Cruising Life

Wayne Gretzky Builds 34-Foot Mahogany Boat

By Peter Janssen on June 27, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Wayne Gretzky, probably the greatest hockey player of all time, and his wife, Janet, are now cruising on Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho on their new 340 HT Steinway mahogany boat from Coeur Custom there. The Gretzkys actually took delivery of the boat last September, but then used it for just two days before closing their vacation house in Coeur d’Alene and heading south. This summer they’ll enter it at the Coeur d’Alene Antique and Classic Boat Festival, starting August 13. The boat took 12 months to build, and it’s made of Sapele wood with 16 coats of varnish, white…

Rosborough 246: A No-Frills Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 27, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Rosborough 246, a no-frills pocket cruiser built by Eastern Boats in Milton, New Hampshire, almost cries out, “Great Loop.” With its protected cabin, V-berth for two, enclosed head and single-outboard power, the Rosborough is fully capable of tackling the Great Loop, or almost any other coastal cruising destination. Indeed, John Hauck, an 82-year-old retired Special Forces major, has completed the Great Loop twice on his 2003 Rosborough 246. Rosboroughs were originally made as commercial fishing boats in Nova Scotia, where they earned a reputation as salty and reliable performers. Rosborough sold the molds to the 246 to Eastern Boats…

Zurn Designs Electric Launch

By Peter Janssen on June 27, 2022 Cruising Life

Doug Zurn usually draws the lines of larger, and faster, boats. Known for his Down East designs with slim, slippery lines, Zurn, the head of Zurn Yacht Design in Marblehead, Massachusetts, has designed boats for MJM, Bruckmann, Marlow, Hylas, plus the Shelter Island Runabout and Billy Joel’s 57-foot commuter Vendetta, among many others. Zurn just announced that he’s working on a new project with Boston BoatWorks – a 30-foot electric launch called the AMC 30 for the Appalachian Mountain Club. It’s in memory of Mark Lindsay, the founder of Boston BoatWorks, who passed away in 2019 at the age of…

Electric Ferry Sets World Record

By Peter Janssen on June 22, 2022 Cruising Life

A 198-foot all-electric ferry just said a new world record of cruising 50 nm on a single battery charge, according to its builder. The ferry, named Ellen, cruised from Sónderborg, Denmark, where it was on display at the International Energy Agency’s annual conference, back home to its base in the islands in the south of Denmark. Danfoss Editron, which supplied the ferry’s drivetrain and motors, said it would submit the cruise to Guinness World Records for the longest sea voyage on a single charge. Ellen was built by the Danish yard of Soby Vaerft, with a 4.3MWh battery system. The…

New Prestige 690 with Swarovski Interior

By Peter Janssen on June 22, 2022 Cruising Life

Prestige Yachts, the upscale French builder, is taking the world of luxurious yacht interiors to a new level. Prestige just formed a partnership with Swarovski, the Austrian maker of world-famous crystal glass since 1862, to design a limited-edition Prestige 690 with lavish, light-catching and over-the-top Swarovski surfaces and inserts. For the new yacht, Prestige and Swarovski redesigned the standard interior of a 690 to create panels of Swarovski’s unique Crystal Compound elements, made from a complex glass panel with Swarovski crystals. The decorative panels are created with a glass backdrop with the embedded crystals. They are then combined with grey…

Leopard Building New 40 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on June 21, 2022 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Leopard is building an all-new 40 powercat in its factory in Cape Town, South Africa. It will launch the cat there at the end of the year, and then hold a world premiere at the Miami show in February. The new 40 is the smallest entry in the Leopard powercat fleet, which now has a 46 and a 53. The company says the 40 will have all the comfort and seaworthiness of its larger siblings, but in a smaller package. The company says the flybridge on the 40 is the largest in its size range. It has an upper helm…

How To Prepare for a Hurricane

By co_admin on June 21, 2022 Cruising Life

Hurricane season is now well underway, and NOAA says it will be more active than normal. Here’s some great advice from America’s Boating Club (formerly the U.S. Power Squadrons) about how you can make your boat ready for the storm: Hurricane preparation for boaters can help protect your boat during the predicted above-normal 2022 hurricane season. If you live in a hurricane-susceptible area, you need to create a hurricane plan for your boat. First, ask your marina about its hurricane plan and what procedures are in place to handle major storms. This will help you formulate your own plan. Given…

Solar Panels Everywhere on Fabiani 77

By Peter Janssen on June 21, 2022 Cruising Life

At first glance, this may seem to be too much of a good thing; on the other hand, it may be the start of a new trend. In any event, all those solar panels do provide a good deal of eco-friendly power to the Wedgewood Hybrid, 77, now under construction at the Fabiani Yacht yard in Livorno, Italy. When extended, the solar “park” has 1,200 square feet of panels to supply power to the yacht’s batteries that then can drive two electric motors. The yacht can cruise for up to 16 hours at 6 to 8 knots under solar power…

Two Killed, Ten Hurt, in Crash near Miami

By Peter Janssen on June 20, 2022 Cruising Life

Two people were killed and ten injured when two boats collided at night near Key Biscayne, Florida, the Coast Guard reports. One boat was 21-feet long, and the other was 30-feet long; seven people were on one, and five on the other. All the people were in the water about one mile west of Key Biscayne when the Coast Guard and other boaters arrived at the scene about 10:30 at night. Jose Hernandez, a Coast Guard spokesman, said, “They were all launched out of their boats.” Xavier Ruiz, who was boating nearby at the time, told Local10.com that he heard…

Dunkirk Little Ships Parade for Queen

By Peter Janssen on June 19, 2022 Cruising Life

In one of the most awe-inspiring events in modern history, a flotilla of 850 “little ships” managed to evacuate the battered remains of the British Army from the shores of Dunkirk, France, over just a few days in 1940 at the start of the Second World War. The Germans sank about 200 of the ships, but all in all the collection of private yachts, launches and various other vessels managed to rescue 338,228 British, French and allied soldiers from the broad beach at Dunkirk ahead of rapidly advancing German forces. Now, some of the remaining little ships held a parade…

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