Cruising Life

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Palmer-Johnson’s Time Scuttled for Reef

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2023 Cruising Life

The 125-foot yacht Time, the largest aluminum yacht ever built when it was launched in 1987, was scuttled off Fort Pierce, Florida, last Saturday in an effort to turn it into an artificial reef. Time received a lot of attention when it was built at Palmer-Johnson in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. PJ was one of the premier American builders at the time. And the exterior design was by Tom Fexas, a well-known designer then. The interior was by JC Espinosa Design, a relative newcomer at the time. The yacht has three staterooms for six guests, plus quarters for five crew. With…

Ohio Valley Aerial showing Mississippi River just south of Cairo last fall.

Mississippi, Ohio Rivers Drying Up

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2023 Cruising Life

As if anyone contemplating the Great Loop this summer doesn’t have enough problems, now it turns out that both the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers are starting to dry up – for the second straight year. In Cairo, Illinois, where the two rivers join, water levels dropped more than 6 feet last week, and they’re forecast to fall 4 feet more by the end of July. That would push the Ohio into its official low stage, where barges can run aground and the shipping channels narrow. In St. Louis, the Mississippi could fall another 3 feet by the end of…

Technohull Launches New 38 with Fashion Brand

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2023 Cruising Life

If you want to see what’s possible with a RIB, take a look at the new Aimé Leon Dore/Technohull 38 Grand Sport, the result of a collaboration between the New York-based fashion brand and the upscale Greek builder. The new RIB has Technohull’s signature black color, with rich green tubes and custom Aimé Leon Dore offshore branding, including premium marine seats and tonal embroidering. The Technohull 38 is built on a deep-V hull with a sharp entry and variable deadrise. Power comes from twin 450-hp Mercury Racing outboards, producing a top speed in the 90-mph range. Technohulls are known for…

Heat Wave Threatens Florida’s Coral Reefs

By co_admin on July 17, 2023 Cruising Life

CNN — A sudden marine heat wave off the coast of Florida has surprised scientists and sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, threatening one of the most severe coral bleaching events the state has ever seen. Sea surface temperatures around Florida have reached the highest levels on record since satellites began collecting ocean data. And the warming is happening much earlier than normal – yet another example of ocean heat being amplified by the human-caused climate crisis and the extreme weather it brings. “We didn’t expect this heating to happen so early in the year and to be so extreme,”…

Hinckley Makes Docking Easier with JetStick 4

By Peter Janssen on July 16, 2023 Cruising Life

Hinckley, one of the proudest names in yachting, just introduced its innovative JetStick 4 control system that makes driving and docking easier than ever before. The heart of the new JetStick is a Dock Hold feature that holds a boat against a dock while the owner secures the lines or performs other duties on deck or below. It’s more precise and seamless than previous versions, and is particularly useful for owners who are short-handed or don’t want to have to rely on guests to help in docking the yacht. “Our clients want the best possible experience when they’re on the…

Granocean Building Luxe 72 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on July 12, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Granocean just started building a new luxurious 72 power catamaran in its yard outside Sydney, Australia, with the interior space and design of a good-sized condo in New York or London. The company says it can customize the new 72 to suit an owner’s tastes. Hull number one is under construction for a European owner, and it has a sophisticated mint-green exterior color that’s bound to turn heads anywhere in the world. The interior, by Vripack in The Netherlands, has an elegant minimalist design, while the hull was designed by Howard Apollonio of Washington State and the structural engineering by…

Nordhavn 76 Cruises to Fiji and Beyond

By Peter Janssen on July 12, 2023 Cruising Life

The Spirit of Ulysses, a well-travelled Nordhavn 76, just left Fiji on its epic 9,900 nm cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Perth, Australia, and things are going well so far. They are going so well, in fact, that the captain, Nikolay Alexandrov, just posted on the yacht’s blog that the owner, Kris Townend, “is happy, great trip so far! He likes the boating life more and more, and his other job less and less.” Welcome to the world of blue-water cruising. Townend, an Australian, bought Spirit of Ulysses last February in Fort Lauderdale. Built in 2007, the boat had already…

Catana Unveils New Brand of Power Cats

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Catana Group in France that’s been making sailing catamarans for the past 40 years just announced that they’re starting a new power cat brand, called YOT. They will introduce their first boat, the YOT 36, at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. A family company, Catana makes Catana and Bali sailing cats in five different yards, three in France and one each in Portugal and Tunisia, with more than 1,300 employees. But recently, the power cat market beckoned. As Boris Compagnon, the group’s sales and marketing director, said, “Knowing that eight out of ten boats in the world today…

New Princess X80 with Luxury Sky Lounge

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new British-built Princess X80, with its creative glazing, super-sized sky lounge and a foredeck with a Jacuzzi, is now in the U.S. It also has a large main deck with an extra space all the way forward that can be either a dinette with 270-degree views or a fifth stateroom, complete with its own head and shower and door to the side deck. (So far, about half the buyers in the U.K. have ordered the dinette, while the other half want the stateroom.) The new Princess X80 doesn’t lack for power. It comes with twin 1,900-hp MAN diesels, producing…

SAY Reveals New, Lightweight, Carbon 52

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

SAY Carbon Yachts in Germany just unveiled their new flagship, the SAY Carbon 52, a long, low, lean and very lightweight cruiser that is bound to turns heads on both sides of the Atlantic. SAY will hold the worldwide premiere of the new 52 at the big Düsseldorf show next January, and then roll it out in the European and the U.S. markets. SY is a high-tech company that already makes a 29 and a 42 in its factory in Allgäu, near Lake Constance (Bodensee). With a carbon fiber hull and deck, the SAY 52 weighs in at just 15,000…

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