Cruising Life

Michelle Lee Rows Solo Across Pacific

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2023 Cruising Life

Michelle Lee, a 50-year-old massage therapist from Sydney, just became the first woman to row solo, with no assistance and no stops, across the Pacific. It took her more than 237 days, passing through five hurricanes and four cyclones, to row from Mexico to Australia. Here’s a great story from ABC Far North: An Australian has become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean unassisted and without stopping. Sydney-based Michelle Lee was greeted by cheering friends and supporters as she rowed into Port Douglas in Far North Queensland on Wednesday morning, marking the end of a 14,000-kilometre, 237-day…

Washington State Ferries photo

Ferry Captain Lost Situational Awareness: Report

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2023 Cruising Life

The captain of a Washington State ferry lost situational awareness before his vessel hit a dolphin near its terminal in southwest Seattle at its cruising speed of about 15 knots, according to a newly released internal investigation. One car was damaged and one passenger suffered minor injuries in the allision (a collision with a stationary object) at 8:13 a.m. on Thursday, July 22 last year. The weather was clear with negligible wind at the time and the investigation, by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Transportation Board, and Washington State Ferries, determined that the MV Cathlamet, a 328-feet-long ferry, did…

New Neptunus 650E: Luxury Blue-Water Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 9, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Made in Canada, just over the border from Niagara Falls, the new Neptunus 650E is a sleek, solid cruiser with some big-yacht touches and blue-water capabilities. The Neptunus 650E is a three-cabin, three-head cruiser that comes with a CE Category A Ocean Certified pedigree, meaning it’s built to handle winds over 40 knots and wave heights over 13 feet. It’s powered by twin 1136-hp CAT C18 diesels, giving it a top speed of 32 knots. At a cruising speed of 26 knots, it has a range of 282 nm. Dial back to 10 knots, and the range jumps to 713…

New 41-Knot, 65-foot Innovative Dutch Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 6, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Van der Valk yard in The Netherlands is making a new 65-foot, 41-knot, luxury cruiser with an exceptional aluminum hull and the ability to navigate the shallow waters of the Bahamas and cut through rough water offshore. With a low profile, an aft-set flybridge, a massive 111-square-foot aft deck when the terraces are deployed, post-modern European lines and an Art-Deco styled interior, the new EDGE 65 will turn heads on both sides of the Atlantic. And that’s before you get to its performance. Van der Valk worked with Cor D. Rover, the Dutch superyacht designer, and Studio Delta Naval…

New 64-Foot Cat with Hydrogen Power

By Peter Janssen on April 5, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Swiss Sustainable Yachts AG in Zurich has sold the first hull of its solar/electric/hydrogen-powered 64-foot catamaran, AQUON One. The new luxury catamaran can hold up to 10 passengers and theoretically can have an unlimited range by combining all of its renewable emissions- and noise-free power sources. The AQUON One has 64 square meters of photovoltaic solar panels on its roof to charge its lithium-ion batteries. From there on, the cat’s green-power solution seems fairly elegant. For the short term, the batteries provide power for twin electric motors, one in each hull, for propulsion, and to run the yacht’s systems. But…

Smith Point Sea Rescue

Volunteers Rescue 8 from Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on April 5, 2023 Cruising Life

A volunteer crew from Northern Virginia rescued eight people after their 50-foot Carver sank in the Chesapeake last weekend. The eight people had huddled together in the 49-degree water while the all-volunteer Smith Point Sea Rescue crew and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for them. After the rescue, the Coast Guard said the three women and five men were “in states of mild to moderate hypothermia” but they all were released in stable condition after treatment by local EMS crews. The rescue started when someone on board the Nauti Dream, a 50-foot Carver, placed a 911 call on their cell…

Why Boats Fail Safety Checks: BoatUS

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2023 Cruising Life

Over the years, I’ve been driving boats that have been boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard (on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts), and once even by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who flew overhead in a helicopter and ordered us (via Channel 16) to follow them to the nearest dock in a small fishing village in Nova Scotia. (They suspected us of smuggling drugs, since our new boat had Florida numbers; they started off being very efficient, and ended up, once they determined we were on a recreational cruise up to the St. Lawrence, being…

65-Foot Yacht Stuck in Florida Back Yard

By co_admin on April 4, 2023 Cruising Life

Ever since Hurricane Ian hit Florida last September, a 65-foot yacht has been stuck in a Cape Coral yard. Here’s the story from NBC-2: CAPE CORAL, Fla. — More than six months after Hurricane Ian, a mega yacht is still stuck on dry land in a southwest Cape Coral backyard. And it’s become a spectacle for boaters. “I’d say hundreds of people see it if not thousands,” said Melanie Long, who lives in the Tarpon Point neighborhood. The big boat is 65 feet long and weighs a whopping 50 tons. Jens Geotz is the owner. “Until the last 30 minutes…

StellarPM Planning New Line of Explorer Cats

By Peter Janssen on April 3, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The worldwide fleet of large power catamarans just keeps growing. Indeed, StellarPM, the Vietnamese builder, just introduced a new line of luxury explorer power cats that are designed to be as much as home in the fjords of Norway as they are cruising around Sardinia and Corsica. StellarPM now joins the ranks of builders in Europe, Turkey, Australia and other parts of the world who have been launching big, luxurious power catamarans lately. And expedition or explorer yachts are a growing subspecies in that category. There are two yachts in the new StellarEXP fleet, a 32-Meter (about 105 feet), and…

Fairline Launching Sporty New Targa 40

By Peter Janssen on April 3, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Fairline, the large British builder, just announced that it will launch a sporty new Targa 40, the entry to the Targa line, this summer. The new 40 replaces the Targa 38, which was first launched in 2006; it was one of Fairline’ most popular boats, with more than 300 sold in ten years. The Targa lineup now will have six boats, from the new 40 up to a 65. “This brand-new 40 takes everything we loved about the 38 and elevates it for the 21st century,” said Christian Gott, Fairline’s lead designer. Standard power for the 40 will be twin…

Browsing: Cruising Life