Author Peter Janssen

Destinations
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Oregon Lighthouse for Sale: $6.5 Million

If you’ve ever dreamed of living in a lighthouse, now’s your chance. The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, about 1.2 miles off the coast of Northwest Oregon, is for sale for $6.5 million. Before you reach for your checkbook, you need to realize the lighthouse comes with some problems. First, you can’t land a boat there; there are too many rocks and steep cliffs. You can only come and go via helicopter, and even then you might have to make a second or third pass to get the sea lions off the landing pad. Second, it’s a mess. Opened in 1881, the…

Cruising Life
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88-Foot Superyacht Burns in Spain

An 88-foot Sanlorenzo yacht caught fire and burned in Puerto de Valencia, Spain, a few days ago. Port authorities said the fuel tanks, with a capacity of 2,457 gallons of diesel, were not affected, and no one was injured in the fire. (See a video of the fire below.) Orange and black smoke poured from the yacht, offering a stark contrast with the Mediterranean blue waters. It took three platoons of firefighters 12 hours to put out the fire. The yacht, named Pesa, was launched in 2020. Local reports said that fire officials thought the fire may have been caused…

Boat Reviews
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Soel Unveils 62 Electric Long-Range Cat

Soel, the innovative Dutch builder, just unveiled a new Senses 62 electric-powered catamaran with a massive 564 kWh battery that the company says provides “trans-ocean range.” The 62 is Soel’s latest and largest yacht, and it uses battery packs and solar panels to replenish its power supply at sea. It’s also a massive yacht, with a 33’ 6” beam that represents more than half the cat’s length. That means it carries a lot of luxury space, inside and out. The 62 has sleeping accommodations for nine passengers, plus three crew, who have separate cabins with outside access for privacy. It…

Cruising Life
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How To Swing Your Compass

Here’s a great primer from Ritchie about how to adjust your compass for deviation and compensation: As any new boat owner soon learns, the sport has a lingo all its own. But even old salts often have a hard time grasping the magnetic compass dialect. Ritchie Navigation explains two unusual but easily understood terms that are vitally important to the accuracy of a compass: Deviation and Compensation. Compass needles or dials react to the earth’s magnetic field and point true north. The trouble is, certain electrical equipment or metal items on the boat—and even local magnetic fields—can interfere with the…

Cruising Life
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Boating Luxury Tax (Again) in Canada

To quote Yogi Berra, this is a case of déjà vu all over again. Canada’s on-again, off-again 10 percent luxury tax on boats costing more than $250,00 looks like it’s on again, with new draft legislation calling for it to start on Sept. 1. Canada’s Liberal government last year enacted legislation for the tax to take effect on the first of January, 2022. But vigorous lobbying from the boating industry and others warned that the tax would lead to millions of dollars in lost sales, while costing almost  900 full-time jobs. In December, the government postponed the Jan. 1 deadline.…

Boat Reviews
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Take Everything on ROAM 35 Shadow Yacht

In case you’re worried about how to fit your dink or RIB on your boat’s swim platform for this summer’s cruise, take a look at the new ROAM 35 Shadow, a 120-foot cat that the company calls “the ultimate expedition vessel.” With the ROAM 35, you shouldn’t have to leave any toys behind. ROAM already makes two lines of smaller shadow boats, but it designed the 35 for a client that wanted room for his 50-foot Cigarette, as well as a host of other boats and toys. The flagship of the ROAM Shadow fleet, the 35 has a touch-and-go helipad,…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Adm. Fagan, First Woman To Lead Coast Guard

President Biden just nominated Admiral Linda L. Fagan as the next Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. If confirmed, Admiral Fagan, who started out as a deck officer on the Polar Star, a 399-foot icebreaker, will be the first woman Commandant of the Coast Guard and the first woman to lead any branch of the U.S. military. Admiral Fagan has served as the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard (essentially its CEO) since last June. She previously was Commander of the Pacific Area. Since her graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in 1985, she has served on all seven continents.…

Cruising Life
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Next Step: Remove Containers from Stuck Ship

The 1,095-foot container ship Ever Forward is still stuck in the Chesapeake, and the Coast Guard just announced that salvors will have to unload some cargo containers in an effort to refloat it. Two separate attempts to move the ship by a series of pull barges and tugboats, plus continuing dredging, have all failed. The ship, which draws more than 42 feet, is hard aground in 24 feet of water. The Ever Forward ran aground on Sunday, March 13, after leaving Baltimore, heading for Norfolk, Virginia, with a pilot on board. AIS data indicate it was running about 13 knots…

Boat Reviews
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Greenline 48 Fly: Hybrid Family Cruiser

The Greenline 48 Fly, equipped with solar panels, electric motors, lithium batteries and two traditional Volvo 220-hp diesels, is a hybrid family cruiser that lets owners choose how they want to spend their time afloat. Under diesel power, the Greenline 48 tops out at 17.4 knots, a comfortable cruising speed for when you want to put some easy miles under your belt. At 15 knots, it has a range of 279 nm. (The Slovenian company says that at 5.1 knots, the range climbs to a staggering 1,668 nm, but I don’t know many people who want to cruise at 5.1…

Cruising Life
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Rescue Boat Sinks, Crew is Rescued

Here’s something you don’t see very often: A fire department rescue boat sank during a training exercise in the Chesapeake and the crew had to be rescued themselves. All four people on board, who were wearing life jackets and survival suits, were back on duty that evening. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department says they don’t know why their boat sank. It was refloated a few days later. The problem started when Fire Department Boat #1, based in Shady Side, Maryland, started to take on water off Gibson Island and the crew had to abandon ship. The Coast Guard and…

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