Author Peter Janssen

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Driver Ejected; Boat Circles. See Video

Two boaters who were ejected from their 24-foot center console in Marshfield, Massachusetts, were rescued by a good Samaritan nearby, but their boat kept running in a “circle of death” until Sea Tow managed to foul the prop and pull the emergency cut-off switch. A dramatic video by the Marshfield Police Department shows the boat continuing to run in a tight circle after the boaters were ejected and saved. (You can see the video below.) The police said the problems started about 10 in the morning when the harbor master got a call from Dana Blackman, the captain of the…

Cruising Life
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Boating Was Safer Last Year: Coast Guard

The Coast Guard has some good news for us. Boating got a little bit safer last year. The Coast Guard has issued its annual report on boating safety. The major findings: In 2021, there were 658 fatalities, down 14 percent from the previous year (when there were many new boaters because of the pandemic). There were 5,265 total accidents, down 16 percent. The only bad news was that property damage hit $67.5 million, an all-time high, perhaps due to inflation or the higher price of both new and used boats. The top five contributing factors to accidents were operator inattention,…

Boat Reviews
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Wally Building WHY150 Space Ship

Wally just announced that it’s making a new Wally WHY150 yacht, the second in its WHY series, designed for extra space and comfort on board. The first WHY, the 200, at 88 feet, was launched in September. The latest 150, at 78 feet, is scheduled to be launched in February. The WHY stands for Wally Hybrid Yacht, but the hybrid part doesn’t refer to propulsion. Instead, it means a hybrid hull built for both displacement and semi-displacement cruising. But what really sets the WHY series apart is the massive space inside the yacht. The new 150 has a high bow…

Cruising Life
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Gloucester Fishing Boat Sinks; Crew Saved

The Grace Marie, a 72-foot commercial fishing boat, sank on Friday night about 80 nm east of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Another boat, fishing nearby, rescued all 7 crew on board and brought them home to Gloucester. The Coast Guard says it heard a Mayday call about 10 pm from the Grace Marie, saying it was taking on water and flooding. The Coast Guard then issued an urgent marine broadcast asking all boats in the area to respond to the Mayday. The Dawn T, a gillnetter, was fishing nearby and rescued all the crew. No one was injured. It got back to…

Cruising Life
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Rotterdam Bridge, 1; Jeff Bezos, 0

After much ado, it turns out that Rotterdam won’t have to dismantle its historic Koningshaven Bridge so that Jeff Bezos’ new yacht, the largest sailboat in the world, can pass through on its way to the sea. Oceanco, the superyacht builder with its plant upstream from the bridge, will not apply for a permit to temporarily dismantle the central section of the bridge, according to reports from Rotterdam city officials. The builder apparently was worried about the backlash and stories of threats since it announced last February that it would seek a permit to dismantle the center section of the…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Saves 9 After Boat Sinks

The Coast Guard rescued nine people on Saturday after their 50-foot sport-fishing boat apparently hit the wreck of a battleship off Pensacola, Florida, and sank. The Coast Guard says its station in Mobile, Alabama, received a Mayday call at 10:47 a.m. from the boat, Slow Motion, saying it had run aground about 1.5 nm off Pensacola and was taking on water. As the boat started to sink, all nine people on board abandoned ship. The Coast Guard sent a 45-foot boat from Pensacola to the site, and it arrived in less than ten minutes, rescuing all nine people from the…

Cruising Life
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Captain Falls Overboard, Rescued After 4 Hours

The captain of a commercial fishing boat who fell overboard at night without a life jacket was rescued four hours later by a good Samaritan boat about 12 miles off Panama City, Florida. The people who rescued him said he didn’t even seem to be out of breath. The drama started at 3:47 a.m. Sunday when a crewman on the fishing boat Fiona Leone woke up and realized that the captain was not at the wheel, or anywhere else on the boat. He had fallen overboard, and the boat was on autopilot. The crewman issued a Mayday call on Channel…

Charter
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New, Relaxed Protocols for Caribbean, Bahamas

It’s now easier to travel to the Caribbean and the Bahamas, and to charter a boat there, since many countries have relaxed their Covid-related protocols. The Moorings, the worldwide charter powerhouse, has put together a list of the new protocols, spelling out what you need to do to enter, and enjoy, a charter there. Here’s a sample:  BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: First, it’s important to note that cruising between the U.S. and British Virgin Islands is prohibited, although there is daily ferry service between the two island countries. All travelers over the age of 5, regardless of vaccination status, will have…

Cruising Life
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Yacht (Almost) Sinks Off Turkey. 10 Saved

An 85-foot yacht took on water and almost sank off the coast of Turkey recently. The Turkish Coast Guard rescued all ten people on board and took them to shore. No one was injured. You can see the video below. The yacht, named Kapky, is a Navetta 26, made by Ferretti’s Custom Line and launched in 2009. It was cruising near Doganbey Adasi Island off the west coast of Turkey when the captain called the Coast Guard about 11 in the morning to report that it was taking on water and starting to sink. The area is regarded as some…

Boat Reviews
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Invictus Making New GT320S Outboard

Invictus Yachts just announced that it will debut its new GT320S twin-outboard cruiser at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 6. Standard power on this latest Invictus comes from twin 300-hp Yamaha outboards, but the boat can support outboards up to a total of 900 hp. The GT320S is the Italian builder’s fourth outboard boat, reflecting the growing popularity of outboard propulsion. “The outboard configuration strongly expresses and states the character and soul of the owner who chooses it,” said Christian Grande, who has designed everything from luxury cars to superyachts and is Invictus’ principal designer. The interior of the…

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