Cruising Life

NOAA Predicts 75% Chance of Normal or Above Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season This Year

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2018 Cruising Life

NOAA just released its 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook, with predictions of near- or above-normal activity. In fact, NOAA said there’s a 70 percent chance of 10 to 16 named storms developing this season; five to nine of them could become hurricanes, including one to four major hurricanes. Last year there were six major hurricanes in the Atlantic; three of them, Irma, Maria and Harvey, resulted in the loss of 251 lives. The specific forecast for the season, which runs from June 1 to November 30: 35 percent chance of above normal. 40 percent of near normal. 25 percent of…

Sabre 45 Salon Express and Carver C34 Coupe Win Awards for Top New Products of 2018

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2018 Cruising Life

The Sabre 45 Salon Express (above), already voted winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Newport International Boat Show in September, has just scored another honor. It’s been named a Top Product in Boating Industry magazine’s list of top 50 new products for 2018. The Carver C34 Coupe was the only other cruising boat on the list, which includes everything from new boats and electronics to apps. The magazine said all the winners were chosen for their innovation and impact on the industry. Here’s what the magazine had to say about the Sabre and the Carver: Sabre 45 Salon Express…

New 16-Page NTSB Digest Details Sinking of El Faro, with Infographics and Pictures. Harsh Verdict on the Captain and Owner

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2018 Cruising Life

The NTSB has just released a new 16-page illustrated digest showing the events and timeline that led to the sinking of El Faro, a U.S.-flagged, 790-foot-long cargo ship, and the deaths of its 33-member crew in hurricane Joaquin off the Bahamas on Oct. 1, 2015. It was the worst U.S. maritime disaster in 30 years. The digest, complete with photos, maps, and infographics, is easy-to-read and comes on top of thousands of pages in the NTSB’s report and other documents. It has more than 60 recommendations and a review of what the government and the maritime industry can do to…

Two Large Wind Farms To Be Built South of Martha’s Vineyard with More than 100 Turbines

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2018 Cruising Life

Two new wind farms will rise off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard soon, after officials from Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced new contracts to develop them. The larger of the two, called the Vineyard Wind project, could have as many as 100 turbines about 15 miles south of the island. The other project, called Deepwater Revolution Wind, will be a bit closer to shore, about 12 miles southwest of the Vineyard. Vineyard Wind is a joint venture of Avangrid, a Connecticut-based utility, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Construction on the 800-megawatt project, the largest in any state, is scheduled to start…

Yamaha Introduces Giant New 425-hp V-8 Outboard, Its Most Powerful Ever

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2018 Cruising Life, Engine Room

More boat owners want big outboards for their cruising boats, and Yamaha has delivered, just unveiling a new 425-hp V-8, its most powerful ever. Yamaha says this new engine features the first application of direct injection technology in a four-stroke outboard; this sprays fuel at high pressure directly into each combustion chamber, rather than the intake track, providing more efficiency, power and torque with faster acceleration and a higher top speed. The new outboard also is the first time Yamaha has used sleeveless cylinders, formed through plasma fusion technology, and iridium spark plugs for reliability and durability. The company says…

The Top Ten Boat Names, and What They Say About the Owners, from BoatUS

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2018 Cruising Life

The people at BoatUS are having some fun with their annual lists of boat names, saying that they can reveal a lot about the passions and personality of the owner. Now they’ve published their list of Top Ten Boat Names for 2018, plus a separate, somewhat tongue-in-cheek “Bonus List” of the most humorous boat names, as voted by the editors of BoatUS Magazine. Grace is at the top of the original list, and BoatUS says, “This name reflects the elegant and tranquil qualities of the boat, oftentimes owned by someone seeking peace through boating.” Number two is Freedom: “A patriot to…

Researchers Start Mapping “Forgotten Frontier” of Ocean Floor; Will Finish by 2030

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2018 Cruising Life

It seems remarkable in an age when we can send space vehicles to Mars that we still know so little about much of our own planet, particularly about the floors of the oceans. Indeed, 93 percent of the oceans in the world with depths of at least 650 feet have never been charted. (That’s 73 million square miles, if anyone’s counting.) But now that’s about to change. A group of scientists just announced that they plan to map the ocean floor by 2030, using data from underwater drones, merchant ships, explorers and other sources. All the data will be pulled…

New List of 13 “Best Secret Islands on Earth” from the Caribbean to the South China Sea

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

Thinking about a new place for a cruise, a charter or just a vacation? Take a look at some of these islands, which Coastal Living calls the “best secret islands on earth,” with white-sand beaches, fresh seafood and, best of all, no crowds. Skopelos, in Greece (pictured above), caught my eye, with its hidden coves, blue-roofed tavernas, Byzantine churches and endless views of the turquoise Aegean. It also has the beach that Hollywood used for scenes in Mama Mia. In Belize, Caye Caulker is a laid-back, five-mile-long strip of land where you can snorkel among the nurse sharks and rays at…

Underway Again, the Hamiltons Cruise Their Nordhavn 52 from London to Norway and the Arctic Circle

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2018 Cruising Life

James and Jennifer Hamilton are underway again on their Norhavn 52 Dirona, just cruising from London to Harlingen, on the North Sea just above Amsterdam, where they picked up a new dinghy. Then they headed north, to Norway, where they will spend the summer. They just crossed the Arctic Circle, cruising the Lofoten Islands on the southwest coast of Norway (becoming the fifth Nordhavn to cross the Arctic Circle). One of the most well-traveled couples we have encountered, the Hamiltons bought Dirona in 2009 and cruised around the Pacific Northwest for a few years, but they have been living and working…

New Seakeeper Gyro Stabilizer Smooths Out the Pacific, Even on a 29-Foot Boat

By Peter Janssen on May 22, 2018 Cruising Life

Many years ago, when my wife and I and my youngest daughter would take our annual family summer cruise from Norwalk, Connecticut, to Nantucket, my daughter would always ask if we could please avoid Buzzards Bay. That’s because it seems every time we did cruise through Buzzards Bay, we hit a bad chop that made our Grand Banks 36, which was built like a little battleship, roll around like a cork, and my daughter would definitely get a little green around the gills. All that, unfortunately, was in the days before Seakeeper, the gyro stabilizer that takes almost all the…

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