Cruising Life

Seal Slaps Kayaker in Face with an Octopus. See the Video

By Peter Janssen on September 27, 2018 Cruising Life

You’ve probably never seen this before: A video of a seal slapping a kayaker in the face with an octopus. Here, from The Washington Post, is a story about how Kyle Mulinder, 37, was kayaking off Kaikoura, New Zealand, when a seal jumped out of the water and slapped him across the face with an octopus. The octopus’s eight limbs were flailing as it fought for its life. “It’s a lot like a wet towel with a bit of hardness,” Mulinder wrote on Instagram. He says he was just in the “wrong place, right time.” His video quickly went viral.…

It’s “One Tough Year” As The BVI Struggles To Return to Normal

By Peter Janssen on September 25, 2018 Cruising Life

Here’s a solid story from The New York Times about how the British Virgin Islands are struggling to recover, one year later, from last fall’s devastating hurricanes. “A year later,” The Times reports, “the greenery is back, but Tortola’s lush hills are still pocked with houses wreaked by Hurricane Irma’s 178-mph winds. Some are neglected vacation homes…Others were abandoned by residents who fled the island. But many are the homes of those who have struggled to rebuild.” The BVI suffered more than $3.6 billion in damages, four times its gross domestic product, in the two hurricanes last fall. It was one of…

New 38-Knot Princess V60 Cruiser To Make Debut in Annapolis

By Peter Janssen on September 25, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new 38-knot Princess V60 will make its U.S. debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. Twin 1,200-hp MAN V-8 diesels power the new Princess, with three staterooms and two heads and a clean, Euro-style salon, to a cruising speed of 32 knots. Built at the Princess factory in Plymouth, England, the new V60 is designed for luxury, sociability and performance. The cockpit is a major social center, with a U-shaped lounge with a teak folding table and directors chairs. It’s equipped with a full wet bar and barbeque. It has a large sunpad aft; a garage below…

Maine Lobsterman To Plead Guilty to Seaman’s Manslaughter in Death of Two Crew

By Peter Janssen on September 23, 2018 Cruising Life

A Maine lobsterman will plead guilty to seaman’s manslaughter after his 45-foot boat turned over in a storm four years ago off Matinicus Island and his two crewmen drowned. The government says he took them out after smoking pot, attending a Halloween party, and buying 20 tablets of oxycodone. Christopher Hutchinson (pictured at top), who was 26 at the time, left the Linda Bean dock in Tenants Harbor about 1 a.m. on Nov. 31 on his boat, No Limits, with Tom Hammond, (pictured above), 27, from Rockland, and Tyler Sawyer, 15, from Waldoboro. He was told the weather was bad,…

Hobie Launches New Mirage Eclipse Pedalboard, Not Paddleboard, To Take You Farther, Faster

By Peter Janssen on September 23, 2018 Cruising Life, Gear

Hobie has been one of the most recognizable names in boating, ever since they started making sailing catamarans and surfboards in the ‘50s. And they’ve changed with the times, making increasingly popular paddleboards and SUPs for the past 20 years or so. That’s when they invented their MirageDrive, a propulsion system where you use your legs to drive fins under the boat. Here’s a story from The Manual about five new changes to Hobies’ lineup of boats and boards, but the one I like most is the Mirage Eclipse, a SUP with an improved MirageDrive that looks like a lot…

14 Best Bars and Watering Holes in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Don’t Miss the Frangi Fever

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

If you’re planning a cruise south, down the Caribbean to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, you might want to plan a stop at some of the best local watering holes and beach bars listed here by AFAR. Even if you’re not going that far, it’s always fun to live a little, even vicariously. Here are some pictures and writeups of 14 of the best bars and restaurants in that part of the world. AFAR says you don’t want to miss the famous Basil’s Beach Bar on Britannia Bay in Mustique or the great bars on Bequia. The Frangipani on Bequia…

Captain Cook’s Famed Discovery Ship Endeavour, Sunk During Revolution, Found in Newport Harbor

By Peter Janssen on September 22, 2018 Cruising Life

Back in August, 1768, British Navy Lieutenant James Cook left Plymouth, England, as the captain of HMS Endeavour, a 97’ 8” bark carrying a crew of 94 and 3,321 square yards of sail on a voyage of discovery. Cook, who was also a cartographer, was charged with cruising to the South Pacific to observe Venus crossing the sun and to find the continent then known as Terra Australis Incognita; we now know it simply as Australia. Cook made landfall in Tahiti in April, 1769, to record the Venus transit, and then went on to map New Zealand; he reached the east…

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…

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