Weather was a bit gray and windy for boating today, so we took Brian up on a chance for a second kiteboarding outing. Brian was in good form and made some great jumps. Virgil came ready this time to get wet and McIntosh Studio owner, Sarah, was on hand to get the pictures. (more…)

As covered by Frank at Gearthblog.com and Stefan at the Ogleearth.com Google Earth Blog, an Intel Development team released a ‘prototype’ game for Google Earth called ‘Mars Sucks’. It is essentially a geography quiz with alien blasting fun. One of their design criteria was to build the user interface internal to Google Earth. They’ve released the art and source code so read on for our review and a chance to play it yourself via the Destinsharks.com server. (more…)

In conjunction with our EarthNC Marine Charts for Google Earth we are pleased to announce our 1st Nautical Points-of-Interest layer - West Marine and Boat US store locations.

Find your nearest local store, or those convenient to your next boating trip. Simply download the KMZ file and open it in Google Earth. Hover over a store icon to see the name, click for address, phone number, and even have Google Earth generate driving directions for you.

Last week, we hosted Brian and Jenna on their 1st cruiser overnight and shark fishing trip. This week, it was Brian’s turn to introduce us to something new - kiteboarding. Kiteboarding combines kite flying (really big kite flying) and wakeboarding for a fun action watersport. Yesterday, we had ideal wind conditions to get out and learn. Read on for the story, photos, and video. (more…)

Complete Harbor Charts for the Lower 48!

Since announcing the public beta of our ‘EarthNC’ marine charts for Google Earth last week, we’ve been releasing additional charts as they exit our conversion process. Our largest release to date occurred yesterday with over 100 new charts posted. With this release, all NOAA ‘Harbor’ (level 5) charts are now available for the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. We are working the level 5 charts for Alaska at present and then will shift work to convert the remaining Approach and Coastal Charts. Following this, we’ll finish the map set with the Army Corps Inland ENC (IENC) charts.

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Planing out a large cruiser isn’t difficult, but a little attention to technique will go a long way towards understanding how to best plane your boat under different loading conditions. We’ve put together a short video to illustrate the technique we use with our boat when loaded.

Our boat is a Regal 2760 28′ cruiser powered by twin 190HP Mercruiser engines and Bravo III outdrives. At 8500lbs dry, our weight can easily top 10,000lbs with passengers and gear - placing it in the middle of the express cruiser pack.

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A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers from the staff of DestinSharks.com and the happy crew of Southern Comfort!

Marine Charts as You’ve Never Seen them Before!

Since announcing the public beta of our ‘EarthNC’ marine charts for Google Earth earlier this week, we’ve been hard at work. The beta now features over 200 charts for the US including complete ‘Overview’ and ‘General’ level charts for the Pacific, Alaska, West Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and East Coast. Harbor charts now cover Florida, Hawaii, New York, Alabama, Louisiana, Washington State, California, the US Virgin Islands, Puero Rico, and more.

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Marine Charts as You’ve Never Seen them Before!

Google Earth meets the sea with EarthNC™ Marine Charts exclusively from DestinSharks.com. We’ve been hard at work for over 6 months to provide an ‘Earth’ alternative for NOAA ENC® vector charts covering US coastal waters. (more…)

We’ve had a slow few months of boating with windy weather and holiday activities, but this weekend we got a respite from both. Calm winds since Thursday provided flat seas for a night in Destin Pass and morning cruising the gulf and bay. We didn’t have much luck with the fishing, but the scenery was unbeatable. With 5 adults, and 4 children aboard, we also set a new overnighting record for our Regal 2760 and achieved a top speed of 41.6mph on the GPS with a full load of water, fuel, and supplies. Click on the photo to view our small photo album for this trip.

Merry Christmas!