Boats

Nordhavn 86 Still Queen of the Fleet — For Now

Nordhavn 86 Still Queen of the Fleet — For Now

  For a little while longer this year–until the giant Nordhavn 120 is launched–the Nordhavn 86 is still the largest boat from this famous bluewater brand of trawlers. And in many ways, she is already a superyacht. At 400,000 lbs she has as much mass as many in the 120’ to 140’ class, so this [...]

P.A.E. Introduces New Nordhavn 52 Coastal Pilot

P.A.E. Introduces New Nordhavn 52 Coastal Pilot

    The builders of the famous Nordhavn brand of ocean-crossing, full-displacement yachts, this week introduced a brand-new design – the 52 Coastal Pilot — that reestablishes a coastal cruising model in the company’s fleet.  The original 35 Coastal Pilot has been discontinued for several years, but Nordhavn admirers continued to clamor for a replacement. [...]

Florida Dealer Delivers the 100th Ranger Tug 29

Florida Dealer Delivers the 100th Ranger Tug 29

  Wefings Marine, the Apalachicola, Florida-based Ranger Tugs dealer, recently delivered the 100th Ranger Tug 29 to her new owners.  The 100th boat was sold by Marc Grove, who owns the dealership.  Grove also sold the first R29 in 2009.  Wefings Marine has also committed to buying the first of the new R31 series. Grove [...]

Ranger Tugs Announces New Ranger 31′

Ranger Tugs Announces New Ranger 31′

Fluid Motion, LLC, designers and builders of the Ranger Tugs line of trailerable “pocket trawlers” this week announced a new flagship to the fleet — the Ranger 31′.  The new R31 will make its debut at the Seattle Boat Show from January 26 to February 5; followed by an expected East Coast debut at the [...]

Electronics and Technology

What is the best marine navigation app for the iPad?

What is the best marine navigation app for the iPad?

(Editor’s note — Christine Kling is an accomplished sailor and mystery author and she has spent a great deal of time actually using the iPad on the water for navigation and related tasks.  While your mileage may vary, I would put a lot of stock in Christine’s evaluation of these apps.  I’ve included here the [...]

Northport Systems Announces Fugawi Marine 5

Northport Systems Announces Fugawi Marine 5

Northport Systems announced that its newest marine navigation software, Fugawi Marine 5, will be available at the end of March for new purchase and upgrade from Fugawi Marine ENC. According to the company, Fugawi Marine 5 takes advantage of the latest Windows technology, including a touch-screen control optimized for use with Win 7 and 8 [...]

ActiveCaptain Expands Dramatically with Routes and More Reviews

ActiveCaptain Expands Dramatically with Routes and More Reviews

ActiveCaptain.com, the crowd-sourced database of local navigation and cruising knowledge, has been expanding its offerings over the last couple of months with some significant new capabilities.  The two most important, in my view, involve route-sharing and an allied site devoted to captain reviews of boating-related services.  Here’s a quick rundown on some of the new developments. [...]

Nobeltec Releases Admiral and VNS 11.1 Service Pack

Nobeltec Releases Admiral and VNS 11.1 Service Pack

Nobeltec said today it has released a free service pack update for users of the new (January 2011) version of Admiral and VNS.  The service pack offers integration with Furuno’s popular Digital Fish Finder (DFF1) Sounder, as well as a number of NMEA 2000 integration improvements.  While I don’t often simply reprint a press release, [...]

Cruising and Passagemaking

Marinalife Expands Discount Program for Boaters

Marinalife Expands Discount Program for Boaters

Marinalife announced an expansion of their card-holder Discount Program.  The expansion brings access to thousands of discounts, along with a streamlined way to search for them by keyword, city, state, body of water and category.  The company reports savings up to 50% on dockage, fuel, repairs, towing, service and maintenance, restaurants and more. Joy McPeters [...]

Expedition Medical Kits — For Journeys Long and Short

Expedition Medical Kits — For Journeys Long and Short

The Expedition Medical Chest series is unlike the cheap kits you get from the typical marine supply house, these kits are stocked with professional-grade supplies and tools to help you deal with health emergencies while at sea.

Sea Fare — Victoria Allman in the Galley

Sea Fare — Victoria Allman in the Galley

  Bimini Breakdown by Victoria Allman We were only going to be in Bimini for two days. There was no time to waste.  I wanted Bimini Bread. Trouble was, we were anchored two miles off the east coast of the island and the tender was broken.  Harry, our engineer was busy trying to fix it.  [...]

Sea Fare:  Victoria Allman in the Galley – Spring 2011

Sea Fare: Victoria Allman in the Galley – Spring 2011

Tribal Bartering By Victoria Allman “Are they still there?” I asked Patrick as he walked through the galley. “They haven’t left.” Patrick grabbed a slice of pineapple from the platter in front of me. “We’re surrounded.” I swatted his hand as he reached for another slice. The fruit tray was for the guests on Pangaea, [...]

