Cruising Life

Smaller Seakeeper Gyro for 30- to 39-Foot Boats. See Video

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2016 Cruising Life

The newest Seakeeper gyro stabilizer, just introduced at the Fort Lauderdale show, is specifically designed for boats from 30 to 39 feet, and it runs exclusively on 12-volt DC power without any need for a genset or AC input. The new Seakeeper 3 model is 30 percent lighter, and 25 percent smaller, than any previous Seakeeper, and is the first streamlined for smaller boats. The Seakeeper 3 has a new touch screen control panel with an intuitive user interface and the company says installation is easy, without requiring any structural modifications, and can be completed in two days. Seakeeper is…

MJM 35Z: An Elegant, Fast, Outboard Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on November 1, 2016 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

We first reported on plans for the new MJM 35Z back in September. Now we can flesh out the details of this latest collaboration between Douz Zurn, the designer, and Bob Johnstone, the founder of MJM, and so far the new outboard-powered 35Z is living up to our expectations. It’s no surprise that the new boat has all the classic Down East lines of earlier MJMs, with its low profile, gentle tumblehome and long sheerline. Or that it’s a serious offshore boat, with a 20-degree deadrise at the transom and the highest rating for stability and seaworthiness for any boat…

Fog: How to See It Coming, How to Cope

By Peter Janssen on November 1, 2016 Cruising Life

I grew up in San Francisco, so I’ve always thought of fog as my friend, my reminder of home. That is, as long as I’m landlocked. Step on a boat, and fog is a different matter. Recently I’ve been in fog so thick – at the top of the Bay of Fundy, coming through the Cape Cod Canal – that I could barely see the bow of the boat in the middle of the day. With reduced (or no) visibility, you rely on radar, AIS, GPS and your own experience. Still, fog can be scary. Here’s some of the best…

Video: Tipsy Captain Hits Palm Beach, Now Sues Town

By Peter Janssen on October 28, 2016 Cruising Life

This is hard to believe. You may remember that the captain of the 72-foot Time Out missed the inlet and ran his boat into the beach at Palm Beach at 2 a.m. after he said he had consumed a few Long Island iced teas last month. At the time, the police charged him with boating under the influence. Now he’s suing the city, saying he was prevented from protecting his boat after the accident. See the video: http://upnorthlive.com/news/offbeat/owner-of-beached-yacht-suing-palm-beach-police-department

Great Video: See Passing Sailor Save Family of 10 as their Boat Sinks

By Peter Janssen on October 26, 2016 Cruising Life

This is an incredible video of how a family of ten realized their motor yacht was starting to sink about seven miles off Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Florida. The captain of a sailboat, only a mile away, heard the Mayday call and went to help. See how this story unfolds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSTX6JLr-Ak&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Fort Lauderdale Show: 1,500 New Boats Worth $4 Billion!

By Peter Janssen on October 26, 2016 Cruising Life

All across the United States, indeed, all around the world, there are boat shows and there are boat shows. Shows for big boats, shows for small boats, shows for regional boats and shows for different kinds of boats. But nowhere, to my mind, can you find a better show, in a better place, and with more boats (from 15-foot runabouts to 250-foot megayachts) than at the 57th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which runs from Thursday, Nov. 3 through Monday, Nov. 7. The Lauderdale show (or FLIBS, as it’s called in the industry) is centered, as always, around the…

Further’s Blog: Still Strong in the South Pacific After 11 Years

By Peter Janssen on October 24, 2016 Cruising Life

It’s been 11 years since Brian Calvert left Friday Harbor, Washington, on his Selene 48 Further, heading for Alaska, Mexico and the South Pacific. He’s now in Raja Amput, a remote section of Indonesia, and reports that the boat’s Cummins QSL diesel has 8,049 hours and is still running strong. In fact, all is well except that he broke a stabilizer on a treacherous passage and then had to hire a local bike mechanic to try to fix it. Spoiler alert: It didn’t work. Read more in Brian’s blog here: http://www.furthuradventures.com/blog/2016/10/15/Seven-Year-Report–the-Boat

Titanic Key Sells for $104,000

By Peter Janssen on October 24, 2016 Cruising Life

Even after a century, interest in the Titanic goes on and on. Indeed, at an auction in London, a key to a lifejacket locker on the doomed liner just sold for the equivalent of $104,000, far more than had been anticipated. The key had been found on the body of a steward, Sidney Sedunary, 23, who was last seen alive handing out lifejackets to passengers as the ship was sinking. Earlier, the sextant belonging to Sir Arthur Rostran, captain of the Carpathian, which arrived at the scene two hours after the Titanic sank and rescued 700 passengers, sold for the…

Video: Need for Lights on Miami Jetty Where Fernandez Died

By Peter Janssen on October 24, 2016 Cruising Life

We all can relate to this: A night entry into a busy harbor with a lot of light pollution all around, and a 1,000-foot-long jetty off your starboard side that barely rises above the waterline. Hmmm. This is what Miami star pitcher Jose Fernandez faced last month when he ran his center console onto that jetty at a high speed about 3 in the morning, killing himself and his two companions. Watch this video from the Miami Herald and you’ll understand the problem. Yes, Fernandez probably was going too fast. Yes, authorities said he had been drinking. Yes, he…

Popular Ranger Rendezvous in the San Juans

By Peter Janssen on October 20, 2016 Cruising Life

Here’s a great picture of the annual rendezvous of some 150 Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats at Roche Harbor in the San Juans, one of the biggest gatherings of boat owners in the United States at one of the best cruising destinations in the United States. To continue the superlatives, Fluid Motion, LLC, the parent company for Ranger and Cutwater, is one of the most successful boat companies in the United States – having started with a 21-Ranger Tug in 1999 and now producing hundreds of Rangers and Cutwaters in six factories throughout Washington State. (See our “Boat Reviews” section…

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