Cruising Life

For Some of the Best Fall Cruising, Head North, to Canada

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

Don’t even think about putting your boat away for the season. Now that summer’s over, there’s still lots of cruising time left, when the autumnal colors can be gorgeous, the crowds thin out, and you can have more time to wander and explore at your own pace. Indeed, in many parts of the U.S., fall can be the best boating season. And this may seem counter-intuitive, but to enjoy some of the best fall boating, you need to head north, all the way to Canada. Here’s a look at some of the best cruising destinations that country has to offer.…

Some of the World’s Best Beach Bars Are Back in Business in the BVI

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

First things first. Sure, we all know that cruising in the British Virgin Islands is one of the great pleasures available to mankind. The water’s gorgeous, the navigation’s easy, and you could spend night after night anchored off a different island or cove for a very long time. But let’s get to the serious stuff: The beach bars. At the end of the day (literally), the beach bars in the BVI (and many other places) offer a welcoming conclusion to hours spent on the water; they’re destinations in their own right, and they often can provide the more memorable moments…

New ARROW460-Granturismo: Built Like a Luxury Mercedes

By Peter Janssen on September 4, 2018 Cruising Life

The first time that the predecessor of Mercedes-Benz designed a boat was back in 1888, when Gottlieb Daimler built a launch for Otto von Bismarck, powered by Daimler’s new one-cylinder internal combustion engine. The engine burned benzene, and the boat was named Mercedes, after the daughter of one of Daimler’s investors. We all know what happened to Mercedes-Benz after that. Now the German luxury car maker has teamed up with Silver Arrows Marine in the south of France and Yanmar, the Japanese diesel manufacturer, to launch a totally new 46-foot boat called the ARROW460-Granturismo, designed (somewhat) after Mercedes’ Silver Arrows…

Record Number of Great White Sharks Swimming Off Cape Cod; Vacationing New York Doctor Survives Attack

By Peter Janssen on September 3, 2018 Cruising Life

Scientists say a record number of great white sharks have been swimming off Cape Cod this summer, and one attacked and severely injured a New York doctor who was swimming off Truro on vacation, the first attack on a human there in six years. Greg Skomal, a state marine biologist who’s been leading a five-year shark study, says his team spotted 149 great white sharks off Cape Cod just in July. That’s twice as many as they counted last year, according to the AP. The sharks also are moving closer to the beach. Skomal says this may be because his…

Help Wanted: Captain of Fire Island Ferry. Work Nights, Weekends, Must Be Good with Hand Tools, Drunks

By Peter Janssen on September 3, 2018 Cruising Life

The Fire Island Ferries are looking for new blood. The captains of the 26 ferries, which run from Bay Shore on Long Island across Great South Bay to the resort communities on Fire Island on the Atlantic, are aging out, and they’re having trouble finding replacements. “We’re finding very few millennials interested in doing this kind of work,” Luke Kaufman, operations manager for Fire Island Ferries, told The New York Times. “The iPhone is the new torque wrench. We’re trying our darnedest to find replacements, but they’re just not there.” The ferries are busiest during the summer, when they make…

Sleek and Luxurious New Hunton 55: Cruising in the Fast Lane

By Peter Janssen on September 2, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Going back to its racing and high-performance heritage, Hunton Yachts is building a new 55-foot luxury cruiser with twin MAN 1,0000-hp diesels and Arneson surface-piercing drives that is expected to top out at a swift 55 to 60 knots. That means you could cruise from say, Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, or New York to Nantucket, and leave after breakfast and arrive in time for lunch. And with the Hunton’s spectacular looks, you’ll be guaranteed to catch a lot of attention along the way. The new Hunton will be constructed using all epoxy composite and the vacuum bagged, resin-infusion…

New Silent 55 To Make Debut in Cannes. All-Solar Power Provides Unlimited Cruising Range

By Peter Janssen on September 1, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new totally solar-powered Silent 55 catamaran will be launched at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 11. Silent-Yachts, the cat’s Austrian builder, says it is the first production cruising catamaran powered exclusively by solar energy. The self-sufficient Silent 55 uses electric propulsion for unlimited range, with no carbon footprint, no noise and no fumes. It can cruise at 6 to 7 knots, all day and all night. The new Silent 55 is available in several power configurations. In the Cruiser version, it has two 30 kW motors; The E-Power version has two 250 kW motors, and the Hybrid Power…

Azimut 50 Hits Martha’s Vineyard Jetty at Night. Four People on Board Not Injured

By Peter Janssen on September 1, 2018 Cruising Life

The 50-foot Azimut motor yacht named Buffalo Soldier crashed into the Oak Bluffs north jetty Thursday night, crippling the vessel and leaking diesel fuel into the outer harbor. Oak Bluffs Fire Chief John Rose said the incident happened at about 10 pm and none of the four people aboard were injured. A wave heaved the boat into the jetty, he said. The diesel slick is minor, he said but has made the rocks of the jetty slippery and unsafe to walk on. Read more: http://www.mvtimes.com/2018/08/31/boat-crashes-oak-bluffs-jetty/

St. Michaels, Maryland: A Historic Gem on the Eastern Shore, with a Great Maritime Museum and the Crab Claw

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

The first time I went to St. Michaels, Maryland, a gem of a small (pop: 1,029), historic (dating to 1677), waterfront community on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, was about 35 years ago with my friend and colleague, the late Dan Fales. We were delivering a Bertram 46 from Norfolk, Virginia, to Norwalk, Connecticut, and stopped for the night. Actually, we stopped so we could have a crab dinner sitting on the porch of the Crab Claw, looking out over the Miles River and the flow of boats in and out of the harbor. Over the years I’ve gone…

Deep Sea Coral Reef Just Discovered 160 Miles Off Charleston, South Carolina

By Peter Janssen on August 28, 2018 Cruising Life

CNN – If you think Charleston, South Carolina, has plenty of history with its pre-Colonial grounds, just look at what’s been hiding 160 miles off the city’s coast for thousands of years: a giant deep-sea coral reef system. The chief scientist who helped make the discovery called it unbelievable. Little is known abut the natural resources of the deep ocean off the United States’ Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia, so Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems. The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of…

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