Kingdom, damaging at least 80 boats, destroying the marina and leaving a wake of accusations and fears of environmental pollution. The marina is on a peninsula on Anglesey Island, almost due east across the Celtic Sea from Dublin in Ireland. As you can see in the video and pictures below from the BBC and the Daily Post, the sudden storm tore boats from their moorings, destroyed the docks at the marina, and sank some boats while tossing others, including large commercial…

Diesel Duck Designer George Buehler Passes Away. Believed in the “Concept of Simplicity”

By Peter Janssen on March 4, 2018 Cruising Life

George Buehler, the iconoclastic designer of salty Diesel Ducks trollers, just passed away in Washington state after suffering from an aortic aneurysm. He was 69. Born in Oregon, Buehler wrote that he was always “boat crazy” and even worked in custom boatyards in Maine while he was in high school. But his fancy always returned to the rugged, single-diesel, fuel-efficient salmon trollers of the Pacific Northwest. He decided to apply those same principles to his Diesel Ducks, designing safe and comfortable trollers for a couple who wanted to cruise long distances. Buehler saw a niche for his trollers after looking…

Plan Your Cruise Now: Ten Best Small Towns on the Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on February 28, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

Some of the best cruising in the U.S. is on the Chesapeake, and some of the best waterfront towns, in my opinion, are along its shore. It seems too obvious to mention Annapolis, except that I’m happy every time I go there, by land or by sea. And then there’s the trifecta of Oxford, Cambridge and St. Michaels across the bay on the Eastern Shore; all three are also cruising meccas, and they’re all filled with history, charm, and (unfortunately) a lot of summer visitors. But what about the other small towns on the Chesapeake that also are cruising destinations,…

New Horizon 74 Power Cat: Luxury, Space and Cruising Comfort

By Peter Janssen on February 28, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The flagship of the Horizon Power Catamaran fleet, the new Horizon 74 PC is an owner-operated luxurious cruising yacht with four staterooms, all with en suite heads, plus dining, entertaining and relaxing areas that take full advantage of the boat’s massive 28’ 3” beam. The Horizon 74 PC just made its debut at the Miami Yacht Show, and it will be displayed at the Palm Beach International Boat Show starting on March 22. The Horizon’s easy living starts on the main deck, where the aft deck, salon and master stateroom forward are all on the same level. The salon has…

Heading for the North Pole? Take a Sweater

By Peter Janssen on February 27, 2018 Cruising Life

This is usually the coldest time of the year at the North Pole, where the sun won’t rise until March 20. But recently there’s been a historic thaw. Indeed, last weekend the temperature rose above freezing, to 35 degrees, at the pole. Scientists have recorded what they call a warm air intrusion through the central Arctic this winter. In the area north of 80 degrees latitude, temperatures are 36 degrees above normal. Such intrusions have become more frequent and more intense. There were only four between 1980 and 2010, but now there have been four in the past five years.…

Now You Can Charter an Iconic Albury Brothers Boat Almost Anywhere on the East Coast

By Peter Janssen on February 27, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

The Albury family has been building boats on Man O’War Cay in Abaco, Bahamas, since 1952, and they have earned a reputation for creating solid, seaworthy vessels with clean, easily recognizable lines. I stopped by the yard, where they were making one boat at a time, on my first trip to the Bahamas just after Albury switched to fiberglass in 1985; they had depleted the supply of wood from the durable Madera tree. I’ve been a fan, along with a whole lot of other people, of Albury Brothers boats ever since. Now you can charter an Albury, almost everywhere from…

Rockslide Closes Greece’s Corinth Canal, Historic – and Narrow – Shortcut to the Eastern Med

By Peter Janssen on February 27, 2018 Cruising Life

A rockslide closed the historic four-mile long, 64-feet wide Corinth Canal in Greece, which serves as a major shortcut from Southern Italy to the Eastern Mediterranean. About 11,000 commercial and recreational vessels use the canal every year. The Greek Shipping Ministry estimates the canal may be closed for about 15 days. The problem started after heavy rains when rocks and mud tumbled from the canal’s steep sides into the water. The canal was first opened in 1893 and saves a 434-mile trip around the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-shipping-canal/greece-temporarily-shuts-corinth-canal-for-ships-after-rockfall-idUSKCN1GA2D4

Honda Redesigns Its Largest Outboards with More Power, Less Corrosion and Easier Maintenance

By Peter Janssen on February 26, 2018 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Honda Marine just introduced its new, streamlined flagship BF200, BF225 and BF250 V6 outboards at the Miami International Boat Show. The 200 and 225 are powered by a new engine, the 3.6-liter V6 that is already in the 250, but all three have more resistance to corrosion, easier maintenance and improved acceleration. The new outboards have more protection from water entering the engine than ever before, and a new cowling has a dual-channel, indirect-air-circuit induction system to improve air flow to the engine while funneling moisture away. And the surface of the engine has a new coating for greater corrosion…

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