Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Sergio Davi Transits Panama Canal

Sergio Davi, the 65-year-old Italian adventurer, just transited the Panama Canal on his 10,000 mile expedition from Sicily to Los Angeles on a 36-foot RIB. It took Davi 8 hours and 30 minutes, mostly at night, to travel 49-nm across the canal. He was joined by Stefano Germani, the financial manager of the Italian tech company I-Tronik. Davi needed extra help on board to help with the radio and lines once inside the canal. Davi started his epic expedition on Dec. 15 in Palermo, hoping to reach L.A. in about 100 days. His schedule was set back when he tested…

Cruising Life
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Cruise With Lots of Friends on Nazareth Aquadomus

You probably don’t want to climb on the Nazareth Aquadomus for your next cruise to Bermuda, but it certainly looks like it could be fun for the calmer sections of the Great Loop. The Aquadomus is a 41-foot catamaran that’s basically a houseboat with a flybridge. Built in Portugal by Nazareth Boats, the Aquadomus can hold 12 people in the vast spaces inside and out. It’s powered by two 200-hp outboards, and tops out at 12 knots. The big boat also has a draft of just 1’ 8,” meaning you can explore all those small coves and gunkholes that usually…

Cruising Life
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I Just Built My New (Virtual) MJM 35

I just built my new MJM 35 (see the picture above). It was easy, and it was fun. You can build yours too. I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for MJMs for many years now. Even before I tested their then-new, four-outboard 53z in July, 2019, in Newport, Rhode Island, I’d driven all their new boats, all inboards, all designed by Doug Zurn. (I’ve also had another soft spot for Zurn’s classic Down East designs ever since I met him during the launch of Billy Joel’s 57-foot commuter Vendetta in 2005, which Zurn also designed. In fact, while…

Destinations
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New, Relaxed, Protocols for Bermuda

Here’s some good news if you’re thinking about cruising to Bermuda this year. One of the most inviting cruising destinations in the world, Bermuda just relaxed its Covid restrictions, making it much easier to visit there. Over the years, Bermuda has become known as the end of some classic sailboat races, as well as a destination for cruising sailboats. After all, it’s only 635 nm from Newport, Rhode Island. But it’s become a cruising powerboat destination as well. Indeed, it was the first stop on the historic 18-boat 2004 Nordhavn Atlantic Rally  from Fort Lauderdale to Gibraltar (second stop was…

Cruising Life
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Guilty! Murder on the High Seas

The Justice Department says a Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to charges of a gruesome murder on a scallop fishing boat 55 miles of coast of Nantucket. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Vazquez’ attacks took place on Sept. 23, 2018, on The Captain Billy Haver, an 82-foot fishing with seven people on board. The Justice Department says the attacks started when Vazquez hit Victim A over the head with a hammer…

Cruising Life
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Legacy Building New Outboard Pocket Cruiser

Legacy Yachts in Ohio is working on a new Legacy 12, the first model in its new Legacy Mark 11 Series, a 45-knot, twin-outboard pocket cruiser with a Down East heritage. Legacy hopes to introduce the new 12 at the Miami show next February. It has an LOA of 39′ 4″ and a beam of 12′ 3.” About two years ago, Seattle Yachts bought Tartan, the sailboat company that had acquired Legacy earlier. Seattle formed a new company, Marine Manufacturing Group, LLC, to make both brands under Phil Friedman, the former president of Palmer Johnson, and moved the plant to…

Cruising Life
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Favors Trailer New Ranger 25 from Seattle to Florida

Jim and Lisa Favors are certainly veteran travelers, but even for them this was a major undertaking, a 3,400-mile expedition from Seattle, where they picked up their new Ranger Tugs 25, to Fort Myers, Florida, where they started cruising on it. This trip actually started just before Thanksgiving when the Favors left their home in Traverse City, Michigan, to head for Des Moines, just below Seattle, to pick up their new boat. This is the third Ranger Tugs they have owned (after a 27 and a 29). They wrote on their blog, trailertrawlerlife.com, that they downsized because they want to…

Cruising Life
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Ships Run Aground in Chesapeake, Caribbean

In the past few days, a 1,050-foot container ship ran aground in the Chesapeake after leaving the Port of Baltimore, and a 1,070-foot cruise liner with 3,000 passengers ran aground after leaving Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. There were no reports of injuries in either grounding. In the Chesapeake, the container ship Ever Forward ran aground near Craighill Channel outside the Patapsco River. The ship, holding 11,850 20-foot containers, draws 42.6 feet; it was sitting in 24 feet of water. The Coast Guard and the state’s Department of the Environment were trying to coordinate efforts to refloat it. Local…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New 16-Knot Hybrid Hardy 42 Cruiser

The new Hardy 42 is a solid, traditional trawler-type design with a high-tech twist. It’s a hybrid, with a 16-knot top speed coming from a single 440-hp Yanmar diesel, or a 6-knot top speed from its 20kW electric motor. The new Hardy is the first built by Cockwells in Falmouth, England, since Cockwells took over the Hardy line in 2020. The Hardy fleet runs from 32 to 65 feet. This 42 was already under construction then, ordered by an owner who wanted the offshore performance and range (600 nm at 13 knots) of the diesel with the eco-friendly qualities of…

Cruising Life
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New Switlik Head-High Life Vest Design

Here’s a new look in life vests from Switlik Survival products – the eVolution UA-80 that provides under-arm floatation to keep the wearer’s head and arms higher out of the water than traditional vests do. So far, most vests are the yoke type that you wear around your neck. Switlik takes a different approach, going under the arms. Switlik, with headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey, says the eVolution UA-80 is the first of its kind to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for professional aviators and flight crews. The new Switlik uses a two-chamber inflatable air bladder, an approach…

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