The brand-new, French-styled Jeanneau NC 33 will make its North American debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, opening on Nov. 1. The two-cabin, one-head, light-filled cruiser is powered by twin 220-hp Volvo diesel sterndrives, which make it both nimble and quick. The NC 33 already has been nominated for the European Powerboat of the Year 2018 award. The boat is designed for easy and comfortable cruising. The interior is bright and open, with large side and front windows and a glass door that slides all the way open between the salon and cockpit. A large sunroof lets in…
Browsing: Cruising Life
Le Boat, the European charter company with 16 bases in eight different countries, is opening its first operation in North America, centered on the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Rideau winds 125 miles through beautiful Canadian countryside with unspoiled lakes and picturesque towns from Kingston, on Lake Ontario, up to Ottawa, the capital of Canada (pictured above). With a series of 47 locks, the Rideau is the oldest operating canal in North America; it was considered an engineering feat when it opened in 1832. Le Boat offers only boats that you drive yourself. It…
The Coast Guard just awarded Furuno USA a five-year, $10-million contract to supply the company’s Doppler Speed Logs on more than 200 ships, ranging from 87-foot patrol boats to 418-foot cutters (the largest vessels in the Coast Guard fleet). The DS60 Speed Log is a precision 3-axis Doppler Sonar that provides real-time information for berthing and docking. It has a bright 8.4” color display with three modes: 3-axis speed, berthing, and detailed nav data, that show in both graphic and alphanumeric formats. The unit has the unique capability to measure the dead-slow speed that is vital for precise docking. It…
The storms that ravaged the Caribbean and the Florida Keys in September did not treat all areas the same. Some islands were almost totally destroyed (Barbuda, for example), while others (neighboring Antigua) were relatively spared. On the Florida Keys, Key West itself suffered flooding, while farther north, around Islamorada, damage was more widespread and severe. Here are two solid stories from The New York Times that give an update on conditions in the Caribbean and in the Keys today. In the Caribbean, The Times reports island by island (see the first link, below). In the Keys (see the second link), The…
Knot Wafflen’, the 40-foot Aspen Power Catamaran that’s on a 10,000-mile tour of the United States, just reached Los Angeles, having cruised down the West Coast from Anacortes, Washington. After he tied up in Marina del Rey, David Jenkins, the boat’s owner and an entrepreneur from Annapolis, said simply that “the boat is amazing.” Jenkins and his brother-in-law, Blake Elder, a professional delivery captain from North Carolina, cruised the boat 1,230 nm down the Pacific Coast, taking 16 days from Anacortes to L.A. (Jenkins is left in the picture above; Elder on the right.) They stopped each night, spending an…
Walker Bay is introducing a new lightweight 11-foot RIB, the Generation LTE 11, at the Fort Lauderdale show. Designed as a tender or small sport boat, the LTE 11 is small and light enough to be lifted by davits and fit easily on a swim platform. The new RIB “is designed for customers who want all the luxurious style and performance of a Generation but can only accommodate a lighter tender,” says Michael Carroll, director of sales and marketing for Walker Bay. The LTE’s light weight and hull design mean it only needs a 20-hp outboard to get on plane.…
Jason and Christie Assink were just out for a fall boat ride in Lake Michigan off South Haven, Michigan, south of Holland, when they saw flames and smoke billowing up from a boat fire about a mile offshore. In their day jobs, they’re both first responders. They’re also responsible boaters. They immediately called the Coast Guard and headed over to the burning boat to help. When the Assinks got there, they saw a couple in the water. The couple had jumped off their boat in such a hurry that they didn’t have life jackets or any floatation devices; they were…
Where can you find the most beautiful water in the world? Here’s a list of the 13 spots with the best blue water, according to Travel + Leisure, ranging from the ones you’d expect (the Maldives) to places you’ve probably not yet considered (Con Son, an island 110 miles off the coast of Vietnam). Ambergris Caye in Belize, a diver’s paradise for many years, is on the list for good reason (see the picture, above). The waters there teem with sharks and stingrays, as well as more peaceful eels, turtles and colorful fish. And many cruisers or charterers already know…
Four young Irishmen, three doctors from Cork and a successful entrepreneur from Dublin, are training to row across the Atlantic in a 28-foot boat on Dec. 12. They hope to beat the record of 35 days from La Gomera, in the Canary Islands, to Antigua, in the Caribbean, although they say it make take them 60 or so. The doctors are Sean Underwood, Patrick O’Connor and Eoin O’Farrell, and they got the idea for their Atlantic adventure to raise money for the children’s unit at Cork University Hospital, where they work. Thomas Brown, who met them through mutual friends, had…
The Coast Guard is warning about a new scam that promises to make it easier for you to document your vessel, but in reality can cost a lot of money and result in paperwork that is not in compliance with Federal regulations. The problem stems from private websites that look like an official government site and that promise to renew your documentation for a fee – often much more than the Coast Guard’s renewal fee of $26. The Coast Guard says its National Documentation Center in Falling Waters, W.VA, is the only authorized entity to issue certificates of documentation. Coast…