Cruising Life

Horizon PC68 Making Palm Beach Debut

By Peter Janssen on March 20, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Horizon PC68, with a creative Portuguese bridge and expansive living and entertaining areas on all three decks, is making its debut at the Palm Beach show this week. Up top, you can order the bridge to be open or as an enclosed sky lounge. Either way, it comes with a day head and shower, a grill, freezer, and a bar with a fridge and an icemaker. It also has the upper helm, of course, and enough seating areas to hold a dozen or so of your friends. The boat deck aft is large enough to carry a 17-foot RIB.…

Hawaii Dept. Land and Natural Resources

$2 Million Suit in Hawaii Yacht Grounding

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2023 Cruising Life

It didn’t take long, but now the other shoe has dropped. Last week, we reported on the 94-foot Sunseeker that was rescued and then scuttled after drifting onto a reef and leaking diesel oil off Maui, Hawaii. Now the owner and the captain of the 2004 yacht, named Nakoa, are being sued for $2 million by the people who sold it to him last year. Kevin and Kimberly Albert, trustees of the Albert Revocable Trust in New Mexico, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. They are seeking at least $1.45 million in damages for the yacht from Jim…

Boating 101: How To Throw a Line

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2023 Cruising Life

You certainly already know this, but does your crew, or the guest you just invited on board for the first time who wants to help out with docking? Here’s some great advice about the best way to throw a line from BoatUS.: Based on the number of failed attempts we all see on any given day at the marina docks, it seems there has to be some sort of mystical trick to throwing a line. Not really! It’s all in practice, and a few simple techniques. Make a few practice throws to verify the technique below and you’ll have a…

NOAA

5,000-Mile-Long Blob Heading for Florida

By Peter Janssen on March 19, 2023 Cruising Life

A 5,000-mile-long blob of sargassum algae is floating in the Atlantic, heading from Africa to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, fouling propellers, clogging sea strainers, and entangling fishing lines along the way. Then, when it washes up on beaches, it can pile up several feet high, releasing a noxious odor and derailing the tourist trade everywhere from Caribbean islands to Miami. Scientists have been studying and measuring the Great Sargassum Belt since 2011. The floating brown blob has been getting bigger and bigger every year, and it doubles in size every month from November to January. When they measured…

Azimut Unveils New Hybrid Seadeck Series

By Peter Janssen on March 18, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut just announced that it’s starting a new line of luxury hybrid cruising yachts that will cut emissions by 40 percent. Azimut said the new line, called Seadeck, will be built with lightweight carbon exteriors and planing hulls for efficiency. The new Seadecks, starting with the Seadeck 6, a 56’ 7” motoryacht, will be fitted out with recycled and recyclable materials. The yachts will have solar panels on the roof tops, and a battery pack that’s strong enough to power the boat’s systems for four to eight hours at anchor. They also will have energy recovery systems to create hot…

Sunreef Building New Line of Fast Ultima Cats

By Peter Janssen on March 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef, which has been making luxury catamarans in Poland for the past 20 years, just announced that it’s building a new Ultima line of fast, high-tech, hybrid cats, starting with a 45 and a 55. Francis Lapp, the yard’s founder and president, said the new cats will have “the ultimate hull shape for all those who are looking to enjoy quick getaways in speed, comfort, and style.” The new line, he said, is “all about fast cruises, vast living space, and energy efficiency.” The new cats have sleek, aerodynamic lines and bulwarks that fold down from the aft decks to…

New Electric Hovercraft Hits 50 mph

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Michael Mercier built his first hovercraft when he was 13 years old, working with plans from Boy’s Life magazine. Mercier’s now 36, and after studying mechanical engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University and years of dreaming and tinkering, he’s launched his first personal hovercraft. It’s the VonMercier Arosa, an all-electric craft that can hover about six inches above the surface (ground, water, or a combination of the two) and cruises at 20 mph but can top out (briefly) at 50 mph. The Arosa is powered by three electric motors producing 240-hp. Potential owners can choose either an 18 kWh battery that will…

Numarine Building Explorer Yacht with a Pool

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Numarine, the upscale Turkish builder, just announced that they’re building a new 40MXP global explorer yacht with transatlantic range. Standard power on the new 128-foot 40MXP is twin 800-hp MAN diesels, producing a range of 6,000 miles at 8 knots. Numarine says it has already sold the first two hulls of the yacht, and both clients, who are existing Numarine owners, have ordered the optional 900-hp MANs for a bit more power. Numarine specializes in high-performance, luxury explorer yachts. Umberto Tagliavini, the Italian naval architect who has worked on many of the company’s yachts, drew the hull for the 40MXP.…

New Safety Problems in Panama Canal

By co_admin on March 15, 2023 Cruising Life, Destinations

By Charlie Bartlett (The Loadstar) – OOCL Utah‘s near-collision on Sunday with a Panama Canal lock gate suggests a tragic and costly accident is waiting to happen, say experts. Video footage shows a fore-positioned ‘alpha’ tug almost crushed between the Hong Kong-flagged containership and the canal’s Agua Clara lock gate. There was no aft-situated ‘delta’ tug to stop the vessel. Representatives of the Panama Canal Captains and Deck Officers Union told The Loadstar how a lack of procedures and under-resourcing by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) left pilots – paid per vessel – calling the shots. “They [pilots] want to finish fast, because the more…

7 Tips for Safer Coastal Navigation

By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2023 Cruising Life

In an age of sophisticated electronics and digital course plotting, it’s all too easy to overlook the basics of coastal navigation. Here are seven tips from Skipper Tips that can serve as a refresher course to keep you and your crew safe on your next cruise: 1. Double-check Courses. Parallel rules and protractors tend to slip when underway. Just a slight bit of slippage could throw a course or bearing off by several degrees. Take the extra step and measure your plotted course twice. If both measurements agree, you will know you’re right! 2. Keep Bearing Spreads to 60-90-120. Shoot two…

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