Destinations

Lots To Do at Wharf Marina in Washington, D.C.

By Peter Janssen on August 24, 2023 Destinations

Totally aside from its politics, Washington, D.C., has always been a boater-friendly town, located on the banks of the Potomac with first-class marinas on both the Maryland and Virginia sides. Boaters have been sailing up the Potomac from the Chesapeake and beyond ever since the British sent warships up the river in the War of 1812. It’s much more peaceful now, and much more welcoming, particularly with the completion of the $3.6 billion, 24-acre Wharf project along Washington Channel just south of the Mall. The massive Wharf Marina there has more than 300 slips along the development’s mile-long promenade that…

Lake Tahoe Concours: 60 Antique Boats

By Peter Janssen on August 16, 2023 Destinations

The 49th annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance just ended on the west shore of the majestic lake, one of the most beautiful spots in the United States. (I may be biased here, because I grew up in San Francisco and my family spent many summer vacations there.) Nestled between California and Nevada at 6,225 feet above sea level in the Sierras, Tahoe is about 21 miles long and 11 miles wide. The water, averaging abut 1,000 feet deep, is also clear and cold, very cold. If you’re waterskiing there, the water temperature alone is a major incentive not to fall…

Ford’s Terror on Airship, a Nordic Tug 44

By co_admin on August 10, 2023 Destinations

For the past several years, Laura Dormela, a professional photographer from Portland, Oregon, has led a Slowboat flotilla of cruising boats up the Inside Passage from the San Juan Islands just above Seattle to Juneau, Alaska. She and her husband, Kevin Morris, the editor of an electronics journal, cruise on their 2006 Nordic Tug 44 named Airship. This summer, after the flotilla disbanded, they kept cruising. Recently they were in Tracy Arm, about 45 miles miles south of Juneau, with a breathtaking glacier (I was there many years ago with my friend Eric Schweikardt). Then they went a bit farther…

New Marina Coming Near Nassau in Bahamas

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2023 Destinations

A new resort and marina is planned for Blue Water Cay, a bit southeast of Nassau, designed to be a gateway to cruising, fishing and enjoying life in the Bahamas. Construction is scheduled to start soon on the Legendary Marina Resort at Blue Water Cay on a 20-acre peninsula. The new marina will include state-of-the-art docks for boats up to 200 feet and hurricane-rated dry storage for 750 boats up to 55 feet with quick launch services. The marina will have a high-speed fuel dock with gas and diesel, and on-site marine service and repair facilities. A concierge service can…

Where the Superyachts Are This Summer

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2023 Destinations

We all know that the rich and famous gather at St. Bart’s on their superyachts to celebrate Christmas and the New Year’s holidays. But in the summer? Well, most of those same people, on their same yachts, head for the Med. To keep track of who’s where, Forbes made a list of superyachts that are already in or around the Med, enjoying life from St. Tropez to the Greek islands, shuttling back and forth to some of the most beautiful harbors in the world, often on the yacht’s own helicopter. (Solandge, a 279-foot charter yacht, is pictured cruising off Croatia.)…

Florida Running Out of Dock Space

By Peter Janssen on June 28, 2023 Destinations

This probably isn’t news to anybody who’s been paying attention, but The New York Post reports that dock space is so tight in Florida now that some owners are paying $1 million to reserve a slip even before their yacht is built. With the influx of large yachts, owners are scrambling to find space to dock them (owners of 30-foot boats are having trouble, too). “South Florida has become a highly desirable place to live not just domestically, but globally,” Carolyn Stone, the deputy town manager of Palm Beach, told the paper. “There just weren’t enough slips to accommodate the…

Mackinac: #1 Summer Travel Destination

By Peter Janssen on June 22, 2023 Destinations

It’s always been a personal favorite, but I was still a bit surprised to learn that Mackinac Island, nestled between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, had been voted the number one Best Summer Destination in the United States in the 2023 USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards. Mystic, Connecticut, with its historic seaport and aquarium, was number three. Nantucket, Catalina, the San Juans? Oh well. Lots of people love Mackinac (pronounced “Mackinaw”), and for good reason. A four-acre island at the top of Lake Huron, just around the corner from the top of Lake Michigan, Mackinac has been a major tourist…

Silent-Yachts Planning New Resort in Fiji

By Peter Janssen on June 13, 2023 Cruising Life, Destinations

Silent-Resorts, the partner of the innovative Austrian electric catamaran builders Silent-Yachts, just announced that it’s planning a new collection of luxury off-the-grid homes in Fiji. Construction of the new totally solar-powered homes is set to begin at the end of the year. And new owners will have exclusive use of Silent-Yachts’ solar-electric tenders, speedboats and catamarans. The Fiji project will be the second solar-powered marina and residence resort built by Silent-Resorts. The first, in Exuma, the Bahamas, is now under construction and the company says it’s “progressing rapidly.” Owners there have use of a Silent 55. The Bahamas resort is…

Big Waterfront News from Fort Lauderdale

By Peter Janssen on June 12, 2023 Destinations

Fort Lauderdale, already known as the yachting capital of America, is going to get bigger yet. The city government just approved a $1 billion redevelopment of the Bahia Mar complex, home of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to include four condominium towers, a 23-floor luxury hotel, a marina village with restaurants and bars, and a park with a public waterfront promenade. Then, across town, the Port 32 Fort Lauderdale Marina, a new development, opened this week on the Marina Mile on the New River, just west of I-95. It has room for 32 yachts in a three-acre yacht basin,…

Lyman-Morse Camden Expansion Now Open

By Peter Janssen on June 5, 2023 Destinations

Now that summer has started, Lyman-Morse says that its new waterfront development in Camden, Maine, one of the most desirable cruising destinations on the East Coast, is in full swing. Lyman-Morse, based in Thomaston, Maine, decided to expand to Camden and create a new waterfront development, including a marina, restaurants, and even some crew quarters, in 2015. It bought about 33,000 square feet of marine service and commercial space and started major renovations, but things went south after a fire in 2020. But now everything is open and ready. On the boating side, you now can reserve a mooring or…

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