Cruising Life

Where to Find the Five Best Caribbean Cocktails: Is Your Favorite on the List?

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

What’s a charter or a cruise in the Virgin Islands without a an island cocktail? It’s probably safe to say that almost everyone who spends time down there has his or her own favorite drink, and favorite spot to enjoy that drink. (Of course, you could always get the recipe and mix these up on your own boat, but joining the local color on shore is at least half the fun.) Here’s a list of their five favorites from the people at Denison, ranging from the ever-popular Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke to the iconic Pina…

Beneteau Launches New Swift Trawler 35, an Upgrade of a Cruising Favorite

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Beneteau is updating its popular Swift Trawler 34 this fall with a new Swift Trawler 35 after an eight-year run. The new 35 has all the features of the 34, plus upgrades inside and out, the most obvious being new twin transom doors that open out to create a massive open space from the swim platform through the cockpit into the salon. I have a very warm spot in my heart for the Beneteau Swift Trawler 34. Five years ago, I spent more than a week on one with George Sass Sr., the photographer, as we cruised 700 miles of…

Charter Cat Burns and Sinks in Cape Cod Harbor; One Crew Badly Burned

By Peter Janssen on July 12, 2017 Cruising Life

The Best Revenge 5, a luxurious 60-foot Alliaura catamaran built in 2003, caught fire and sank in Falmouth Harbor on Cape Cod early this week. One of the two crew members on board was burned badly and flown to a hospital in Boston. The boat serves charter clients in New England in the summer and in the Caribbean in the winter. The fire broke out at 1:43 a.m. at MacDougall’s Marine Service marina in Falmouth. When fire crews from several upper Cape Cod communities arrived, the Best Revenge 5 was totally involved, but they were able to keep the fire…

Best New Radars: New Technology, Sharper Images, Shorter Ranges, Easier Tracking

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

Choosing the right radar for your boat certainly isn’t easy, and a lot of people already have their own ideas about which brand is best, or the most user-friendly, or technologically advanced, or is most compatible with their other electronics. Meanwhile, almost all the major manufacturers keep coming up with their own technologies to produce sharper images, better tracking of nearby vessels and overall improvements in situational awareness and safety. Here’s a look at eight new radars from Furuno, Garmin, Koden, Lowrance, Onwa, Raymarine, SI-TEX and Simrad, from the editors of Marine Electronics Journal. They asked each manufacturer to supply…

Origins of Nautical Terms: Where Did Hunky-Dory Come From?

By Peter Janssen on July 12, 2017 Cruising Life

I hope we all know what “going overboard” means; ditto, “high and dry” – both fairly self-explanatory nautical terms that are now part of our everyday language. Their nautical origins are obvious. But “hunky-dory.” Not quite so obvious, at least not to me. I will admit that I learned the origination of “posh” many years ago in a Stanford course on the history of the British Empire (port out, starboard home, referring to the preferred cabins, overlooking the continent, on the way to India). But here’s a fun look at other nautical terms that we use without thinking of what…

The Care and Feeding (and UItimate Replacement) of Teak Decks: Advice from a Pro

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Cruising Life, Maintenance

There’s nothing quite as elegant, or as salty, as a teak deck. Whether on a brand new yacht or an ancient trawler, teak decks are a statement. You can look at them, and walk on them, with pride. Until…The problem is that teak decks do not just take care of themselves. (I know; I used to have a Grand Banks with enough teak to duplicate a Malaysian rain forest.) The normal care and feeding of teak, the slight sanding, the varnishing, the repeat sanding, the repeat varnishing, is well known. But there does come a time in the life of…

55-Foot Custom Sport Fishing Boat Sinks in Tournament off Charleston. Ten on Board All Safe

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Cruising Life

A 55-foot custom Paul Mann cold-molded-wood sport fishing boat sank off Charleston, S.C., on Saturday during the MegaDock fishing tournament, but all ten people on board were rescued by a passing boat before the Coast Guard arrived. The boat, Sportsmann from Kiawah Island, apparently hit something in the water. Charleston marine authorities said the boat had already taken on too much water before they arrived for them to save it. Saturday was the last day in the MegaDock three-day tournament. About 20 boats had entered, including Sportsmann. The tournament’s website says it is designed “to show off the latest trends…

Greenline 33 Charter on Portugal’s Douro River, a UNESCO Heritage Site, with Great Video of a 100-foot Deep Lock

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

If you’re looking for a different kind of charter, take a look at the Douro River in Portugal. Ellen and John Goncalves, a cruising couple from Valparaiso, Florida (where they’re Harbor Hosts for the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association), recently cruised the Douro on a Greenline 33 for 260 miles and loved it. They cruised the length of the river from Porto, on the Atlantic, to Spain and back, running ten days through ten locks (five each way), including the Carrapatelo Lock, one of the deepest in the world, with more than a 100-foot vertical drop (see the video below).…

Rare, Close-up Pictures of 20 Humpback Whales in Alaska

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Cruising Life

Here’s a rare treat – some great, close-up pictures of about 20 humpback whales near Hoonah, Alaska, which is west of Juneau and south of Glacier Bay. They were taken by Laura Domela, whose day job is a photographer in Portland, Oregon, but who also cruises on Airship, a Nordic Tug 34, that she runs with her husband, Kevin Morris. They lead the annual Slowboat flotilla from the San Juans up to Sitka. To my mind, much of the appeal of cruising in that part of the world is the random, sudden encounter with whales – and eagles and bears,…

Sunreef Launches Supreme 68 Power Cat With Lots of Light and Space

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef will introduce its new, massive Supreme 68 power catamaran at the Cannes yacht show in September, the newest model in the Supreme line that runs from 48 to 88 feet. The amount of attractive, modern, bright living space on the new Sunreef Supreme 68 is simply stunning: Indeed, the company says the new cat has 3,250 square feet of living space, more than many upscale New York City apartments. You enter the boat from two wide staircases leading up from the swim platform, and walk into the salon through large glass doors. Filled with light, the salon has sole-to-ceiling…

Browsing: Cruising Life