Cruising Life

New England Designer and Builder Create New, Custom Spindrift 47 Cruising Cat

By George Day on February 27, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

New England yacht designer Chris White is well known for his innovative multihull designs, mostly on the sailing side of the cruising coin. But he also has drawn and built numerous cruising power cats that are stylish, fast and provide both a very stable ride and excellent fuel efficiency. Over the last few years, Chris has partnered with Bill Koffler at Aquidneck Custom Composites in Bristol, Rhode Island to create two 72-foot custom sailing catamarans and the Sprindrift 45 power cat. Currently Chris and Bill are building the new Sprindrift 47 Flybridge power cat for a very experienced cruising couple…

USS United States Nears Destination in Alabama. Track Progress

By George Day on February 27, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Last week, the USS United States was towed from her berth in Philadelphia, where she has been moored since 1997 and began her last journey to a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The greatest ocean liner ever built in America, the majestic ship, now in disrepair, will spend a year being stripped and decontaminated before being scuttled off Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to become the largest man-made reef in the world. The ship is being towed by a mighty ocean-going tug with a 5,600 horsepower engine and shepherded by two assistant tugs. The route took them down Delaware Bay, south to…

Lyman Morse Building New Hood 42 LM Flybridge

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Yacht designer Chris Hood and Maine boat builder Lyman Morse have had a long and creative partnership. The Hood 35LM and Hood 57LM are both modern classics that combine Downeast style with comfortable accommodations and stellar performance. In 2025, Lyman Morse with launch the all-new Hood 42 LM Flybridge again designed by Hood. Like her sisters, the 42 will have a sweeping sheer line and a very traditional looking hull and cabin. But, like her sisters, she will also have a thoroughly modern underbody that will provide excellent stability and tracking, will reduce pounding in head seas and will provide…

Anegada Is a Little Slice of Paradise

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

The British Virgin Islands are the world’s most popular charter destination. There are hundreds of boats to charter, both power and sail. There are dozens of anchorages, some with moorings and some without. And, there are a score of beach bars and restaurants that all have been rebuilt since Hurricane Ivan struck the islands in 2017. If you are in the BVIs on your own boat or aboard charter boat, there are some regular attractions that most people tick off. There’s the Bite an Norman’s. There’s the wreck of the Rhone to snorkel over. There are the famous Baths on…

Man In Kayak Swallowed by a Whale? Watch Video

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Cruising Life

The short video below of a humpback whale swallowing a man in a kayak has been making social media rounds and there has been some confusion and speculation about what really happed. “I thought it had already eaten me and swallowed me,” Adrián Simancas told the Associated Press in an interview about his shock encounter off the coast of Chilean Patagonia. And, the clip does seem to show that Simancas was in the wrong place at the wrong time just when rthe giand humpback opened its giant maw as it was feeding along the coast. It certainly looks like the whale then spat out…

Coast Guard Coordinates Rescue of Man and Dog Adrift in a Dinghy

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Cruising Life

Here’s a somewhat strange story of a situation gone bad that the Coast Guard and other rescue services along the California coast worked together to remedy. Earlier this week Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles received a distress call at 8 pm. The call was from TowBoat US in Ventura which was relaying a VHF call from a sailor on a sailboat in distress 18 miles east of Catalina Island. Apparently, the sailor had fallen asleep and when he awoke his friend and his friend’s dog were missing and the dinghy they had been towing was gone. The sailor reported that…

Winners Announced of Miami Boat. Show Innovation Awards

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Cruising Life

The Miami International Boat Show that took over the city last week and had more than a thousand boats of all shapes and sizes on display is often the launch pad for new designs and products just being introduced to the market. So, that makes the show perfect for the annual NMMA-BWI Innovation Awards. Judged by a panel of boating journalists who are members of Boating Writers International, the awards are given out in a range of categories and are intended to highlight boats and products that show significant innovation, imagination and style. Ease of use and the adaptation to…

Outer Reef Introduces New 540 Adventure

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

This week Outer Reef Yachts announced the introduction of the new 540 Adventure. The new boat follows in the wake of the 780 Adventure that was introduced last summer. Like the bigger model, the new 54-footer will be built in The Netherlands. The new 540 was designed by the Dutch firm Bern Weel Design and carries the same purposeful, expedition styling as the 780. It will be built in fiberglass, with Divinicell coring above the waterline and in the deck and super structure. Powered by twin Volvo D8-600 engines with conventional straight shafts, the new boat will have a range…

The Leopard 40 Power Cat at Packs a Punch

By George Day on February 14, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Good things do indeed come in small packages and the Leopard 40 Power Cat fits that old adage perfectly. Winner of the European Boat of the Year 2024, the 40 fulfills its mission extremely well by delivering a cat that has a ton of living space, a good turn of speed and admirable fuel efficiency. Designed by Simonis Voogd and built by Robertson & Caine in Cape Town, South Africa, the 40 is the little sister to the Leopard 46 and 53, both of which have proven to be handsome, durable and comfortable cruisers that work well both as private…

Aquila 46 Coupe Breaks the Mold, Again

By George Day on February 13, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Every. Since the Aquila brand emerged on the market, it has been known for it’s constant innovation. The designers created angular lines and large windows and vast living spaces in catamarans that decidedly unique. The concept caught on. Today, Aquila is one of the world’s largest builders of cruising power cats. Now they have broken the mold again by introducing the new 46 Coupe and it’s little sister the 42 Coupe. The bigger of the two shows just how much they can do inside a 46-foot high performance cruising cat. First, the 46 is outboard driven and makes good use…

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