Cruising Life

40 Great Nautical Christmas Gifts for Cruising Boat Owners

By Peter Janssen on December 7, 2017 Cruising Life

What to get for that favorite boat owner on your Christmas list? The good news is that boats, and boat owners, almost always need something. The problem, as holidays and birthdays come and go, is to find something new – something they’ll not only like but also use. Here are 40 answers to that question, and if you don’t find some ideas here, well…The list is compiled by Yachting World, the British publication, and it’s labeled as gifts for sailors, but almost all of the 40 apply to powerboat owners too. It’s hard to pick favorites (there are so many…

Let’s Hear It for Beards in the Coast Guard

By Peter Janssen on December 6, 2017 Cruising Life

You may not have been aware of this, but beards have been banned in the Coast Guard ever since 1986, when Admiral Paul Yost said the Coast Guard should “meet the same standards of smartness” as the other military branches. (The Navy had banned beards the year before.) But that was then and this is now, and Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Joshua Wine writes in the U.S. Naval Institute Blog that the ban has outlived its usefulness. The Coast Guard, he says, should revert to its policy permitting beards, a policy that started in 1790. Lt. Cmdr. Wine looks at…

The Onboard Life of an Ohio River Tugboat Captain, in a Photo Essay from Reuters

By Peter Janssen on December 6, 2017 Cruising Life

Here’s a beautiful photo essay from Reuters about the life of a tugboat captain on the Ohio River, as well as about all the changes taking place in communities along the river itself. It’s about Joe Gray, the captain of the 126-foot-long tug Tommy H, who grew up along the Ohio River and started working as a towboat deckhand alongside his brothers in 1988, when times were good. Gray is now 46 and works 28-day stints on the river between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cairo, Illinois. He earns $45 an hour, and often has to maneuver his tug and barges, which…

Read This Before You Buy a Used Boat

By Peter Janssen on December 6, 2017 Cruising Life

More than 63,000 boats were damaged in the hurricanes and storms earlier this year. Some sank, some have been repaired, and some – nobody knows exactly how many – are showing up in the used boat market. It’s never been more important for you to get a professional survey before you make a commitment on a used boat. But to help you evaluate a used boat yourself, BoatUS has come up with eight telltale signs that the boat you’re looking at may have been damaged. They range from looking at new sealant in the hull-to-deck joint (boats that slam against…

Best Water Toys of the Year – On, In and Under the Water

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

Here’s a best-of-the-year list that’s fun, and that can give you some ideas about what to put under the tree in a few weeks or to add to your boat for the next cruising system. It’s a list of the best water toys of the year from New Atlas, and it covers some “toys” that we’ve already written about (the Aston-Martin/Triton personal submarine, for example) and many that are brand new: Take a look at the Scubalec wearable jet drive that you strap to your wrist, pictured above left, to give some extra boost to your next underwater experience. The…

New Legacy 42 IPS: A Classic Mark Ellis Design with State-of-the-Art Performance

By Peter Janssen on December 5, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Legacy 42 IPS is a classic Down East cruiser with two cabins and one head and a traditional look that will never go out of style. Legacy originally introduced the 42, designed by Mark Ellis, about ten years ago; now, under new ownership by Tartan Yachts in Ohio, Legacy is reintroducing it with Volvo’s pod drives, a proven hull shape, advanced composites and a luxurious interior. The modified-V hull carries an 18-degree deadrise at the transom and has wide chines for stability. Driven by twin Volvo 400 IPS engines (310-hp), the 42 cruises at 28 knots, burning about 19…

7/12/11 By Gary M. Baranec Ben Filson, service technician at Jim's Anchorage, performs some maintenance on an outboard engine that had a fuel line clogged by ethanol.

EPA Adds More Ethanol to the Gas Supply, Despite Opposition

By Peter Janssen on December 5, 2017 Cruising Life

This isn’t good news if you have a gas engine, particularly an older outboard. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just added more ethanol to be blended into the gas supply, despite opposition from boating and other recreational groups. The EPA’s new standard represents a 0.05 percent increase in ethanol. The EPA held hearings this past summer, asking the public how much ethanol it wanted to be added to the gas supply. At that time, owners of recreational boats, RVs and others spoke up against increasing the amount of ethanol covered by the Renewable Fuel Standard. “Ethanol has been demonstrated to…

Tug Ran Aground, Spilled Oil in Bella Bella, BC, Because Mate Fell Asleep: NTSB

By Peter Janssen on December 5, 2017 Cruising Life

A 98-foot-tug ran aground and sank off Bella Bella, BC, last year, spilling more than 28,000 gallons of diesel fuel, because the second mate fell asleep at the wheel, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Bella Bella, about 98 nm north of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, is one of the most beautiful parts of the Inside Passage, and is home to the Heiltsuk First Nation. The accident occurred on Oct. 13, 2016, when the tug Nathan E. Stewart, with an articulated barge, ran aground and sank in Seaforth Channel, just west of Bella Bella. The NTSB investigation says…

Is It Cheaper to Live Near the Water, or On the Water? In Portland, Maine, the Answer is Clear

By Peter Janssen on December 4, 2017 Cruising Life

Robert Stephens and Paul Waring, of Stephens Waring Design in Belfast, Maine, do much more than design beautiful, fast and innovative boats. Now they’ve done a comparison of real estate and boat prices in Portland, Maine, to see if it costs more to live near the water or on the water. Their answer: In a side-by-side comparison of actual living space, floating residences (including houseboats, floating homes and live-aboard boats) come out ahead; it’s considerably cheaper to live on a boat. And they have maps and charts to prove their point. Stephens and Waring looked at upscale neighborhoods near the…

Heroes: Two Ship Pilots Get International Bravery Award for Saving Ship in Houston Fire. See Video of Flames

By Peter Janssen on December 4, 2017 Cruising Life

September 6, 2016, started as just another night at work for Captain Michael C. Phillips (above, left) and Captain Michael G. McGee, two ship pilots working on the Houston Ship Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the United States. Just after midnight, they were piloting the Aframax River, an 810-foot-long tanker, undocking it from its terminal. All of a sudden, the ship lost propulsion, drifting into two mooring dolphins and breaching a diesel fuel tank. Diesel spilled from the ship, starting an inferno with flames leaping 90 feet into the air. (See a video taken from another ship,…

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