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Biologists call ‘hybrid vigor’ the way offspring of parents of different species or varieties exhibit traits superior to either, even if they’re already standouts themselves. It’s easy to think of the new MJM Yachts 4 day yacht as exemplifying just such hybrid vigor! Credit goes to the ‘parents’ of this gorgeous hybrid: the expansive 38-foot dual console, the MJM 3, and the couples-charming, classic Category A ocean yacht, the MJM 40. No difficult design decisions between entertainment and intimacy here: in this splendid day yacht you get both the creature comforts of an ocean-class motoryacht and the crowd-pleasing space, lush appointments and satisfying sass of a dual-console. Proud Parents The single level MJM 3 was an immediate hit when launched in 2021, drawing rave reviews by those impressed by its…
The Atlantic Destiny, a 143-foot offshore scallop trawler, was 130 nautical miles south of Nova Scotia in March of 2021 when fire broke out on board. As a Mayday call went out just after 7 p.m., 30-knot winds and freezing spray made conditions unforgiving. Even after the fire was out, the vessel was in grave danger. It had lost power while adrift in 15-foot seas and was taking on water. The 31 crew members on the ship were at the mercy of the violent ocean. In Halifax, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center immediately sent help. A CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-130 Hercules transport aircraft were dispatched from a nearby Canadian forces base, along with the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Cape Roger. Fishing vessels in the vicinity were also alerted,…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in late September that an electric pickup truck called Cybertruck, scheduled to begin sales in 2023, “will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy.” Not so fast, said the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, which tweeted a photo of a sinking four-door sedan and warned: “Our derelict vessel crews are begging you to understand that anything that ‘serves briefly as a boat’ should not be used as a boat.” The tweet-for-tat came at an interesting time in the world of recreational cruising, where shape-shifting designs are no longer the stuff of fantasy. Real, operable amphibious vehicles are now regularly on display at major boat shows, and even the makers…
Over the years, I’ve made dozens of boat deliveries from New Jersey to Florida, utilizing both the ocean route and the infamous Intracoastal Waterway. On some trips, a fast boat and good weather made it possible to cover 1,000-plus miles in four long days. But my longest journey required three weeks, even though our actual run time was just a week. The problem with boat deliveries is that they are on a set schedule. If you’re on a vacation cruise, it’s easier to enjoy each day, provided you and the crew are comfortable and safe aboard. Whatever the program, I love traveling by boat, not only for the reward of being on the water, but also to enjoy the freedom that land travel cannot match. To be sure, not everyone…
There’s nothing like going out and playing with a new toy—in this case, the 11-foot long Aspen Carbon Cat. From the dock of the Annapolis Powerboat Show, I step down onto the tender’s side deck and immediately appreciate the steady support. Footing is slip-free too, thanks to the SeaDek that covers the coaming and the main deck. I step into the craft and shake hands with Larry Graf, the designer and builder of the Aspen Carbon Cat and the founder of Aspen Power Catamarans. The Carbon Cat solves a couple of the problems cruisers have with inflatable dinghies and RIBs. “Traditional inflatables leak, they are heavy, they are wet when run hard and they don’t last very long before needing replacement,” says Graf (pictured at left). “I wanted to build…
Mike Root was standing in Fort Myers, Florida, trying to make sense of the wildly jumbled scene. He looked up at a 40-foot boat that Hurricane Ian had pushed 100 yards from the coast, and then pinned between a house and a tree. “What do you do with that?” says Root, assistant vice president of claims for Geico Marine Insurance, which provides insurance to BoatUS members. “You can’t do further damage to the house, and the tree is a natural barrier that you don’t want to come down, and it’s on someone else’s property, and you don’t want to further damage the boat. A storm of this magnitude provides far more complexity than other storms.” Hurricane Ian was, indeed, a storm of serious magnitude. It made landfall on Cayo Costa…
