Browsing: Cruising Life

Cruising Life
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NOAA Unveils Plan To Restore Reefs in Keys

Earlier this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a historic new plan for restoring seven coral reefs in the Florida Keys. NOAA says the plan, called Mission: Iconic Reefs, is an effort to restore almost three million square feet of reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, stretching the length of the keys. The plan is one of the largest investments ever made for coral restoration. The reefs protect the keys, with five million visitors a year, from catastrophic storm surge, while providing some of the best-known destinations in the world for diving, snorkeling and fishing. But…

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Maritimo Planning New M600 Offshore Cruiser

Maritimo is working on a new M600 luxury cruiser, the first in its Offshore Series, designed for long-range cruising with a combination of performance, efficiency and blue-water seakeeping ability. The new 60-foot yacht will have a complete package to operate as both a state-of-art offshore fishing platform and a large, comfortable and safe offshore cruiser. It is being developed based on Maritimo’s years of experience in building solid and seaworthy boats in Australia. Tom Barry-Cotter, Maritimo’s lead designer, said “The M600 is centered upon a hull design that is an advanced evolution of Maritimo’s longstanding experience in long-range cruising design…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Ends Search for 8 Missing in Gulf

The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the eight crew still missing from the 129-foot commercial lift boat that capsized in a sudden storm in the Gulf of Mexico last week. The boat, the Seacore Power, was eight miles off Port Fourchon, the southernmost port in Louisiana, at the time. Six members of its crew were rescued fairly quickly, and the bodies of five others were recovered. A massive search, covering more than 9,200 square nm and involving four Coast Guard cutters, three 45-foot response boats, six fixed-wing aircraft and three helicopters did not find the eight still missing.…

Cruising Life
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Ben, an Orca Almost Left for Dead, Now Thriving

Ben, an orca in New Zealand, almost died twice more than two decades ago. First, he was stranded, then he was hit by a boat. But since then Ben has been thriving. He’s been spotted in 48 locations around New Zealand, and he’s traveled about 29,000 miles, roughly the distance around the world at the equator. Now he’s the subject of a chapter in a new book. Read about him here at stuff.co.nz:  An orca who has twice dodged death is proving to be a poster boy for researchers thanks to the scars of his adventures. Ben the orca is…

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Sirena Building New 68 for Experienced Cruisers

The highly regarded Turkish builder of luxury yachts, Sirena just announced that it’s working on a new 68 that’s designed for experienced cruisers. The new Sirena 68 has a semi-displacement hull, designed by German Frers; this is the fifth collaboration between Sirena and Frers Naval Architecture. The new boat will be launched in time for the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. Frers’ innovative hull, powered by standard twin 900-hp Volvos with V drives, is expected to top out at 26 knots, and deliver a range of about 1,200 nm at 10 knots. Twin 1,000-hp Volvos are an option, and produce…

Cruising Life
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Foxy’s Iconic Bar in BVI Adds a Music School

If you’re heading for Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, you may  not find Foxy himself. That’s because Foxy (Foxy Callwood ) is spending a lot of his time at his music school down the road behind the restaurant, helping kids from the islands. Foxy’s has become an institution of almost folklore proportions ever since it opened on the beach in Great Harbour in 1968, a destination for cruisers and charter-boat customers from all around the world. (If you don’t have your own boat, you can take the ferry from West End, Tortola, across…

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New Regency 65: Designed for Extended Cruising

The new Regency 65 is designed for comfortable, long-range cruising anywhere from Alaska to the Caribbean, plus anywhere else you might have in mind. It’s a relatively heavy yacht (88,105 pounds) and its 18-foot-plus beam gives it a large footprint, so there’s lots of room. But that also means it will give you a good ride in a seaway where stability is always a blessing. The Regency 65 is powered by twin 900-hp Volvos, giving it a cruising speed of 15 to 17 knots. Dial back to 8 to 9 knots and the yacht has a range of more than…

Cruising Life
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Search Continues for 12 Still Missing in Gulf

At 4 on Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in New Orleans broadcast a marine warning, predicting steep waves and winds above 58 mph in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico nearby. At 4:30, the crew of the Seacore Power, a 129-foot commercial lift boat, sent out an emergency distress call. It had capsized eight miles off Port Flouchon, the southernmost port in Louisiana. An odd-looking vessel, the Seacore Power has extendable 250-foot legs that can reach the sea floor; it is used by energy companies for offshore construction projects or to service oil rigs. When the Coast Guard…

Cruising Life
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Ranger Tugs Launches New 43 CB Flagship

Ranger Tugs has a new flagship, the 43 CB (Command Bridge), that’s powered by twin 340-hp Volvo IPS450 pod drives and hits a top speed of 29 knots but burns only 10 gph at a more tug-like 11 knots. (See the boat in action in the video below.) With two staterooms and two heads, the new Ranger can be just about anything you want it to be: A waterfront property that moves, a comfortable liveaboard, a floating office, or most likely, a family cruiser for everything from an overnight near home to a journey around the Great Loop. And you…

Cruising Life
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Big Changes at Kadey-Krogen, Summit Yachts

Some big changes are coming at the legendary Kadey-Krogen Yachts and Summit Yachts, its new brand. From its headquarters in Stuart, Florida, Kadey-Krogen just announced that it has secured equity capital to grow from an investor, and the company says the new infusion will fund a multi-year innovation and strategic plan that will be launched in August; the plan will include details about new models. Just two years ago, Kadey-Krogen introduced Summit Yachts, designed to appeal to younger owners, or those who just wanted to go faster than the 8-knot trawler speed of the full-displacement Kadey-Krogens. The Summit 54 (pictured…

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