Cruising Life

More Great Boating Gift Ideas for Christmas – and Beyond

By Peter Janssen on December 7, 2016 Cruising Life, Gear

Now here’s an appealing Christmas gift guide that I really like. It has just about everything a cruising boat owner could want, including multifunction tools, hand warmers, foul-weather gear, wooden charts (these are very cool), SPOT Satellite Messenger (a great safety device), a drone, and even information on booking a charter if you really want to get away from it all. And if Santa doesn’t bring you everything on this list, save it and keep it for next spring when you make your first trip down to the chandlery. Take a look: http://blog.dockwa.com/christmas-gift-guide-for-sailors-and-boaters?utm_campaign=Blog+Subscribers&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=38810354&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–KK9ScHXEmuZFs7mtbDSw-4L6a4x328OYmweH3riQybuFomHwIqZXEji9BjUwW1snaUftG-bsrQ68575YEviouxXKEmA&_hsmi=38810354

‘Tis the Season: Best Ways to Decorate Your Boat for the Holidays

By Peter Janssen on December 6, 2016 Cruising Life

It’s that time of year – holidays, Christmas, New Year’s – when it’s fun to deck out your boat with lights and shapes and general cheer and goodwill to man. But, how to do it, and – more important – how to do it safely? Here are some great tips from BoatU.S. about how to choose colors and designs and install them without obscuring your boat’s nav lights or blowing out all your power. And remember to leave room for your crew to handle lines and fenders. Lots of good ideas here. Take a look: :http://www.boatus.com/magazine/2013/december/designing-a-holiday-lights-display-for-your-boat.asp

“Nap Time” Cruiser Runs into Ferry While Captain Using the Head

By Peter Janssen on December 6, 2016 Cruising Life

You’ve got to see this. Nap Time, a recreational cruising boat, runs into the starboard side of a huge Washington State ferry going from Tacoma to Vachon Island in broad daylight, while the ferry is sounding its horn. Hard to believe. Yes, the boat on the right has the right of way, but it’s supposed to give way to a commercial ferry, no? And what was Nap Time’s captain thinking? Well, it turns out, according to a local TV station, that Nap Time’s captain, the only person on board at the time, was below, using the head. Still, a great video:…

Carbon Monoxide: Winter’s Silent Killer. Save Your Life. See This Video.

By Peter Janssen on December 5, 2016 Cruising Life

The boat in the picture above is where a British couple and their dog died recently of carbon monoxide poisoning, a silent killer because you can’t see it or smell it and the symptoms can make think you just have the flu, a headache or need to take a nap. Bad stuff, particularly this time of year when people tend to keep boat doors and windows shut, while possibly running a heater, engine or genset. To make boat owners aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide, the Royal Yachting Association produced this short but very hard-hitting video. Take a look. It…

New VanDutch 55: Elegant, Cutting-Edge – and Fun. See the Video.

By Peter Janssen on December 5, 2016 Cruising Life

There’s nothing complicated here, just fun, fun on the water, on an elegant, cutting-edge 55-foot VanDutch whose captain is having a great time carving turns in front of the camera in Fort Lauderdale recently. Designed by Frank Mulder, the VanDutch 55 has two cabins, one head with shower, and two 900-hp Volvo diesels that propel it to a top speed of about 40 knots. The company says it rides like a luxury sports car, which I believe from this video. Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVmiRLYKwLs

Canadian Couple Completes Great Loop, Tells All in New Book

By Peter Janssen on December 4, 2016 Cruising Life

You can’t say that Carole Duval and Michel Mailloux aren’t adventuresome. Indeed, the couple from Brossard, Quebec, near Montreal, recently completed more than 6,100 nm on the Great Loop and the Bahamas on their 1990 Carver 41, named Emotion III. During those 13 months, they ran through just about every kind of experience – and emotion – you’d expect on such a long cruise, including getting stuck for three days on a dredged inlet in the Suwannee River near the Gulf of Mexico (see picture above). When they got home, Duval wrote a book about their trip, appropriately called “The…

Great Guide to Soper’s Hole: Welcome to the British Virgin Islands

By Peter Janssen on December 3, 2016 Cruising Life, Destinations

It’s hard not to want to go back to the British Virgin Islands once you’ve cruised there. In fact, I keep going back again and again, discovering something new in some of the best, easiest and most welcoming cruising grounds on the planet. Here’s a guide to Soper’s Hole, at the end of Tortola, the largest island there and the base of most of the BVI’s charter fleet. The story is geared a bit toward sail, but all the points apply to powerboats as well. Indeed, the last time I was there was to clear Customs on a trawler my…

First Look at New, Super-Exclusive Mercedes-Benz 46-footer Sea Trial

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

Yes, I know this isn’t the typical cruising boat that we usually write about, but I think it’s just too cool to ignore. The first-ever Mercedes-Benz boat, here on a sea trial, will be ready for sale next spring. With twin 480-hp Yanmars, the new 46-foot-long Benz is supposed to top out at 40 knots (I had a Mercedes many years ago that did that in second gear!), but then this boat is both multi-national and super-exclusive. The German Mercedes-Benz boat is being built by Silver Arrows Marine Project in Monaco, although construction is in Switzerland. And they’re only going…

Cruise to Alaska, Then Cross the Pacific, with the Bradshaws on Their Nordhavn 52

By Peter Janssen on November 30, 2016 Cruising Life

Phillip and Gerri Bradshaw from Fremantle, Australia, bought their Nordhavn 52, Mermaid Explorer, at Dana Point, California, two years ago, and they haven’t stopped cruising since then. First they headed down to Mexico, then up to Alaska, all the way to Glacier Bay, meeting other cruising couples and locals along the way. (One Alaska cruising tip: don’t miss Rose’s Bar, a local watering hole, in Pelican). Then the Bradshaws cruised back down to San Francisco and, after much thought, decided to cross the Pacific, just the two of them. It took 14 days to reach Hawaii, and Gerri says…

Join the Fun: Winterfest and Other Holiday Boat Parades in Florida

By Peter Janssen on November 29, 2016 Cruising Life

Who doesn’t love a boat parade, particularly in the holiday season, and particularly if you live in Florida? Holiday boat parades have been big there ever since the 1920s when owners decorated their boats with candles and cruised the waterways singing Christmas carols. Now the parades have more candlepower, in every sense, and boats are decked out with lights and decorations of all kinds. The largest parade is the Winterfest Boat Parade in Fort Lauderdale, which is Dec. 10 this year. (See the video below for scenes from last year’s event; it’s huge.) But if that’s too much for you,…

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