Cruising Life

Drug Smugglers Now Using Low, Fast, Camouflaged Boats, but Are Still Getting Caught

By Peter Janssen on February 13, 2018 Cruising Life

Drug smugglers, it seems, are getting smarter. Well, if not smarter, at least faster. In an effort to thwart increased Coast Guard interdictions of suspected smuggling boats in the Pacific, the cartels are now running drugs in low, fast, camouflaged boats that are hard to pick up on radar, or to catch at sea. Still, a recent joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard resulted in 23 separate interdictions off Central and South America, capturing 47,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $721 million. The U.S. Coast Guard recently released videos and photos…

Avon Launches New All-Electric RIB with Luxurious Touches and a 26-knot Top End

By Peter Janssen on February 13, 2018 Cruising Life

Avon has a great idea for its new RIB: It’s all-electric, powered by an 80-hp Torqueedo Deep Blue Electric Motor paired to jet drives on an all-new hull. For cruisers who might want to use the new 14’ 8” RIB as a dink, this they won’t have to worry about fuel or oil – or making any noise in the harbor, for that matter. The new Avon e-JET has a 32 kWh BMW battery, the same one used in BMW’s i3 Cars. It gives the e-JET up to 90 minutes of running time at a top speed of 26 knots…

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Even After Cruising Thousands of Miles, The Naeves on Their Nordhavn 50 Face Some Challenges

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2018 Cruising Life

In the fall of 2014, Clayton and Deanna Naeve moved aboard their 1999 Nordhavn 50, Tivoli. Originally from South Dakota, Naeve was starting his retirement. They sold their house, put their remaining things in storage, and began a new life afloat. The Naeves had owned three sailboats before, but Tivoli, powered by a 250-hp Lugger, was their first powerboat, and they headed south, to Florida. They basically have been cruising ever since. Last year, for example, they cruised to Bermuda to watch the America’s Cup, then up to Nova Scotia and Bras D’Or Lake, and even farther north to Newfoundland to…

The Jailed “Codfather” of the New Bedford Fishing Fleet: Pirate or Robin Hood?

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2018 Cruising Life

Carlos Rafael seemed like an all-American success story. A Portuguese immigrant, he started out cutting fish on the dock in New Bedford, Mass., one of the most important fishing towns in the world ever since the days of Moby Dick. Over the years, Rafael, now 65, put together one of the largest commercial fishing fleets in the U.S., with almost two dozen boats, controlling almost a quarter of New England’s landings of groundfish and scallops. But now he’s in jail, having pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion, smuggling cash and falsifying his records. And the boats in his fleet, which…

Greenline Now Takes Bitcoin, a Currency that’s Worth Half What It Was in December

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life

Greenline, the innovative Slovakian builder now on its third generation of hybrid drives, is also setting a new standard in accepting payment for its boats. In fact, Greenline became the first builder to take bitcoins, starting with the Düsseldorf show in late January, and it says it also will take bitcoins at the Miami show this week. The problem is that the value of bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, fluctuates widely and is now worth just half of what it was in mid-December. Bitcoin reached its peak value in mid-December when it passed $19,850. It then plunged to under $12,000…

New Bavaria 40 Sedan: Honored in Europe, Now in the U.S. with Creative Interior Design

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

Named the European Power Boat of the Year in 2017 for its freshly designed salon and use of space, the innovative Bavaria 40 Sedan will be on display at the Miami International Boat Show. With two or three cabins, and two heads, the Bavaria 40 features a new layout where the helm is situated a bit farther aft than usual, so that the captain is part of the social interaction in the salon. The boat has large windows all around; the view from the helm is excellent. What’s also a bit different is that the engine room, with a 300-hp…

Meet the Greenland Shark: Slow, Ugly and Possibly 500 Years Old

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life

The Greenland shark, which can grow to 18 feet, is slow, with stunted pectoral fins, and looks somewhat dim-witted, with a blunt snout and a gaping mouth. It has atrocious eating habits, ranging from fresh halibut (that’s the good news) to rotting polar bear carcasses. They can be found throughout the North Atlantic, but particularly in cold and dark Arctic waters. And they live forever. Well, not forever, but at least 400 years, and perhaps longer. Scientists speculate that some of the larger ones alive today could have been born before Columbus. There is no question that they are the…

On the Banks of Albemarle Sound, A Charming Edenton, NC, Celebrates Its 350th Anniversary

By Peter Janssen on February 11, 2018 Cruising Life, Destinations

A charming little town (population: 5,000) on the north shore of Albemarle Sound, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway (and the Great Dismal Swamp Canal), Edenton, North Carolina, is often overlooked by cruisers heading north or south. That’s a shame. Edenton is picturesque with a lovely waterfront area and gracious Georgian homes dating back centuries. Forbes.com once called Edenton “one of America’s prettiest towns.” And this year Edenton is celebrating its 350th anniversary, with a year-long series of festivals and special events. Edenton actually traces its history back to 1658, when explorers from the Jamestown Colony found its natural harbor.…

Two Fisherman Missing 40 Miles Off Jersey Shore After Boat Starts To Take on Water

By Peter Janssen on February 9, 2018 Cruising Life

The Atlantic Ocean off the Jersey shore can be a dangerous place, particularly in February. Now, a 46-foot wooden commercial fishing boat with two men on board is missing 40 miles offshore and their families are giving up hope. The boat, Queen Ann’s Revenge, left Point Pleasant late Monday night with Paul Matos, 30, of Bayville, and Dennis Smalling, his crew, to fish offshore for fluke and porgies. At 2:36 p.m. on Wednesday, Matos sent a message to his family, “I’m hauling back my gear now and heading home – it’s starting to get nasty,” according to NJ Advance Media.…

Aging Coast Guard Icebreaker Suffers Engine Failure, Flooding, in the Antarctic

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2018 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the only heavy icebreaker in America’s fleet, suffered an engine failure and flooding in a recent mission in the Antarctic. The crew was able to shut down the engine that failed and separately solve the flooding, but the two incidents point out the mechanical problems involved in maintaining the 399-foot-long ship that was commissioned in 1976. The Polar Star’s mission was to deliver fuel and supplies to National Science Foundation research stations in the Antarctic, involving cutting a path through ice in the Ross Sea that was up to 10-feet thick. The crew had…

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