Cruising Life

New Prestige 520, the French Builder’s Latest Addition to Its Stylish Flybridge Fleet

By Peter Janssen on October 16, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The brand-new, French-styled Prestige 520, designed for easy cruising or entertaining, is making its U.S. debut at the Lauderdale show. With three cabins (plus an optional captain’s quarters) and a top speed of 26 knots, the Prestige 520 has a new luxurious, light-filled interior, where large windows create a bright, soft atmosphere in the salon. Its aggressive raked windshield and sleek, low profile mark it as a full-fledged member of the Prestige lineup. In the salon, the galley is aft, per the current custom, then a super-sized U-shaped lounge and table are on the port side, with an L-shaped settee…

Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry Loses Power in Newport Harbor, Hits Boats. See Dramatic Video

By Peter Janssen on October 16, 2017 Cruising Life

The 200-foot-long SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, an educational tall ship, lost power in the Newport, Rhode Island, harbor and hit several boats before it ran aground. The ship, built to resemble wooden naval vessels of the early 1800s, has a steel hull and a 13-foot draft. It’s powered by two 385-hp Cat bio-diesels. Apparently some lines got tangled in the props in 30-knot winds, causing the captain to lose control of the vessel. The three-masted ship had just left a seafood festival at Bowen’s Wharf in Newport, with a crew of 12, when it lost power and started to drift.…

New Low-Profile, Beautiful Vicem 58 Classic To Debut at Lauderdale Show

By Peter Janssen on October 16, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Vicem, the Turkish builder that produces Downeast-style boats, is introducing a new 58 Classic at the Fort Lauderdale show. The new low-profile 58 is made with Vicem’s trademark cold-molded mahogany to provide a strong, smooth and quiet ride, and it has Vicem’s long, graceful sheerline and eye-catching tumblehome aft. The 58 is a larger and newer version of Vicem’s popular 52, but its 16’7” beam provides more elbow room and the 58 has enough room for what the company calls an Open Galley below, with a generous eight-feet of headroom and a large amount of entertaining space all around. The…

Hunt To Build New 54-mph, 40-Foot Center Console with Three Outboards and a Large Cabin

By Peter Janssen on October 15, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hunt Yachts, the legendary builder of blue-water, go-anywhere boats for more than half a century, just introduced a new, elegant 40-foot center console with a queen berth tucked into its cabin that is powered by three 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards. The new Hunt, with a 23-degree deadrise at the transom, combines two major trends: The move to larger and larger center consoles, incorporating more amenities to make them family-friendly, and the move to larger and larger outboard engines for fuel-efficient, quiet and reliable power. Hunt says the new 40 with standard power will top out at 54 mph; with three…

New Low-Cost, User-Friendly CrewWatcher MOB System from Weems & Plath

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2017 Cruising Life, Electronics

Weems & Plath just signed an agreement to make and distribute a revolutionary, low-cost and easy-to-use man-overboard system developed by PanPan and called the CrewWatcher. Peter Trogdon, the Weems & Plath president, just demonstrated it to me here at the Annapolis power boat show, and it seems like a no-brainer. The CrewWatcher system is an app-based MOB alarm using a smart phone or tablet with a small beacon that can easily fit in your pocket. It’s all automatic and requires no manual activation. When it’s dropped in the water, the device sounds a loud alarm and then on screen gives…

Navy Relieves Commander and Exec Officer of USS John S. McCain for “Preventable” Collision that Killed 10

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2017 Cruising Life

In a scathing report, the Navy has relieved the commander and the executive officer of the USS John S. McCain, a guided missile destroyer, for what it said was a “preventable” collision with a tanker off Singapore on Aug. 21 that killed 10 sailors. “It is evident this collision was preventable, the commanding officer exercised poor judgment, and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship’s training program,” the Navy’s report said. In an earlier collision, seven sailors were killed in June when another destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, also collided with a civilian tanker off the coast of Japan. In Washington,…

After Trading Up to a Ranger Tugs 29, the Favors Take a First Cruise with Their Grandson

By Peter Janssen on October 10, 2017 Cruising Life

Jim and Lisa Favors just took delivery of their new Ranger Tugs 29, named Kismet, the same name as their old Ranger Tugs 27. The main reason the Favors (who’ve cruised all over the United States, including the Great Loop) moved up to the larger boat was that they wanted to spend time with their grandchildren on board. Well, that just happened. The first overnight guest on the new, larger Kismet was their grandson, Silas, who’s almost four. When the Favors first invited him to join them for a week-long cruise in South Puget Sound, Washington, Silas immediately replied, “When…

How To Pick Up a Mooring Buoy: Some Fresh Ideas in This Great Video

By Peter Janssen on October 10, 2017 Cruising Life

If you’ve never done it, picking up a mooring buoy seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world. All you need to do is head into the prevailing wind or current, slow to a crawl, and then have your handy mate on the bow lean over with the boathook and latch onto it. In the real world, however, a gust of wind can push the bow down, a sudden wave can push the buoy off to the side, the bow of your boat can be too high (or your mate’s arms are too short), whatever. Things can…

New Adler Hybrid Has Carbon-Fiber Hull, 3,500 nm Range, and iPad Controls

By Peter Janssen on October 10, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The all-new, carbon-fiber, aggressively-styled Adler Suprema Hybrid will make her U.S. debut at the Fort Lauderdale show, starting Nov. 1. The 76-foot yacht, designed by Nuvolari-Lenard, is powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system that includes carbon-fiber props, twin 100kW e-engines and twin Cat 1,150-hp diesels. It can run up to 8 knots under electric power, and it tops out at 28 knots under diesel. “It’s a unique yacht with a sophisticated design and a number of modern features usually found on much bigger boats, such as state-of-the-art hybrid propulsion, iPad controls, heated floors and a strong, lightweight and efficient hull…

Ten “Happiest” Seaside Towns in the U.S. Is Your Favorite on the List?

By Peter Janssen on October 9, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Well, there are lists, and there are lists. But this list should hit home with cruising boat owners, since it names the “Happiest Seaside Towns in America,” according to Coastal Living. They’re the happiest, the magazine says, because they “are sure to make you smile.” Having been to all of them over the years, I’ll certainly agree to that. Not to spoil the suspense, but here are few of my personal favorites among the top ten. At least they’ve made me happy: Camden, Maine. Coastal Living calls Camden “an advertisement for New England charm come to life.” Fair enough. And…

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