Cruising Life

Dream Yacht Charters Adds Fountaine Pajot 37 Power Cats to Its Fleets

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

Power charter opportunities are growing. Indeed, Dream Yacht Charters is adding 37-foot Fountaine Pajot power catamarans to its fleets in the BVI, Puerto Rico, La Paz and the Bahamas for the winter charter season. The boats are available bareboat or with a captain. The Fountaine Pajot 37 power cats open up a lot more ground for a charter vacation, since they can top out at 22 knots. You can go more places, explore new cruising grounds, or simply do more island hopping in your favorite spots. The boats have three cabins and two heads and are suitable for up to…

Maryland Family Buys New Prestige 560, Starts Cruise to Boston

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2017 Cruising Life

This trip was a long time coming, but the Rubin family from Pikesville, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, are on their way up to Boston on their brand-new Prestige 560 Fly, and they’re writing about it. The family, including two teenagers, started planning the trip more than six months ago, and they finally left Baltimore at the end of July. They had bought the Prestige only two and a half weeks before their departure. For their three-week vacation, they’re planning to stop in Atlantic City for the poker, New York for Broadway, Provincetown for family, and Nantucket for biking. On their…

Volvo Breaks 1,000-hp Barrier with New 13-Litre Engine

By Peter Janssen on August 3, 2017 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Volvo Penta just introduced a new 1,000 hp-engine, its largest ever, at the boat show in Sydney, Australia. The company says the new 13-litre diesel has both higher performance and a longer life than any of its previous engines. The new inboard, and its equivalent from Volvo’s IPS range, the D13-IPS1350, have been designed for use in yachts up to 120 feet, although the IPS version was tested in a 68-footer. “This is hugely exciting for us to create our most powerful engine yet,” said Johan Wasterang, VP for product management at Volvo Penta. “It’s truly a landmark product for…

Helmsman Trawlers Bring New 38-foot Cruiser to the Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Helmsman Trawlers, single-engine cruisers built in China and popular on the West Coast, now have a demo boat for sale in the Chesapeake area. The new Helmsman Trawlers 38E will be at Bay Bridge Marina on Kent Island, across the bay from Annapolis; it will be displayed at the Annapolis power show in October. Built in Fuzhou, China, Helmsman are designed for owners who want a quality cruising boat but don’t want to overpay for one. They are sold factory direct, to reduce costs to consumers. The Helmsman line runs from 31 to 43 feet. The 38E has a unique…

144-Year-Old Chesapeake Lighthouse For Sale: $15,000, As Is

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Cruising Life

It’s hard to beat this for waterfront property, but it does need a bit of TLC. The 144-year-old Craighill Channel Lower Range lighthouse, marking the Craighill Channel from the Chesapeake up the Patapsco River into Baltimore, is for sale for only $15,000, so you probably would have some money left over for remodeling. The lighthouse has been empty since 1964, when the keeper and his assistant moved out after the light was automated. Some of the interior is open to the elements; birds live there now. The good news is that the keeper’s quarters rise one and a half stories…

A Repeat Winner for the Beverly, Mass., 22nd Annual Lobster Boat Races

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Cruising Life

For the second year in a row, Mike Malewicki proved he was the fastest lobster boat captain in Beverly, Mass., last weekend. In fact, Malewicki, driving Janie M, his 37-year-old wooden lobster boat, won two of the six races there to keep his crown. Janie M is powered by a 300-hp John Deere diesel. Therese Sauvageau, the captain of Sea Anchor, who has competed every year in the race’s 22-year-history, was happy, because she actually beat Janie M by half a boat length in one heat. “I usually come in second or third,” she said. After the races, some of the captains…

Rosario Resort and Marina: A Restored Jewel in the San Juans

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

A few years ago, at the end of a charter vacation in the San Juan Islands, my youngest daughter, Liz, and I put in to Rosario Resort Marina. It’s on a small protected bay off East Sound, which almost cuts the fairly large Orcas Island in half. We were on a Grand Banks 36 from NW Explorations in Bellingham, Washington, and had already been cruising up in South Pender Island and then Roche Harbor. Rosario was going to be an easy, last night stop on our way back to Bellingham. It was all that and more. East Sound is long,…

Reliant’s Latest: A Super-Modern Megayacht Tender that’s also a Proper Yacht

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2017 Cruising Life

Reliant Yachts started a year ago with a traditional Downeast boat. The Reliant Commuter 40 had it all: A gorgeous tumblehome, wide teak decks, low profile and long sheer line. Then Reliant, the brainchild of industry veterans David MacFarlane and Jim Ewing, built a carbon-fiber, 40-knot Reliant X40, a super-modern design that would be more at home in the French Riviera than in Maine. Now they’re expanding on that X platform, with what they call a limousine tender that will be completed early next year. There’s no doubt that MacFarlane and Ewing know what they’re doing. MacFarlane is the former…

Scientists Puzzled by Record Number of Whale Deaths in Gulf of St. Lawrence

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2017 Cruising Life

So far, this has been a bad summer for whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Indeed, scientists say nine North Atlantic right whales have died there in the past two months, making this the deadliest year for the endangered mammal since the 1980s. “This is catastrophic,” Tonya Wimmer, director of the Marine Animal Response Society in Halifax, told Reuters. Only 500 North Atlantic right whales remain in the world, and more have been sighted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, above Nova Scotia and between Newfoundland and New Brunswick, than ever before. Scientists speculate this may be because their…

Great Abacos Charter Story and Pictures from One Epic Adventure

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

Here’s a great story by the people at One Epic Adventure about chartering in the Abacos, one of the best cruising grounds around. To my mind, you won’t go wrong chartering anywhere in the Bahamas, but the Abacos are particularly appealing. The passages are short, navigation is usually line-of-sight, and there are lots of picturesque little towns, gorgeous white beaches, great snorkeling and crystal-clear, light blue-green water. You do need to watch your depth, as those beautiful waters are often shallow, and many of the cays in the Bahamas are protected by barrier reefs. In this story, the One Epic…

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