Category: Cruising Under Sail
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 [...]
Here’s Why You Need an iPad on the Boat
by Christine Kling (Editor’s Note — Chris Kling is a sailor with with more than 30 years of experience on the oceans of the world. She’s also an English professor at Broward College, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the published author of the Seychelle Sullivan series of mysteries, including SURFACE TENSION (2002), CROSS [...]
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 [...]
Furuno’s New WS200 Brings NMEA 2000 Ultrasonic Weather to Your Helm
Actually, it brings ultrasonic weather data to your helm. Are we straight with that now? Okay. The basic ultrasonic instrument has been around for several years — the most recent version, still available, is the PB150, a NMEA 0183-compatible unit – but the WS200 is a significant upgrade, both in sensors and networking. It’s also a little [...]
Nordic Tugs Owners Rendezvous in Connecticut
If you’ve never been to an owners’ or manufacturer’s or dealer’s rendezvous, you’re missing a great part of the cruising lifestyle. Last weekend’s Northeast Nordic Tug Owners Association (NENTOA) 2010 Rendezvous in Essex, Connecticut, is a great example of how they work and why they’re such a wonderful experience. NENTOA works closely each year with [...]
Sea Fare July — Victoria Allman in the Galley
In the July edition of Sea Fare — Victoria Allman in the Galley, we learn a sweet lesson about life and coconut bread. This is an easy galley favorite.
New Hope for Seasickness Prevention
NASA research provides hope for an effective, new preventive technique against seasickness.
Rescue Video – BoatU.S. EPIRB Rental Saves Three
Renting an EPIRB from BoatU.S. for the occasional offshore passage might just save your life; like it did for these three sailors off the coast of northern California. Check out the video for the dramatic Coast Guard rescue.
Maxi Speedboat First to Reach Bermuda
The 100-footer Maxi Speedbird beats all the other boats to Bermuda in the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race. We’ve got a nice video tour of Speedboat.
Newport Bermuda Race Underway
The 2010 Newport Bermuda Race is underway and we’ve got some fascinating video and live tracking links for you.
Sea Fare June — Victoria Allman in the Galley
This month’s Sea Fare brings us the culinary fruits of a Mekong River adventure by chef Victoria Allman. A great story and delectable recipes.
Newport Bermuda Race Nears Start
The 47th edition of the Newport to Bermuda race is now three days away from its June 18 start in Newport, Rhode Island. Follow with the iTrack service.
Sea Fare May — Victoria Allman in the Galley
Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare: A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.” This is the fifth in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...]
Sea Sense Adds Trawler Training on Chesapeake
Sea Sense has added single-engine trawler training on Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, MD. These new courses are both the traditional scheduled classes for women as well as customized instructional charters for couples, families, and groups. Training is conducted aboard a new, 47-foot Selene trawler, fully equipped from galley to flybridge with every modern amenity. You [...]
A Tall Ship Heads to Sea
The sail training barque Picton Castle, a square-rigger registered in the Cook Islands and based in Lunenburg Harbor, Nova Scotia, is about to depart its mooring and head off on its fifth circumnavigation. The 14-month, westbound trip will sail through the tropics under the command of its first and only captain, Daniel Moreland. ▶ Some [...]
Writers on the Water
Okay, so it’s not quite as memorable (yet?) as “Riders on the Storm,” the 1971 hit by The Doors, but a new blog by writers Christine Kling and Mike Jastrzebski called Write on the Water, is a place to talk about the intersection of writing and living and working on the water. I was the guest [...]
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 [...]
Sea Fare April — Victoria Allman in the Galley
Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare: A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.” This is the fourth in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...]
Video: Running a Rough Inlet
The video you see here was taken while departing the Fort Pierce, Florida, inlet, Friday, April 16. The tide was running out strongly and the wind and seas were running in just as strongly. The resulting washing-machine ride was rather sporty, although our Krogen 58′ handled it well. At one point, we realize we’ve forgotten [...]
Marinalife Members Get 20 Percent Discount on Beacon Wi-Fi
Marinalife, the online concierge and trip-planning service, recently partnered with Beacon Wi-Fi, the largest supplier of wireless Internet to marinas along the East Coast, to provide a 20% discount to its members. The new partnership extends to marinas as well, who will receive a 30% discount off the Beacon Wi-Fi wireless installation fee and 15% [...]
Fugawi Announces NavPlanner 2 and Updated Marine ENC
Fugawi recently announced the release of Navionics NavPlanner2, powered by Fugawi. The company also said it has released version 4.5.5 of its Fugawi Marine ENC. NavPlanner2 is an atlas of U.S. coastal waters, navigable waterways, and more than 12,000 inland lakes for use on a home computer for map viewing, searching, printing, waypoint planning and [...]
Will Your Liferaft Work When You Need It?
Last year’s “Baja Ha Ha,” the fleet cruise from San Diego to Mexico, provides yet another impetus for all ocean cruisers to reconsider their liferaft situation. You DO have one, right? And it HAS been maintained, inspected and re-certified, right? And you actually know what’s stored in it and how to use it, right? And [...]
Diesel Delivered to You at Anchor
Passing through Miami or Fort Lauderdale and need fuel? How about having it delivered to you at anchor by Peterson Fuel Delivery. They’ve been doing it for almost ten years but I didn’t know about it until Jeff and Karen Siegel took advantage of the service and wrote it up in their cruise blog, TakingPaws. [...]
Second Great Technique for Dinghy Anchoring
Our recent piece by Jeff Siegel of ActiveCaptain about a novel dinghy anchoring technique stimulated quite a bit of discussion from readers and we even heard about another, possibly even better, technique from John Marshall, owner of the Nordhavn 55 Serendipity. Marshall discovered a particular product that makes the process of anchoring the dinghy off [...]
Sea Fare March — Victoria Allman in the Galley
Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare: A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.” This is the third in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...]
Blackberry Weather App for Coastal Cruisers
Mobile Mariner LLC has announced the official launch of the Mobile Mariner™ for the Blackberry® smartphone, which will provide NOAA marine weather forecasts, tide information and life weather conditions for the coastal United States, including the Great Lakes. More upcoming releases will expand the application to other smartphone platforms and cover more international areas. Mobile [...]
KVH Offers Rebates on Smaller SAT TV Antennae
KVH Industries said today that it will offer rebates up to $200 through the end of April on its TracVision M1 and M3 satellite TV systems. The M1 and M3 systems are typically used on smaller boats, although the M3DX unit, with its HDTV capability could easily serve as the workhorse on almost any size [...]
Women Learning About Canal Cruising With Sea Sense
Sea Sense, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based sailing and powerboating school for women, is offering a new international class on Ireland’s Shannon River and canals. Every year, the company offers a different international course, with previous locations including various Caribbean locales, as well as Italy, Greece, France and Tahiti. The 2010 course will be aboard a [...]
Great Technique for Dinghy Anchoring at the Beach
By Jeffrey Siegel (ActiveCaptain); Videography by Karen Siegel Here’s a great technique for anchoring the dinghy off the beach. Our dinghy weighs about 800 pounds. She’s a rigid inflatable with a 40 HP engine. It’s our family car when we’re cruising and we put a lot of demands on her. So I was telling Larry [...]
KVH Offers Rebates for Upgrades to HD7 Sat TV System
KVH Industries said today that current TracVision satellite TV customers can upgrade to the latest HD7 system and get a rebate of up to $2,000, depending on which system they are upgrading. The promotion runs through June 30, 2010. The deal requires the customer to return to KVH the old system’s circuit boards via an [...]
