Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Four-Story Rogue Wave Hits BC

In an event that scientists say happens “once in a millennium,” a report published last week says that a wave as high as a four-story building was recorded off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The wave, measuring 57’ 7” high, was the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded. It was measured off Ucleulet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on November, 2020. It was recorded by MarineLabs Data Systems in Victoria, BC, and announced last week in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports by Dr. Johannes Gemmrich and Leah Cicon from the University of Victoria. The giant…

Cruising Life
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Simrad Launches New NSX Line of MFDs

Simrad just announced its latest generation of multifunction displays, the Simrad NSX, during a global livestreaming event from Egersund, Norway, introducing new chartplotters and fishfinders for powerboats. The new mid-range NSX line will be available in 7-, 9- and 12-inch displays and is based on an all-new operating system. Simrad will launch the new line at the Miami boat show, starting next Wednesday. NSX has a new interface with a user-friendly touchscreen with clear views. Charts include C-MAP nav capability and are compatible with sonar, radar and autopilot systems. Simrad says its Setup Wizards system will help users through every…

Cruising Life
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NFT Yachting Art for Sale at Miami Show

Here’s a sign of the times. For the first time, you can go to the Miami show next week and buy NFT art created by some of the world’s leading superyacht designers, including Bannenberg & Rowell, Gregory C. Marshall, David Weiss, and Marco Casali. All of this, of course, exists in the metaverse. NFT (non-fungible token) art is unique, with identifiers that cannot be copied, substituted or divided. An NFT is recorded on a digital blockchain that can certify the authenticity of a specific digital asset. The NFT yachting art to be sold in Miami was put together by Zach…

Cruising Life
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Grounded Ocracoke Inlet Yacht Inching to Water

More than two weeks after it ran aground on the beach in Ocracoke, North Carolina, Scott Pumphrey’s 55-foot motoryacht is inching closer to getting back in the water again. The yacht, a 2001 Novatek named Vivens Aqua, is being pulled along the beach by an excavator while it sits on four giant pneumatic pins that roll it forward, slowly, very slowly. The 55,000-pound boat rolls on three pins at a time while the rear one is removed, deflated, moved to the front and inflated again. This takes a while. But the boat only has another 500 feet or so before…

Cruising Life
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Sergio Davi Crosses Atlantic on 36-Foot RIB

Sergio Davi, the Italian adventurer, just crossed the Atlantic on his 36-foot RIB. Davi left Mindelo on Cape Verde on Feb. 4, and stepped off his boat this afternoon in Kourou, French Guyana, in South America, 1,770 nm and six days and eight hours later. This was the longest, and most dangerous, leg of his 10,000 mile journey from Salerno to Los Angeles on his RIB named Aretusa Explorer. Joining him was Teo Aiello, the co-owner of Nouva Jolly Marine, which made the RIB. Aiello’s brother, Antonio, was on board for the previous leg, 836 miles from Grand Canary to…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Navier Raises Money, Makes Boats in Maine

Navier, a San Francisco startup, just raised $7.2 million in seed money to build its all-electric foiling boats at the Lyman-Morse plant in Thomaston, Maine. Navier announced that the seed money came from Global Founders Capital and Treble, among other firms, plus some individual investors. Lyman-Morse is already laying up the hulls of the first two Navier 27s, made with advanced composites and smart software. Navier 27s are powered by two 50kW electric motors and foil, or fly, three to four feet above the water to reduce drag and improve efficiency. They use a foiling stabilization control system borrowed from…

Cruising Life
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New Search for Endurance in Antarctic Ice

Earlier this week, a team of scientists and adventurers left Cape Town, South Africa, on a 440-foot icebreaker, trying to find the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance in 10,000 feet of water in the Antarctic. The team, called Expedition Endurance 22, will use two high-tech autonomous drones and two helicopters to find the Endurance, which sank 107 years ago and resulted in one of the most heroic rescue stories of all time. Shackleton’s adventures in managing to save the lives of all 27 members of his crew are taught to this day in leadership classes around the world. The Endurance…

Cruising Life
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Yes, They Really Are Killer Whales

Orcas, aka killer whales even though they’re members of the dolphin family, really are vicious. In fact, a new study reports that a group of scientists actually saw more than a dozen orcas attack and kill a 70-foot blue whale off the southwest coast of Australia, the first time that such an attack has been recorded. The study was published last month in the journal Marine Mammal Science. It notes that scientists had known that orcas attacked and killed blue whales before, but they were always juvenile blue whales. (Blue whales are the largest creatures that ever lived, and can…

Boat Reviews
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See Horizon 60 Power Cat at Miami Show

The Horizon Power Catamaran PC60 will be on display at the Miami show, starting Wednesday, February 16. Horizon will also have a 52 at the show, but the 60, which was first built in 2013, is one of the company’s most popular models. Indeed, it is now working on hull number 25. The 60 is a sophisticated, stable and long-range cruiser with an enormous amount of interior volume and exterior lounging and entertaining space. You can order it with three or four staterooms with en suite heads and a vast open salon, or you can have the master stateroom forward…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Meet the All-Electric Cybercat With a Tesla

Maybe it’s the pandemic; maybe it’s too many glasses of wine, or maybe it’s just a very creative mind at work. In any event, here’s a look at the new Cybercat all-electric amphibious boat, using a not-yet-made Tesla Cybertruck. The Cybercat, and its upgrade, the Cybercat Foiler, are the products of Anthony Diamond’s fertile mind. Diamond, a young entrepreneur from the Seattle area, has an engineering PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and an engineering BS from Stanford. He was featured in Forbes list of 30 Under 30 in 2017. Just as relevant, Diamond drives a Tesla and…

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