Cruising Life

Saudi Crown Prince Sees Superyacht in French Harbor and Buys It for $500 Million that Afternoon

By Peter Janssen on November 8, 2017 Cruising Life

We usually don’t write about superyachts (we generally try to keep in the 25 to 75-foot owner-operator range), but in this case, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been reading news items about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, 32, who’s trying to reform the government there, letting women drive, for example, and arresting other members of the royal family for corruption while cutting spending in an austerity program. Several stories mentioned that two years ago, while on vacation in the south of France, the prince saw a large yacht in the harbor and was so enamored of it he…

Worried About Docking? Protect Your Boat Like Royalty

By Peter Janssen on November 8, 2017 Cruising Life, Gear

Worried about hitting the dock when you’re coming back to your slip? Well, who isn’t. But here’s something new to protect your boat, in addition to all the fenders that you’ve already hung over the side. It’s called ParmaFender, and it’s actually an air-filled series of chambers that act as fenders along the side of the dock, so you won’t have to worry about scratching your hull the next time you come home. ParmaFender also offers another benefit, as you can see in the picture above. King Harald and Queen Sonya of Norway don’t have to worry about stepping over…

What’s Open in the BVI? A First-Hand Status Report

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

We all know that the British Virgin Islands were hit hard – twice – by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, causing widespread damage and destroying many yachts in the charter fleets there. Still, the BVI remains the BVI, one of the best and most widely recognized charter and cruising destinations on the planet. The gorgeous water, the easily navigated cruising grounds, the dive spots – the basic geography – are the same today as they were before the storms. But what can you expect now if you want to go there? Here’s a report from the people at Dream Yacht Charter…

Harvey and Irma Hit 63,500 Boats, Almost an All-Time High, Says BoatUS

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2017 Cruising Life

Now it’s time to put some numbers on the damage caused by this season’s two hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, and they aren’t good. In fact, BoatUS says that 63,500 recreational boats, worth $655 million, were damaged or destroyed by the two storms. That dollar amount includes damage just to boats themselves; it doesn’t count damage to marinas, waterfront property or anything else. By comparison, five years ago Hurricane Sandy caused the largest loss ever, with 65,000 boats destroyed or damaged. This hurricane season Irma hit 50,000 recreational boats, causing $500 million in damage, while Harvey hit 13,500 boats and caused…

Kadey-Krogen Starts New Company To Build 26-Knot Contemporary Motoryachts

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2017 Cruising Life

Now here’s news: Kadey-Krogen, which just celebrated its 40-year history of building full-displacement, blue-water trawlers with a blowout owners’ rendezvous in Newport, Rhode Island, announced that it will start a new company making contemporary 26-knot boats called SUMMIT, designed by performance superstar Michael Peters from Sarasota, Florida. The SUMMIT line, starting with a flybridge 54, will all have planing hulls, per Peters’ history and Kadey-Krogen’s desire to go beyond its full-displacement heritage. Kadey-Krogen, which has built more than 600 full-displacement boats over the past 40 years, will continue all its operation in that segment. To emphasize its commitment to the…

Kidde Recalls 40 Million Fire Extinguishers. Here’s What To Do

By Peter Janssen on November 6, 2017 Cruising Life, Gear

Kidde is recalling more than 40 million fire extinguishers with plastic handles, including some that were sold 44 years ago. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the extinguishers can become clogged and can even fail to operate in an emergency. So far, there has been one death reported due to a Kidde extinguisher that failed in a car fire, plus 16 injuries, 91 reports of property damage and 391 reports of the extinguishers either not working at all or not working properly. The recall affects 134 models made from as far back as 1973 and as recently as this past…

Are the Russians Spoofing Ships’ GPS Systems To Take Them Off Course?

By Peter Janssen on November 6, 2017 Cruising Life

What would make a 37,500-ton oil tanker disappear off its GPS screen and then reappear, more than 20 miles inland, sitting in the middle of an airport near the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the eastern end of the Black Sea? Or make 20 other large ships have the same problem in the past year? Experts say the answer is “spoofing,” or the result of someone interfering with the GPS system, and they say that Russia is probably behind it. Here, a great story from CNN shows how spoofing can overpower a GPS with a stream of false data. “It’s…

Burger To Build New 48-foot Aluminum Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on November 6, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s something new, from one of the oldest boat companies in the U.S. The Burger Boat Company just announced that they’re going to build a 48-foot aluminum cruiser, developed with Vripack Naval Architects in the Netherlands. Burger, started in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, during the Civil War, traditionally builds larger yachts, but Jim Ruffolo, the company president, says that the Burger 48 Cruiser “makes owning a Burger available to many who have always aspired to take the helm of their own custom yacht.” The new 48 is basically a sedan cruiser with a low profile, clean lines and large windows and glass…

Navy Report: Failures in Basic Seamanship Led to Collisions of Two U.S. Destroyers with Merchant Ships, Killing 17

By Peter Janssen on November 6, 2017 Cruising Life

The Navy has issued its reports about the collisions of two destroyers, the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald with merchant ships that killed 17 sailors, and they’re devastating. The collisions, as reported here by the U.S. Naval Institute News, were caused by failures in basic seamanship and the crews’ inability to operate their ships properly. “Both of these accidents were preventable and the respective investigations found multiple failures by watch-standers that contributed to the incidents,” said Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations. The USNI News story is complete with charts, illustrations and timelines about both collisions. In the…

Garmin Introduces New ActiveCaptain App, Very Cool Diver’s Watch, and Much More

By Peter Janssen on October 31, 2017 Cruising Life, Electronics

Just before the big Lauderdale show, Garmin announced several new products, including new 7- and 9-inch touchscreens with updated mapping and sonar features; new fishfinders, and the first ActiveCaptain Mobile app and the first diver’s watch with a computer and GPS (see the picture above). For cruising boat owners, the ActiveCaptain app might have the most appeal, since it could lead to being connected all the time on the water. It gives you the ability to access the ActiveCaptain community, and to create, save and transfer routes and waypoints between the app and your device. You also can use it…

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