Seamanship

Northport Systems Announces Fugawi Marine 5

Northport Systems Announces Fugawi Marine 5

Northport Systems announced that its newest marine navigation software, Fugawi Marine 5, will be available at the end of March for new purchase and upgrade from Fugawi Marine ENC. According to the company, Fugawi Marine 5 takes advantage of the latest Windows technology, including a touch-screen control optimized for use with Win 7 and 8 [...]

ActiveCaptain Expands Dramatically with Routes and More Reviews

ActiveCaptain Expands Dramatically with Routes and More Reviews

ActiveCaptain.com, the crowd-sourced database of local navigation and cruising knowledge, has been expanding its offerings over the last couple of months with some significant new capabilities.  The two most important, in my view, involve route-sharing and an allied site devoted to captain reviews of boating-related services.  Here’s a quick rundown on some of the new developments. [...]

When Chesapeake Bay Becomes a Hurricane Hole for a Ship

When Chesapeake Bay Becomes a Hurricane Hole for a Ship

A fascinating blog entry yesterday on the Kadey-Krogen Yachts website recounts the Hurricane Irene experience of Chesapeake ship pilot Bill Band, father of Shannon Band, KKY’s marketing manager.  Band was one of two pilots who took the 960-foot Carnival Pride out of the Port of Baltimore and into the Bay to ride out the hurricane.  [...]

Expedition Medical Kits — For Journeys Long and Short

Expedition Medical Kits — For Journeys Long and Short

The Expedition Medical Chest series is unlike the cheap kits you get from the typical marine supply house, these kits are stocked with professional-grade supplies and tools to help you deal with health emergencies while at sea.

Engines and Systems

Torqeedo Launches Next Generation of Tiller-Control Electric Motors

Torqeedo Launches Next Generation of Tiller-Control Electric Motors

Torqeedo, which I’ve talked about a lot here on OceanLines, has launched the next generation of its tiller-controlled electric outboard motors.  The company says the new Cruise 2.0T and 4.0T are “stronger, faster, more robust and more efficient. Torqeedo says the motors have a new, innovative display on the tiller, which shows information regarding battery [...]

Northern Lights Shrinks Genny, Adds WaveNet NMEA 2000 Monitoring

Northern Lights Shrinks Genny, Adds WaveNet NMEA 2000 Monitoring

Northern Lights is basking in the southern sunshine this weekend at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) with a new skinny genny and a NMEA 2000-certified digital monitoring system called WaveNet. The newly shrunk generator, the M773LW3, is a 9kW model and is almost 30% smaller than its predecessor.  “The overall size of smaller [...]

Take the Poll — What’s the Ideal Tender Outboard?

Take the Poll — What’s the Ideal Tender Outboard?

If you could have the perfect outboard for your dinghy or tender, what would it be?  A diesel perhaps, because you’re already carrying hundreds or thousands of gallons of that fuel and because looking for and storing gasoline is such a pain in the neck, not to mention dangerous? I’ve long thought, for example, that [...]

Video Debut: The Underway Series from OceanLines, Episode 1

Video Debut: The Underway Series from OceanLines, Episode 1

By way of introducing this new video series, let me re-state what will become obvious to you:  I am a writer. And writers may have great ideas for video but viewers will likely suffer a bit while the writer learns to be a filmmaker. And with that ugly excuse for the quality of our first [...]

Industry and People

Nordic Tugs Production Re-Starting

Nordic Tugs Production Re-Starting

News this week from Nordic Tugs, Inc., that it has re-started production after a three-month hiatus during which most of the operational employees were laid off.  Bob Shamek, who heads sales and marketing for Nordic Tugs, said workers were being recalled as the production processes ramp up. The company has a number of boats on [...]

A Bigger Motorsailer from Nordhavn?

A Bigger Motorsailer from Nordhavn?

Pacific Asian Enterprises, the company that builds the Nordhavn line of passagemaking boats, has spent some of the less-pressured time of the economic recession to finish work on a couple of new designs.  Among them reportedly are a larger version of the 75 Expedition Yacht Fisher, a megayacht even bigger than the Nordhavn 120 currently [...]

Nordic Tug Brand Could Revive Under Management Buyout

Nordic Tug Brand Could Revive Under Management Buyout

The current management team at Nordic Tugs is looking for investors to help them acquire the brand and production capabilities from the current private owner of the company, according to a source familiar with the search. Late last week, the Washington state boatbuilder announced it was shutting down manufacturing operations. The company recently launched a [...]

