Cruising Life

Coast Guard Commandant’s Reading List: Smart and Informed

By Peter Janssen on April 22, 2017 Cruising Life

You don’t get to be Commandant of the United States Coast Guard by being a dummy. And Admiral Paul Zukunft, the current Commandant, is certainly no exception, as exemplified by the reading list he published on All Hands, the Coast Guard’s official blog. The ten authors on the Commandant’s list range from Tom Friedman to Sebastian Junger; two great writers who come to their expertise through widely different experiences. I’d read anything by either of them. Then there’s Richard Haas, one of the smartest, and most fair-minded, thinkers around. You could do a lot worse than spending your time reading…

Charter Captain Pulls Burning Boat Away from Fuel Dock: See Video

By Peter Janssen on April 22, 2017 Cruising Life

Lee Tippett is one fast-thinking – and competent – charter boat captain. He was just returning from a fishing trip near the mouth of the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland when he saw a boat on fire about half a mile away at the fuel dock of the Solomons Yacht Club. He told the seven people on board to stay in the cabin, while he backed his boat up to the burning 21-foot powerboat, threw an anchor on it, and towed it two miles into deep water. Tippett, who’s been running his charter business for 12 years, said, “I was…

Record Number of Icebergs in North Atlantic: Ships Rerouted

By Peter Janssen on April 20, 2017 Cruising Life

A record number of icebergs are floating in the North Atlantic – including 450 near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland – forcing vessels to slow down to 3 knot speeds or take long detours around the area. The Coast Guard reports that an average of only 80 icebergs are found there this time of year. The large picture at the top shows an iceberg near where the Titanic hit one on April 14, 1912; there would be no problem sighting this one in time to avoid a disaster. Now, instead of taking the Great Circle route across the North Atlantic,…

A Well-Traveled Couple Cruise to Cuba on Their Ranger Tugs 25. Read Their Report

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2017 Cruising Life

Cheryll and Rich Odendahl from Algonac, Michigan, have the travel bug. So far, they’ve visited 47 countries, including the usual suspects – France, England, Mexico – and some more exotic spots – the Mount Everest base camp, Iceland, Fiji. Then there are their boating trips. In 2011, Odendahl retired after 30 years at General Motors, and he and Cheryll wanted to spend time cruising. They bought a trailer to tow behind their Chevy Silverado and drove to San Diego, where they bought a 2008 Ranger Tugs 25. Ranger Tugs, of course, are designed as trailerable cruisers for a couple. And…

Horizon PC74: Combination of Space, Luxury and Cruising Comfort

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Now being completed in Taiwan, the new Horizon PC74 is a combination of lots of space, performance and luxury. The company says it is both the “ideal entertaining platform” and “the ultimate cruising yacht” with “the interior of a superyacht.” A lot going on there. The 74 will be the flagship of Horizon’s power cat fleet, which now has 52- and a 60-foot models, and is designed to be a larger version of the 60. For the PC74, large is the operative word. Everything on the boat is writ large – the four staterooms, all with en suite heads, are…

How To Clean a Sea Strainer: A Fast, Easy Video

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2017 Cruising Life, Engine Room, Maintenance

Cleaning a sea strainer (or strainers, if you have two engines) isn’t brain surgery, but it is vital to the operation of your boat. A clogged strainer will ruin a cruise, or even a short outing away from the dock, in a real hurry. Make sure you know how to check and clean your strainer. It’s not hard, but here’s a good introduction if you’ve never done it before, or a fast refresher if you have. (And remember to close and then re-open the sea cock.) Take a look here: https://www.facebook.com/BoatUS/videos/vb.127893933900510/1136420499714510/?type=2&theater

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Postcard-Perfect Cruising Grounds

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Back in Columbus’ time, the natives called the island of St. Vincent “home of the blessed,” a description that today could apply to its appeal as a postcard-perfect cruising destination with beckoning coves, incredibly white beaches and drop-dead gorgeous aquamarine waters. Way down the Caribbean, south of St. Lucia and west of Barbados, the country of St. Vincent consists of the main island (St. Vincent) and a chain of smaller islands and cays stretching some 40 miles down to Grenada. It has a colorful history of wars, slave ships and pirates (with a possible whiff of cannibalism); today the old…

Aspen Power Cats Launches New 28-Footer With Same Proven Proa Hull

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The latest from Aspen Power Catamarans is something different: Not a cruising boat, but a 28-footer that can serve as a tender, a second boat, or a fun primary boat for running around and having fun. Whatever you do with it, the new L90 LX does have the same creative proa hull that Larry Graf created for all his larger, Aspen cruising cats, a hull that has proven be stable, fuel-efficient and seaworthy. As a tender, the L90 LX is easy to tow; it’s light in weight, only 5,800 pounds, and the twin hulls make it unusually safe and steady.…

Chinese Mechanic Builds Car-Boat from Old Minibus – and It Floats

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2017 Cruising Life

Well, this isn’t a story about a Hinckley or Palm Beach motoryacht, but then you can’t drive your Hinckley or Palm Beach down the road, either. Ziong Jian, an inventor and mechanic from central China, put it together from scrap parts of a minibus. Originally the engine was in front (the bow?), but it started ingesting water, so he moved it to the trunk, or stern. Ziong’s vehicle, a Chinese car-boat combo, can carry four people. In the water it goes in forward and reverse and is able to make turns. It tops out at 20 mph, but Ziong hopes…

Silent Killers: Electric Shocks in the Water. Here’s How To Prevent Them

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2017 Cruising Life

If you do any boating (or swimming) in fresh water, pay heed. Stray electrical current from nearby boats or marinas could kill you. Indeed, there were seven confirmed deaths from electric shock in the water last summer, with many more injuries. And all of these could have been prevented. The problem stems from 120-volt alternating current leaking from boats and docks, which can electrocute people in the water. This is called Electric Shock Drowning, or ESD. And it doesn’t take much. Even tiny amounts of AC current can kill. Current can leak from shore power, from ground fault protection, from…

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