Cruising Life

Boating Leaders Voice New Concerns About Tariffs

By Peter Janssen on December 4, 2018 Cruising Life

Leaders of the boating industries in the U.S. and Canada say they were disappointed that the new $1.2 trillion trade deal that the U.S., Canada and Mexico signed at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires did not ease retaliatory tariffs hurting boat manufacturers. The trade deal, called the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, was signed by President Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. It needs to be approved by Congress to take effect here. The issue dates to when the Trump Administration imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The European Union, Canada…

Ocean Reef Celebrates Classic Yachts, Cars and Planes at 23rd Vintage Weekend. See Great Video

By Peter Janssen on December 4, 2018 Cruising Life

The Ocean Reef 23rd Vintage Weekend – filled with classic yachts, cars and planes – has just ended, a four-day party filled with parades, dances, fly-ins and a generally good time. The video below shows all the festivities – and it’s really fun. Take a look. The dance scenes are hilarious. A legendary private club in Key Largo, Florida, with a large, world-class marina, golf course, tennis courts, great condos and an airport, Ocean Reef is one of the better boating destinations in the world. Usually restricted to members, it’s open to the public for the Vintage Weekend; just bring your…

Aircraft Carrier Carl Vinson Rescues Five Boaters from Deserted Island off Hawaii

By Peter Janssen on December 3, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s a story about the code of the sea being honored no matter how big, or small, your vessel may be. Mariners help other mariners. That certainly was the case when five boaters sent out a distress signal after their boat went aground on the uninhabited island of Nihau, the westernmost point in Hawaii. As it happened, the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class supercarrier (LOA: 1,092 feet; Beam: 252 feet; Draft: 37 feet) was on an international naval exercise only seven miles away. The Carl Vinson has a total of 90 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters on board (plus a crew of…

Bruckmann Completing New Abaco 47 with Classic Downeast Lines

By Peter Janssen on December 3, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Bruckmann just took the hull of its beautiful, classic Mark Ellis-designed Abaco 47 out of the mold in its plant in Ontario, Canada, so the new cruiser should be in the water by spring. The new Abaco 47, with its long sheer, low profile, sharp entry and raked windshield, is designed with the same proven hull form from the popular Bruckmann Abaco 40, which is remarkably efficient through a wide range of cruising speeds. The new 47 can be powered either by either a single 1,136-hp CAT C18 diesel, or by two 641-hp CAT C8.7s. Top speed with the single…

How One Woman, Armed with an iPhone, Is Fighting the Red Tide in Florida

By Peter Janssen on December 3, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s a great story from Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times’ media columnist, about how one woman, armed just with a healthy conscience and an iPhone, is trying to make a difference in fighting the toxic red tide in Naples, Florida. The woman, Colleen Gill, 38, moved to Naples with her husband three years ago from New Hampshire. They loved to kayak in the ocean, take long walks on the area’s beautiful white-sand beaches and enjoy all the sea and land creatures that inhabit the Gulf Coast. Then things changed. Starting last summer, she started seeing dead eels, tarpon and sea…

New Mooring Fields for Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a Breathtakingly Beautiful Cruising Destination

By Peter Janssen on December 3, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

Many veteran cruisers think that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is the best part of the Bahamas, with simply breathtaking water and sandbar colors and some of the best diving in the world. Created in 1959, the 176-square-mile park is filled with dozens of cays, islets and beaches. It is a “no-take reserve” where all fishing is prohibited. The land part of the park is a protected habitat for iguanas, nesting sea turtles and sea birds. The sea part, a mecca for divers, has spotted eagle rays, spiny lobsters and Technicolor fish. The park just rejuvenated its seven…

Remembering George H.W. Bush, Who Loved to Fish and Go Fast

By Peter Janssen on December 2, 2018 Cruising Life

President George H.W. Bush, who just passed away at 94, loved to go fast. He was the youngest pilot in the Navy during the Second World War when he was shot down near Iwo Jima; he was rescued after he bailed out by a passing submarine. Later in life he loved to get behind the helm of speedboats in Florida and then off his family’s compound in Maine. He lived life to the full. Indeed, at his memorial service at the National Cathedral, his son, former president George W. Bush, said his father “was born with two settings: full throttle…

Fishing Boat Captain Sentenced for Interfering with Coast Guard in “Codfather” Case

By Peter Janssen on December 1, 2018 Cruising Life

The Codfather saga continues. A federal court in Boston just convicted the former captain of a New Bedford, Massachusetts, fishing boat owned by Carlos Rafael, also known as The Codfather, for interfering with a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel. When the Coast Guard boarded the vessel, the Bulldog, off the coast of Massachusetts two years ago for a routine inspection, the captain, Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, ordered the crew to cut the ship’s net loose. As a result, the steel cables securing the net swung across the boat, endangering the boarding team. Simpson then continued…

New Vanquish 26: A Fast, Stable, Premium Center Console with a Downeast Look

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

The new Vanquish 26 Center Console is a user-friendly, hand-crafted, all-purpose boat with a Downeast look and a fast, fuel-efficient and stable hull, all designed by Doug Zurn, one of the best in the business today. It has a long, straight sheerline, bow flare, generous tumblehome and enough teak accents to keep a purist happy, while its 53-plus mph top speed, driven by a state-of-the-art 250-hp Mercury Verado outboard, will give an adrenaline rush to even the most jaded boat owner. In its new 2019 model, Vanquish has added a modest forward cabin to the 26, making it a center-console-plus.…

St. Barts: A Magnet for the Rich and Famous for New Year’s Eve and an Island Paradise for the Rest of Us All Year Round

By Peter Janssen on November 27, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

It’s only a few weeks until St. Barts, the eight-square-mile island in the West Indies that seems like a part of France, becomes the yachting center of the world. Well, the rich-and-famous yachting center of the world, that is. Because between Christmas and New Years the gorgeous, protected harbor at Gustavia, the island’s capital, is filled wall-to-wall with beautiful yachts and beautiful people. That’s all well and good, but if you’re like me and the rest of us, that means you’ll probably be spending your holidays somewhere else. But it also means that there are 50 or so other weeks…

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