BREAKING NEWS – FLIR To Acquire Raymarine

Soundings Trade Only is reporting that FLIR has announced the purchase of Raymarine.  Keep an eye out for Ben Ellison’s take on this development coming soon on Panbo, no doubt. Copyright © 2010 by OceanLines LLC.  All rights reserved.



Other Recent Posts

First Photos of Nordhavn 63 Delivery

First Photos of Nordhavn 63 Delivery

| July 6, 2011 | 0 Comments

We’ve got a great collection of photos of the very first Nordhavn 63, Silver Spray, taken by Billy Black in Stuart, Florida, for P.A.E. last month just before delivery.  There is quite a bit of detail to absorb and the photos leave you with the overwhelming impression of a luxurious, capable bluewater yacht.  I happen [...]

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First Nordhavn 63 Performance Data

First Nordhavn 63 Performance Data

| June 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

Pacific Asian Enterprises, Inc., yesterday released the first published performance data for the new Nordhavn 63.  The data are from the first hull, Silver Spray, which was just delivered to its owner at PAE’s Stuart, Florida commissioning facility.  As you can see in the accompanying photo above, taken by the yacht’s owner, the N63 truly [...]

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New Nordic Tugs 39 A Nice Update to NT Fleet

New Nordic Tugs 39 A Nice Update to NT Fleet

| June 6, 2011 | 0 Comments

In a piece I wrote for YachtWorld.com this week, I said that the new Nordic Tugs 39, an updated replacement for the NT-37, is a worthy successor.  The couple I interviewed in the story, Donna and Kevin Steele, went through a meticulous process that culminated in choosing the new NT-39 and their experience would serve [...]

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Nordhavn 120 Passes Construction Milestone — Photos

Nordhavn 120 Passes Construction Milestone — Photos

| May 19, 2011 | 0 Comments

Pacific Asian Enterprises, Inc., reports the joining of pilothouse and deck to the hull of N120-01, a major milestone in the assembly of the first Nordhavn megayacht.  There is still a long way to go as the company and its construction partner begin to stuff the hull with systems and accommodations, but for the first [...]

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Mac User Looking for Better WiFi on the Boat?

Mac User Looking for Better WiFi on the Boat?

| May 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

My fellow Write on The Water blogger, Christine Kling, has another fabulous tech piece on the blog today about a WiFi solution for her boat.  Christine is a successful published author (I LOVE her Seychelle Sullivan mystery series), and she did a great piece for us here on using your iPad onboard the boat. Christine [...]

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Time for a Satphone – KVH Shipping TracPhone V3 Mini-VSAT

Time for a Satphone – KVH Shipping TracPhone V3 Mini-VSAT

| April 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

One of the more significant news items from the recent Miami Show was the announcement from KVH of its new mini-VSAT package, the TracPhone V3, which is the smallest Ku-band maritime VSAT antenna in the world at just 14.5″ (37 cm) in diameter.  The company said today that it has shipped the first fully FCC-licensed units [...]

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Simrad Yachting Launches Broadband 3G Radar

Simrad Yachting Launches Broadband 3G Radar

| April 26, 2011 | 0 Comments

Simrad Yachting this week announced a significant upgrade to its “”broadband” radar capability with the “Broadband 3G Radar,” which increases the range of its not-so-old BR24 Broadband Radar.  I wrote about the BR24 when it was demonstrated at the Miami show last year and decided it was the real deal for short-range, high-definition radar detection.  [...]

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Time to Check Your Insurance for Hurricane Coverage

Time to Check Your Insurance for Hurricane Coverage

| April 7, 2011 | 0 Comments

An updated 2011 Atlantic basin hurricane forecast from Colorado State University yesterday should serve as a reminder to all East Coast and Gulf Coast boaters to check their insurance policies for hurricane coverage.  More importantly, now is the time to create your own “hurricane plan”  — whether it is to move the boat, haul it, secure [...]

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Simrad Yachting Launches New Touch-Screen MF Displays

Simrad Yachting Launches New Touch-Screen MF Displays

| March 29, 2011 | 0 Comments

Simrad Yachting last week announced a new series of touch-screen multifunction displays — the NSS Sport Series.  Available in 7-inch, 8-inch, and 12-inch models, the NSS Sport units feature LED backlighting and allow the user to control the display with the touchscreen, keypad and/or the “Simrad Yachting-signature” rotary control knob. My friend Ben Ellison at [...]

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PAE Reports Build Progress on First Nordhavn 120

PAE Reports Build Progress on First Nordhavn 120

| March 22, 2011 | 0 Comments

Pacific Asian Enterprises, Inc., said last night that progress continues with the build process on its first true superyacht, the Nordhavn 120.  According to the company, the hull and deck are joined, while the engine beds have been made and are ready for installation of the main engines (twin MTU 8V 2000 M72′s, rated at [...]

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