Destinations

Want a Boat in Croatia? Try Uber

By Peter Janssen on August 25, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Uber, the fast-growing ride-sharing service, is taking to the water. Now, with the UberBOAT app, you can call your own boat to carry you around Croatia’s major tourist islands. The company says that several hundred people have used the service since it was started six weeks ago. If UberBOAT is successful in Croatia, it could move to Greece, Spain and the Caribbean. In the Croatia version, users can choose a one-way trip or an “adventure,” where you get to choose your own route. UberBOAT has about 60 boats there, and the company’s goal is to meet customers within 15 minutes…

27 Reasons to Go Cruising in Mystic, Old Saybrook and Essex, Connecticut. And Then There’s the Fall Foliage

By Peter Janssen on August 23, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

It’s no secret that the Connecticut shoreline, particularly in the Old Saybrook to Mystic area, offers some of the best cruising on the east coast, with a combination of national and maritime history and a large selection of welcoming large and small marinas. And that’s before you head up the Connecticut River to Essex, which was burned by the British in the War of 1812 and is now the quintessential small New England town, or Hamburg Cove, just up the river a bit, one of the best gunkholes anywhere, in my opinion. But now that area is attracting more attention.…

The Thousand Islands: Great Fresh-Water Cruising Destination, but Watch the Rocks

By Peter Janssen on August 16, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

A great fresh-water summer cruising destination, the Thousand Islands dot the St. Lawrence River between New York State and the province of Ontario, straddling the invisible border between the U.S. and Canada. It’s an area where you could easily spend a few days, or an entire summer, navigating – slowly – among the granite islands that have been there since the Ice Age. Some are large, generally meaning a few acres, and some are small; one is the size of a billiard table. Large or small, the rocks surrounding them are real; you definitely want to stay in the well-marked…

5 Fun Things To Do with Kids in the Florida Keys

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

If you’re cruising in the Keys with your family, here are some great ideas from Drew White, the resident expert at Cannons Marina on Longboat Key. White spent summers there as a kid himself, and now lives there. You may have your own list, but here’s a good place to start: 1.Eat on the dock at Robbie’s Restaurant in Islamorada, and get a bucket of fish to feed the tarpon. 2.Visit the Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key, where there are hundreds of small deer. 3.Swim with the dolphins at Theatre of the Sea on Islamorada, a mini-theme park.…

Rosario Resort and Marina: A Restored Jewel in the San Juans

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

A few years ago, at the end of a charter vacation in the San Juan Islands, my youngest daughter, Liz, and I put in to Rosario Resort Marina. It’s on a small protected bay off East Sound, which almost cuts the fairly large Orcas Island in half. We were on a Grand Banks 36 from NW Explorations in Bellingham, Washington, and had already been cruising up in South Pender Island and then Roche Harbor. Rosario was going to be an easy, last night stop on our way back to Bellingham. It was all that and more. East Sound is long,…

12 Best Beaches in the Caribbean Rated by U.S. News & World Report. See If You Agree

By Peter Janssen on July 26, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Here’s a great list of the 12 best beaches in the Caribbean, at least in the opinion of U.S. News & World Report, which specializes in rating these kinds of things. Not that I’m one to disagree, since I have only been to a few of these; they all look terrific to me. It’s not hard to imagine dropping the hook off any of these beaches and taking the dink in for some exploring and sunning on shore. Many of them also have waterfront bars or other attractions in case the lure of some of the most beautiful sand in…

Insider’s Guide to the Best of the BVI. Keep This List!

By Peter Janssen on July 19, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Like many cruising people, I’ve been to the British Virgin Islands many times, and I think I know my way around. Well, turns out I was just getting started. I found plenty of new places on this insider’s guide to the best of the BVI from someone who grew up and still lives there, and I can’t wait to go back to try some of them out. Here, for example, you’ll find the best anchorage, the best beach, the best watersports, the best snorkeling (at The Indians, pictured above), the best hidden gem, the best hiking trails, and the best-kept…

Great Advice for Cruising the Beautiful but Remote North Channel from a Couple in a Mainship 30

By Peter Janssen on July 5, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

It’s beautiful, but it’s also remote, with some very narrow channels and a rock-lined bottom. Still, the North Channel of Lake Huron certainly qualifies as one of the best cruising destinations for boats coming from either the United States or Canada. Stretching 160 nm across the northern shore of Lake Huron, in the Canadian province of Ontario, the North Channel is filled with beckoning anchorages, uninhabited islands, hidden beaches and just enough marinas to keep everyone on board happy. Most cruisers who’ve been there agree that navigation can be tricky. The North Channel is 20 miles across at its widest point,…

Cruising in Casco Bay: Portland and So Much More

By Peter Janssen on June 28, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

On my first trips to Maine, I’d hang a left at Cape Elizabeth and head into Casco Bay, usually tying up at DiMillo’s in downtown Portland and having a great dinner at one of the city’s many new, highly acclaimed restaurants. And then, most of the time, I’d have an early breakfast at Becky’s Diner, eating with the fishermen, before heading Down East to see friends in my favorite cruising grounds of Tenants Harbor or Somes Sound. Finally, I realized what a lot of people already knew. Casco Bay is a great cruising destination in itself, dotted with islands, beaches,…

First-Hand Report about What’s Open and What’s Not on Grand Bahama Island

By Peter Janssen on June 26, 2017 Cruising Life, Destinations

Hurricane Matthew tore through Grand Bahama Island with 140-mph winds last October, causing extensive damage to boats and marinas. But what can you expect now? Here’s a great first-hand report by Greg Allard for the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net, who visited there earlier this month. The Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End, where many cruisers from Palm Beach or the Miami and Fort Lauderdale area clear Customs, was closed for months after the hurricane, and then reopened without power. But now all the damage to docks has been repaired, and new power has been installed. The marina is in…

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