Cruising Life

Greenline Now Takes Bitcoin, a Currency that’s Worth Half What It Was in December

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life

Greenline, the innovative Slovakian builder now on its third generation of hybrid drives, is also setting a new standard in accepting payment for its boats. In fact, Greenline became the first builder to take bitcoins, starting with the Düsseldorf show in late January, and it says it also will take bitcoins at the Miami show this week. The problem is that the value of bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, fluctuates widely and is now worth just half of what it was in mid-December. Bitcoin reached its peak value in mid-December when it passed $19,850. It then plunged to under $12,000…

New Bavaria 40 Sedan: Honored in Europe, Now in the U.S. with Creative Interior Design

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Named the European Power Boat of the Year in 2017 for its freshly designed salon and use of space, the innovative Bavaria 40 Sedan will be on display at the Miami International Boat Show. With two or three cabins, and two heads, the Bavaria 40 features a new layout where the helm is situated a bit farther aft than usual, so that the captain is part of the social interaction in the salon. The boat has large windows all around; the view from the helm is excellent. What’s also a bit different is that the engine room, with a 300-hp…

Meet the Greenland Shark: Slow, Ugly and Possibly 500 Years Old

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life

The Greenland shark, which can grow to 18 feet, is slow, with stunted pectoral fins, and looks somewhat dim-witted, with a blunt snout and a gaping mouth. It has atrocious eating habits, ranging from fresh halibut (that’s the good news) to rotting polar bear carcasses. They can be found throughout the North Atlantic, but particularly in cold and dark Arctic waters. And they live forever. Well, not forever, but at least 400 years, and perhaps longer. Scientists speculate that some of the larger ones alive today could have been born before Columbus. There is no question that they are the…

On the Banks of Albemarle Sound, A Charming Edenton, NC, Celebrates Its 350th Anniversary

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

A charming little town (population: 5,000) on the north shore of Albemarle Sound, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway (and the Great Dismal Swamp Canal), Edenton, North Carolina, is often overlooked by cruisers heading north or south. That’s a shame. Edenton is picturesque with a lovely waterfront area and gracious Georgian homes dating back centuries. Forbes.com once called Edenton “one of America’s prettiest towns.” And this year Edenton is celebrating its 350th anniversary, with a year-long series of festivals and special events. Edenton actually traces its history back to 1658, when explorers from the Jamestown Colony found its natural harbor.…

Two Fisherman Missing 40 Miles Off Jersey Shore After Boat Starts To Take on Water

By Peter Janssen on February 9, 2018 Cruising Life

The Atlantic Ocean off the Jersey shore can be a dangerous place, particularly in February. Now, a 46-foot wooden commercial fishing boat with two men on board is missing 40 miles offshore and their families are giving up hope. The boat, Queen Ann’s Revenge, left Point Pleasant late Monday night with Paul Matos, 30, of Bayville, and Dennis Smalling, his crew, to fish offshore for fluke and porgies. At 2:36 p.m. on Wednesday, Matos sent a message to his family, “I’m hauling back my gear now and heading home – it’s starting to get nasty,” according to NJ Advance Media.…

Aging Coast Guard Icebreaker Suffers Engine Failure, Flooding, in the Antarctic

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2018 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the only heavy icebreaker in America’s fleet, suffered an engine failure and flooding in a recent mission in the Antarctic. The crew was able to shut down the engine that failed and separately solve the flooding, but the two incidents point out the mechanical problems involved in maintaining the 399-foot-long ship that was commissioned in 1976. The Polar Star’s mission was to deliver fuel and supplies to National Science Foundation research stations in the Antarctic, involving cutting a path through ice in the Ross Sea that was up to 10-feet thick. The crew had…

Volvo’s New Easy Connect Lets You See All Your Engine and Boat Data on Your Smartphone or Tablet

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2018 Cruising Life, Electronics

Volvo Penta is certainly working hard to make our lives easier on board. Now, Volvo has developed Easy Connect, a platform that uses a Bluetooth interface with the boat’s engines and sensors to display all that information on your smart phone or tablet. The free Easy Connect app gives instant live access while you’re on board; you can see the engine and vessel data with a swipe of your fingers. At home, you can review the information you’ve saved. Volvo will be showcasing Easy Connect on their boats at the Miami Boat Show. Easy Connect starts with a simple and…

Two Photographers Cruise Through Northern Europe on Homemade Floating Studios

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s a different kind of cruising – floating studios that two photographers have cruised over European waterways to Paris and Amsterdam and now plan to head back to Hamburg. The photographers, Claudius Schulze, from Hamburg, and Maciej Markowicz, from Berlin, built the boats themselves. They have already been to the Unseen Photo Fair in Amsterdam and then down to the Paris Photo Show. They will end their journey at the Triennale of Photography in Hamburg in June. Schulze, an environmental photographer, built his boat from reclaimed wood panels and old windows. It’s funky and warm, with an outdoor disco ball,…

Herb Seaton Just Completed the Great Loop, Mostly Alone. Now He Wants To Do It Again

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2018 Cruising Life

At 77, Herb Seaton doesn’t know when to stop. He just completed the 6,000-mile Great Loop in December, going most of the way single-handed on his 53-foot Tarquin Trader Phantom. And now, after a little down time at home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, he’s ready to do it again. “The Loop is no big deal,” he wrote me. “It just takes money, time, and being a little crazy to try doing it alone.” Seaton is originally from Johnson City, Tennessee, and he joined the Army after graduating from the ROTC program at East Tennessee State University. The Army sent him…

Digital Gateways: The On Board Translators that Connect All Your Electronics

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2018 Cruising Life, Electronics

More and more, it seems, all the various pieces of electronics on our boats are interconnected; just take a look at the helm of a well-equipped contemporary cruiser and you can see the basic nav functions on the chartplotter and autopilot, but also digital info on engine, genset and even transmission functions all on the display in front of you. But how do all these separate pieces of digital information all come together? Here’s a great introduction to new digital gateways that connect all the electronics on board from the Marine Electronics Journal. It used to be that NMEA 0183…

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