Cruising Life

Terrifying Video of Great White Shark Attacking Kayaker

By Peter Janssen on May 28, 2017 Cruising Life

Brian Correiar, an experienced Scuba diver, was paddling his red, 14-foot-long kayak in Monterey Bay, California, when he heard a loud “bang.” A great white shark was attacking it. Correiar said he flew through the air and landed outside the kayak. He looked back “and to my horror saw a great white shark no more than three feet away had my kayak in its mouth.” As you can see from this video, taken from shore, Correiar starts swimming backward, yelling, “No, God, no” even while the shark is swimming toward him with the kayak in its jaws. “I was sure…

On His “Dream Greek Holiday,” A British Tourist Dies Riding an Inflatable Sofa

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2017 Cruising Life

It was 5 in the evening on the sixth, and last day, of what Simon Crewe, a 57-year-old carpenter from Leicestershire, England, called a “dream Greek holiday.” As a final treat, he and his brother David and a friend signed up for a ride on a yellow inflatable sofa pulled by a speedboat off the island of Cephalonia, in the Ionian Sea just west of the Greek mainland (pictured above). Simon Crewe’s partner, Vicki David, was on the speedboat, taking a holiday video. They had just started, when David Crewe said he heard “a massive bang,” and something hit his…

Kingfisher: A 1959 Classic Huckins for Charter

By Peter Janssen on May 25, 2017 Charter, Cruising Life

How’s this for a different kind of charter – Kingfisher, a recently restored classic 50-foot Huckins Corinthian built in 1959? Available in the Northeast this summer, Kingfisher certainly qualifies as a class act, whether you want it for a wedding, a cocktail cruise, a long weekend or more. Think about arriving in Nantucket, Newport, or Sag Harbor with your friends or family; Kingfisher would certainly cause heads to turn. The yacht has two cabins, both with heads and showers, plus a protected salon, a large shaded flybridge, a roomy salon with settee and large side windows, a raised foredeck with…

St. Croix: The Largest, Most Historic, and Most Laid-Back of the U.S. Virgin Islands

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

With its warm waters, white beaches and protected harbors, St. Croix has been attracting visitors ever since Columbus landed there in 1493. Unfortunately, he was almost immediately attacked by the native Kalinago, and quickly sailed away. The Dutch and English had better luck, forming settlements in 1625, but they fought with each other and subsequent European nations trying to claim the place. Indeed, no fewer than seven nations (including the Knights of Malta and Denmark) have fought for ownership of St. Croix over the years. The U.S. finally bought the island, which is about 40 nm below St. Thomas (and…

Garmin’s New 360-Degree Spherical Camera, With GPS (Of Course)

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2017 Cruising Life, Electronics, Gear

Garmin has just introduced the VIRB 360, a versatile, compact, waterproof, spherical 360-degree camera. It offers high-quality video up to 5.7K/30fps, it has four built-in microphones to capture sounds in all directions, and it comes with a 4K Spherical Stabilization to make your video look smooth and steady. And, taking advantage of its built-in GPS (this is Garmin, after all), the VIRB 360 provides custom data overlays for all its settings. “The VIRB 360 lets you relive personal experiences and share them with your friends – from a different point of view, every time,” says Garmin VP Dan Bartel. “VIRB…

Army Corps Says Great Dismal Swamp Canal Won’t Reopen Until Late Summer

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2017 Cruising Life

If you’re planning on the Great Loop or just cruising on the East Coast this summer, you’ll have to wait a while to go through the Great Dismal Swamp. The Army Corps of Engineers, which closed the Great Dismal Swamp Canal after Hurricane Matthew in October, now says it may not reopen until late this summer. The 22-mile-long canal dates back to George Washington, who visited the Great Dismal Swamp in 1763 and suggested draining it to create a waterway connecting the Chesapeake with Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. After the canal was dug, mostly by slave labor, it opened…

A Speeding Cat Kills Friend and Passenger on Smaller Boat in Fort Lauderdale

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2017 Cruising Life

A 31-foot catamaran, going fast, crashed into the back of a 22-foot center console running slowly in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale at 10:30 last Saturday night, killing two people on the smaller boat and injuring two more. No one on the cat was hurt. Witnesses said the cat, driven by Max Irvine, 36, rode up over the back of the center console as it approached Bokamper’s Sports Bar and Grill on the Waterway at 32nd Street. “The catamaran straddles the other boat,” said Timothy Heiser, the assistant chief of Fort Laudardale’s Fire-Rescue. The drivers of the two boats…

Problems with Your Diesel? Here’s a Great Guide on How To Diagnose and Fix Them

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2017 Cruising Life, Engine Room, Maintenance

Do you know what to do if your diesel exhaust suddenly turns grey? Or the engine loses power? Or overheats? Even if you do, here’s one of the best and most thorough stories I’ve seen about how to diagnose and fix most problems with a diesel engine. It’s great as a primer, if you’re new to diesels, and as a refresher, if you’re an old hand. And it covers all the bases, including how to bleed air from the injectors, drain a filter, and change an impeller. The graphics are clear and easy to understand. Take a look: http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/sailing-skills/diagnose-and-fix-marine-diesel-engine-problems-29940

New, Innovative, Fun and Fast Walker Bay Generation 525. See Review and Video

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

It’s hard to fit the new Walker Bay Generation 525 into a narrow boat category, because this new, luxurious 17-footer offers so much: It’s a RIB, certainly, but it also can be a sport boat, a day boat, a tow boat, a runabout or even a megayacht tender. It would be fun to have the 525 just to zip around a harbor by yourself, or to take a crowd – the boat’s rated for ten passengers. A California company (located in Fairfield, about half-way between San Francisco and Sacramento), Walker Bay is known for its innovation and creative design. Indeed,…

Monster 63-foot Wave Measured in Southern Ocean 400 Miles South of New Zealand

By Peter Janssen on May 22, 2017 Cruising Life

The southern-most wave buoy in the Southern Ocean, some 400 miles south of New Zealand, just recorded a monster 63.6-foot wave, four times the height of a single-story house. “This is one of the largest waves recorded in the Southern Hemisphere,” says Oceanographer Tom Durrant. The wave buoy was just recently moored in 492 feet of water about six miles south of Campbell Island, pictured above, in a joint effort by the New Zealand Defense Force and MetOcean Solutions, to get accurate readings of wave and air-sea interactions in that remote part of the world. So far, wave heights from…

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