Author Archive: Editor
Tom Tripp is the owner of OceanLines LLC, and the publisher of OceanLines and Marine Science Today. He is an award-winning marine journalist, science writer and long-time public communications specialist. His PR career and much of his writing stems from the fact that he loves to explain stuff. It all began when he and his brother Mark threw all of Mom's tomatoes at the back wall of the house. . .
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 [...]
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
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
New Nordhavn 120 Construction Photos
Pacific Asian Enterprises, Inc., today passed along a new collection of informal photos updating the construction progress of the new Nordhavn 120. The new-design megayacht will become the new queen of the Nordhavn fleet sometime late this year. According to PAE, “Work continues on the first hull of the future queenship of the Nordhavn line: [...]
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. [...]
First Photos: The New Kadey-Krogen 52′ Has Arrived
The first Kadey-Krogen 52′ arrived in the U.S. in time for the recent Seattle Boat Show and made her public debut there. The timing was so tight that the Kadey-Krogen team hadn’t had a chance to really begin the commissioning process, so in many of these photos you will see a fairly bare interior. I [...]
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. [...]
First Photos: Krogen 52′ From Kadey-Krogen Yachts
Kadey-Krogen has released the first photos of the nearly complete first Krogen 52′, which should be leaving the factory shortly by ship in time (hopefully) to make its debut at Seattle’s Lake Union Boats Afloat Show September 14 [...]
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, [...]
First Photos of Nordhavn 63 Delivery
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 [...]
First Nordhavn 63 Performance Data
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 [...]
New Nordic Tugs 39 A Nice Update to NT Fleet
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 [...]
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
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. [...]
Nordhavn 120 Passes Construction Milestone — Photos
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 [...]
Mac User Looking for Better WiFi on the Boat?
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 [...]
Time for a Satphone – KVH Shipping TracPhone V3 Mini-VSAT
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 [...]
Simrad Yachting Launches Broadband 3G Radar
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. [...]
Time to Check Your Insurance for Hurricane Coverage
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 [...]
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, [...]
Simrad Yachting Launches New Touch-Screen MF Displays
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 [...]
PAE Reports Build Progress on First Nordhavn 120
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 [...]
Maybe You Don’t Need 3G on Your iPad 2?
Brian Chen, at Wired, has a piece today that suggests a clever way to avoid having to pay the extra money for a 3G version of the iPad 2 just to get GPS and phone data network capability. The solution basically involves using your current Smartphone as a wireless hotspot. Here’s an excerpt of his [...]
Routes Function in ActiveCaptain Will Change the Game
I know that’s a bold statement, but when I can have access to a library that will eventually likely hold many thousands of already planned (by me AND other boaters) routes, and then someday soon use those routes with more ActiveCaptain technology to tell me what’s up ahead, I will be in a different place [...]
First Photos: Krogen 52′ Released from Mold
Kadey-Krogen Yachts said today that hull number one of the new Krogen 52′ line has been released from its mold. Krogen 5201 will be a single engine vessel with hydraulic bow and stern thrusters. The new yacht is scheduled to be delivered sometime this summer. There’s a lot to like about this slightly smaller version [...]
