Cruising Life

New Montauks to Celebrate Boston Whaler’s 60th Anniversary. And You Can Still Cut Them in Half

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2017 Cruising Life

If ever there was an American boating classic, it was the Boston Whaler Montauk. Now, to celebrate Whaler’s 60th anniversary, the company is making special editions of its iconic 150 and 170 Montauk. At a recent anniversary celebration in Sarasota, Florida, they even took out a chainsaw and cut one in half. In the best Whaler tradition, both halves stayed afloat. The new anniversary models have a precision-engineered hull, and can be used as yacht tenders or fishing and sport boats in their own right. Anglers can customize the boats with an optional fishing package that adds a compass, a…

Irma Causes Massive Boat Damage in Caribbean, Now Heading for Bahamas and Florida

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2017 Cruising Life

The before and after picture above, showing Paraquita Bay in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, where many charter companies tried to secure their boats, says it all. The damage, where Hurricane Irma hit directly, is catastrophic. The hurricane, the strongest Atlantic storm ever, is now moving toward the low-lying Turks & Caicos at 17 mph with sustained 180-mph winds; NOAA predicts it will then head for the Bahamas and south Florida. By the time it hits Florida its path will be 120 miles – covering the entire width of the state, plus some. Irma originally made landfall on the tiny…

Marblehead, Mass: A Boating Haven with a Rich History

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

One of the most historic boating communities in the United States, Marblehead, Mass., dates to 1629 when the first European settler decided to call it home, although a Pilgrim from the Mayflower had arrived three years earlier and started fishing across the way. With its harbor protected by a deep peninsula, Marblehead was soon a thriving fishing village in its own right, and the locals were so successful that it was said that the streets smelled of cod. By the time of the Revolution, Marblehead was one of the most thriving towns in the colonies, largely because its privateers brought…

How Not To Look Like an Idiot on Your First Charter – Or Any Other Time

By Peter Janssen on September 4, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

Here’s some great advice from the people at The Moorings, who have some experience in these matters, about how not to look like a total idiot on your first charter. And although these tips are meant for the bareboat charter trade, they apply just as well to boating in general. Here’s how some rookies distinguish themselves: -They leave the dinghy dock – in the wrong dinghy. -They let their kids play with the VHF. -They race into a crowded anchorage to pick up the last mooring ball. -They either leave their “bumpers” hanging over the side or they lose them…

New Hinckley Picnic Boat 37 MK111: Bigger, Better, Faster. See It at the Newport Show

By Peter Janssen on September 4, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The newest iteration of the iconic Picnic Boat, the new Hinckley 37 MK111 is larger, faster and more comfortable than ever before. The new 37 has all the gorgeous lines of the original, but it now offers a cruise speed of 32 knots and, powered by twin 370-hp Yanmar diesels and Hamilton jet drives, it tops out at 35 knots. Hinckley launched its first Picnic Boat, Dasher, in its yard in Southwest Harbor, Maine, in 1994. It was 36 feet long, driven by a single diesel and it had water jet drives, so that you wouldn’t snag a prop 0n…

Now! Flush Your Head from Your Smartphone. Hmmmm

By Peter Janssen on September 4, 2017 Cruising Life, Gear

Here’s something you might not have thought of before. Now, thanks to Raritan, you can flush your head using your smartphone or tablet. And the new app making all this possible is up for an innovation award at the International Boatbuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in Tampa later this month. Raritan’s new Bluetooth Flush Control manages a toilet from up to 50 feet away using a wireless panel or free Android or Apple app. For builders and refitters, the problem is that traditional toilet control panels are often wired through parts of the boat with limited space; they’re hard to…

Fire-Fighting Seaplane Hits Tourist Boat in France. See Video

By Peter Janssen on September 3, 2017 Cruising Life

An amphibious plane that had just scooped up water from the Rhone River in France to fight a forest fire hit a tourist boat as it was taking off while passengers filmed the entire accident. The plane’s left wing clipped the boat’s mast as horrified passengers looked on. Incredibly, no one was injured and the plane managed to take off and limp to a military base nearby. The French government suspended the pilot and co-pilot. The video shows two of the fire-fighting planes, called SuperScoopers, starting to take off. The planes are Canadair CL-415 water bombers chartered by the government…

Digital Switching Is Moving Down to Regular Cruising Boats

By Peter Janssen on August 30, 2017 Cruising Life, Electronics

Digital switching started out on megayachts, and then moved down to some large cruising boats. I first encountered it while cruising on Dirigo, hull number one of the flagship Sabre 66, about 18 months ago; the crew was managing the fuel flow from an iPad in the salon. The system then was so new that the crew called it Hal, after the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now it’s being used on smaller boats. Basically, digital switching is a network control system that replaces conventional circuit breakers and switches with a digital power system working on an NMEA 2000…

The Prestons: Cruising Up the Bay of Fundy, Not Giving in to Parkinson’s

By Peter Janssen on August 30, 2017 Cruising Life

Bob and Becky Preston are now cruising off Roque Island, all the way up the coast of Maine, just short of Campobello Island and the Canadian border. So far, they’ve cruised 542 nm this summer on their Sabre 48, Family Ties 3, and they’re still going strong. The Prestons are certainly dedicated cruisers. But what makes their cruising remarkable is that Bob has had Parkinson’s Disease for the past ten years; he just had serious surgery this spring. And he’s still cruising. Actually, Preston has been boating since he was six months old and his father took him out on…

Hampton Endurance 658: A Serious, Spacious, Long-Range Couple’s Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on August 30, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

A high-quality, unusually spacious, long-range cruising boat, the Hampton Endurance 658 is designed to be run by a couple, and it’s designed with redundant systems throughout to keep them safe at sea. And if they want to cruise with a large family, or entertain a crowd back in port, there’s plenty of room for that too. Walking through the Hampton Endurance 658, as my colleague George Day and I did in Newport, RI, this summer, is a treat, because the boat offers a lot of surprises. It is essentially a three-stateroom, two-head cruiser, but it also has a crew cabin,…

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