Cruising Life

Irish Company Building Radical New 75-foot Boat for Transatlantic Speed Record

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2018 Cruising Life

An Irish builder is starting work on a 75-foot James Bond-looking boat with four 650-hp Cat engines that is designed to set a new transatlantic speed record next summer. Frank Kowalski, the managing director of Safehaven Marine in Cork, says he hopes the boat, named Thunder Child 2, will make the crossing from St. John’s in Newfoundland to Killybegs in Ireland in less than four days. Kowalski and Safehaven already have established themselves at the front of radical offshore designs and speed records. Their 60-foot monohull, Thunder Child 1, made a record-breaking circumnavigation of Ireland last year. The design for…

Solar Impact Unveils Plans for 78-Foot, Ocean-Going, Solar-Powered Luxury Yacht

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2018 Cruising Life

Solar Impact Yachts, a Swiss company, just unveiled its plans for what it calls the first ocean-going solar-powered yacht at the Cannes Yachting Festival. Solar Impact says the new 78-foot luxury aluminum yacht will be “almost self-sufficient” and could cruise indefinitely under solar power. If the sun doesn’t shine, the boat has a pair of 87-hp diesel engines as backup. An 800-kWh battery gives the boat ten hours of cruising capability, which can be extended by topping off the battery when the sun is shining. A giant solar array of 3,299 square feet covers most of the boat’s upward-facing surfaces,…

New Sunreef 40 Luxury Power Cat Wins Second Award for Innovation

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The innovative, creative and greatly expandable Sunreef 40 just won the award for the Best Power-Driven Catamaran at the World Yachts Trophies ceremony at Cannes during the yacht show there. The award recognized the Sunreef 40 Open Power Diamond Limited Edition as one of the best and most innovative yachts in the world. The Cannes award was the second for the Sunreef 40. It also won the award as the Best Recreational Boat Up To 45 Feet at the Asian Boating Awards during the Singapore Yacht Show in April. Sunreef introduced its first foiling cat at the Cannes show four years…

NBC Video Shows Florence Destroying a Marina in New Bern, North Carolina

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s the best (or most chilling) video I’ve seen of Florence’s destruction in the mid-Atlantic states. It’s an NBC clip of the storm destroying a marina in New Bern, North Carolina, and many of the boats in it. Take a look: https://www.facebook.com/NBC25/videos/hurricane-florence-shreds-north-carolina-marina/289673644967742/

New, All-Electric, Foiling Sea Bubble Is Built to Beat Traffic. See It In Action in Paris

By Peter Janssen on September 19, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Now being tested in the Seine in Paris, the all-electric Sea Bubble, a 16-foot, all-electric hydrofoil, could be the water taxi of the future. In other permutations, it also could take you around your harbor or lake, or simply give you a new, cool, eco-friendly vessel. The founders of Sea Bubble say you should think of it as “a James Bond car, available for everybody, but with zero waves, zero noise, zero CO2 emissions.” Designed by Alain Thébault, who also designed the record-setting 50-knot-plus Hydroptère, a sailing hydrofoil trimaran, the Sea Bubble is powered by two electrically driven props. You…

Coast Guard Rescues a Dozen Beagles During Florence. See the Video

By Peter Janssen on September 19, 2018 Cruising Life

Amid all the terrible loss of life and destruction that Florence wreaked in the mid-Atlantic states, it was often hard to find many signs of hope. But in this great story and heart-warming video, USA Today reports how the Coast Guard rescued a couple and a boatload of their beagles that had been trapped in a trailer in rural North Carolina. Rescuing beagles, of course, is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of what the Coast Guard does during an emergency. Charging through inlets, yes; lifting people up from sinking boats into helicopters, yes. Rescuing a…

How To Recover Your Boat After a Hurricane: Best Tips from BoatUS

By Peter Janssen on September 19, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s some great – and timely – advice from BoatUS about how to recover your boat after a hurricane: With the remnants of Hurricane Florence now on the way out to sea and high waters still posing a threat to some regions, boat owners are starting recovery efforts. The BoatUS Marine Insurance Catastrophe Team began field operations on Sunday, Sept 16, in the Carolinas. To help affected boat owners with the recovery effort, BoatUS offers these five tips to assist boaters in recovering their vessels and starting the salvage process. 1.Get permission first. Never try to enter a storm-affected marina…

Hatteras 63 Sportfish Crosses Atlantic on Its Own Bottom: A First

By Peter Janssen on September 18, 2018 Cruising Life

A 63-foot Hatteras sportfishing boat just crossed the Atlantic on its own bottom, and the company says it may be the first production boat to make such a journey. Indeed, the Hatteras GT63 Post One cruised 1,985 nm from Bermuda to the Azores in nine days; it refueled three times from its mothership, a 148-foot Cheoy Lee named Dorothea III. All told, crews on both boats transferred about 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel from the Cheoy Lee to the Hatteras, which had been fitted with a special fuel fill. The Hatteras, powered by twin CAT V-12 C32 diesels, cruised at 10.5…

New Bracewell 41 Trawler Makes East Coast Debut in Annapolis; Based on Hull from Camano 41

By Peter Janssen on September 17, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Bracewell 41 trawler, built from the tooling for the popular Camano 41, will make its east coast debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. The Bracewell has already been shown in Seattle. The new two-stateroom Bracewell uses Camano’s seaworthy hull and keel design, with its low center of gravity, and it include lots of upgrades for more comfort and aesthetics. Powered by a standard 435-hp Volvo diesel or a 480-hp Cummins, the Bracewell cruises efficiently in the 8- to 16-knot range. The boat has a pronounced bow flare to knock down spray. The side decks are…

Attention Snowbirds: Plan a Stop in Historic Hampton, Virginia, on Your Way Down the ICW

By Peter Janssen on September 17, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

If you’re thinking of joining the snowbirds heading south this fall (or returning north in the spring), you also are probably thinking about stopping in the Norfolk/Hampton area along the way. After all, Norfolk is Mile Zero of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway so unless you’re cruising offshore, you’ll be there. Norfolk, of course, is the Navy’s largest base in the world, and it’s busy with military and commercial traffic. Hampton, next door, shares its rich history and offers more marinas and facilities for cruising boat owners. If you just want to start down the Waterway itself, go south 12 miles…

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