Cruising Life

Maine’s Lobster Boat Race Season (Think 56 mph!) Starts This Saturday in Boothbay Harbor

By Peter Janssen on June 12, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

“That’s right, lobster boat racing fans and racers. The 33rdseason begins right here in Boothbay Harbor at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 16, with the Charles Begin Memorial races.” That announcement of the start of Maine’s iconic lobster boat racing season from the Boothbay Register is just one of the many reasons to head Down East this summer, but it’s certainly one of the most enjoyable. In case you’ve missed all this, a lot of Maine’s lobster boat fishermen love to soup up their vessels and race against each other in these summer festivals, which are held in ports throughout the state.…

Zodiac Launches New 17’7″ RIB, the “SUV of the Sea”

By Peter Janssen on June 12, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Zodiac just launched its new Open 5.5 RIB, which it calls the SUV of the sea, at a big open house in Crouesty, France. The new Open is 17’ 7” long and can hold 12 passengers; it replaces Zodiac’s popular Pro Open 550 with a more modern design, a new V-shaped hull for cruising, and a T-top to provide protection from the weather. The new Open 5.5 has a high tow bar for watersports, a Fusion stereo, a rear platform for diving, a 14-gallon cooler, a swim ladder, and stern seats with removable back rests for easy access to the…

Salty Dawg Opens Summer Rallies from the Chesapeake to Maine and Nova Scotia to Power Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on June 11, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s some good news for cruising powerboat owners: The third annual Salty Dawg rally from the Chesapeake and then on to Nova Scotia and the gorgeous Bras d’Or Lakes is now open to powerboats. In the past the Salty Dawg rallies, organized by the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, have concentrated, as the name states, on sailboats, with the major effort being a fall rally to the Caribbean. But now as the ranks of cruising powerboat owners are growing, the Salty Dawg rallies have become interdenominational. This summer the Salty Dawgs are organizing two rallies – A Downeast Adventure, from the…

Argos Nautic Launches New 10-foot, Semi-Custom RIB with Lots of Flair

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

Here’s a new 10-foot RIB from Argos Nautic that will make you think you’re behind the wheel of an Alfa or a Ferrari on the water. The new semi-custom Argos Nautic 305 Yachting is indeed a combination of luxury (see the Isottta steering wheel, above) and all-out-fun performance, all in a center console RIB that seats four. On the new Argos Nautic, the console is offset to starboard, with a full-beam plush seat aft and another on the bow. The RIB was drawn by Facheris Design in Bradenton, Florida, and comes with premium upholstery, a Fusion sound system, teak deck…

Hinckley Opens New Full-Service Yard and Marina with Fuel Dock in Stamford, Connecticut

By Peter Janssen on June 11, 2018 Cruising Life

The Hinckley Company just opened a full-service yard and marina in Stamford, Connecticut, the first yard and fuel dock in that major city on Long Island Sound since 2011. It’s on four-plus acres at 2 Selleck Street on the West Branch of the Stamford harbor with direct access to the sound, and it has 12 feet of water at the fuel dock at mean low tide. The new yard is the eighth for Hinckley, running from Hinckley’s iconic home base in Southwest Harbor, Maine, down to Florida. It has 25 slips in the marina plus heated indoor rack storage for…

Bermuda Officials Warn of Large Pieces of Broken Up Dry Dock Floating in Ocean

By Peter Janssen on June 9, 2018 Cruising Life

At least two large sections of a broken up dry dock have been sighted floating off Bermuda, and officials there are worried that they pose a threat to mariners. There have been three separate sightings of the dry dock sections, and Bermuda officials are trying to trace them so they can warn commercial shipping and mariners in the area. The dry dock left a yard in the Mississippi River in early September, according to gCaptain and Bermuda News, just before hurricane Irma, towed by the tug Pacific Dragon and heading for the Canary Islands. The dry dock reportedly split into two halves…

MJM Provides More Details, Renderings, Diagrams and Specs for New Flagship 53z with Four Outboards

By Peter Janssen on June 9, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

MJM Yachts has just released more details, with renderings, interior diagrams, layouts and specs for its new flagship, the 53z, which it plans to launch in July, 2019, powered by four 350-hp Mercury Verado outboards. It will be the third outboard cruiser launched by MJM recently (after the MJM 35z, with twins, and the MJM 43z, with triples), and the company says it will be the largest outboard express cruiser ever. The new 53z (the “z” stands for Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Massachusetts, designer who’s drawn all the MJMs) is an outgrowth of the MJM 50z, which is powered by…

Best Spots To Watch the Fourth of July Fireworks from Your Boat

By Peter Janssen on June 6, 2018 Cruising Life

Any time is a great time to have a boat, of course, but the Fourth of July is perhaps one of the best times of all, particularly if you use your boat to watch the fireworks. Somehow the celebration of the nation’s birthday seems more festive from the water; it seems to connect us to the past, and to remind us that it really wasn’t all that long ago that we declared our independence from a government and an empire located across the Atlantic. If you do watch the fireworks from your boat, you won’t be lonely. Almost 12 million…

Legendary Party Barge Willie T Will Reopen in BVI, but Now on Peter Island

By Peter Janssen on June 6, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

The good news is that Willy T, the iconic party barge in the British Virgin Islands, is coming back soon. Just don’t look for it at its old spot anchored off The Bight on Norman Island. Instead, it will be moving almost next door, to Great Harbour on Peter Island. The problem is that Willy T was seriously damaged in Hurricane Irma last September; it washed up the beach. Now it’s found a new home. Ewan Anderson, Willy T’s owner, announced the move after meeting with the local government. The necessary paperwork and permits are now being processed so…

Hatteras 58 Hits Jetty and Sinks in Upper Delaware Bay, Same Area Where Nordhavn 47 Hit Jetty and Sank Two Years Ago

By Peter Janssen on June 6, 2018 Cruising Life

Just after 6:30 on a recent early June evening, a Hatteras 58 sent out a distress call. It had hit a jetty in the area of the Reedy Island Bar on the upper Delaware Bay and was sinking with six people on board. Fortunately, a passing vessel rescued all six people, because the boat had already sunk by the time local and state rescue crews arrived; a Coast Guard helicopter hovered overhead. All six had been wearing life jackets, and were safe on board the good Samaritan vessel. The Hatteras sank in the same area where Ghost Rider, a Nordhavn…

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