Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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New Recap of El Faro Disaster, with 33 Deaths

In the worst U.S. maritime disaster in 30 years, the El Faro, a 790-foot-long container ship, sank during a hurricane in the Bahamas on Oct. 1, 2015, killing all 33 men and women on board. Here’s a chilling recap of the tragedy from Arnold & Ltkin LLP, a maritime law firm hired by three of the crewmen’s widows: It has been six years since El Faro steamed into Hurricane Joaquin, an act that sank the vessel and claimed the lives of the entire crew. Thirty three people lost their lives that ill-fated day. Thirty three families were torn apart, wondering…

Cruising Life
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Raymarine Launches YachtSense in U.S.

Raymarine just introduced its new YachtSense control system to the U.S. at the IBEX boat builders’ show in Tampa. YachtSense is a digital switching system that connects all the boat’s systems so the captain can be aware of what’s happening in real time. “YachtSense is the new standard in premium digital control solutions for today’s most sophisticated vessels,” said Jamie Dery, Raymarine’s VP of the Americas. Raymarine says the system is unique because of its scalability, its options for various configurations, and its safety features. It uses a modular architecture, starting with a Master Module and a Power Supply Module…

Cruising Life
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Lauderdale Man Hurt in Freak Docking Accident

A man suffered a severe leg cut in a freak accident while docking a boat at a popular Fort Lauderdale waterfront restaurant. The man, who has been identified, apparently lost his balance and fell off the boat at the Boathouse at the Riverside restaurant on the New River in the Las Olas section of town. About 50 people were eating on the outdoor terrace overlooking the river at the time. He was heading for the restaurant to attend a birthday party about 2 p.m. on Saturday. When his friends lifted him back on the boat, diners could see a deep…

Boat Reviews
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HMY To Import New Two Oceans 555 Cats

HMY Yachts just announced that they will introduce the new luxurious Two Oceans 555 Power Catamaran, made in South Africa, to the American market next year. The new 555 has a four-cabin layout, with the master stateroom on the main deck with a door opening to a sunken lounge on the foredeck. Founded in 1989, Two Oceans specializes in blue-water, comfortable and safe power and sail cruising catamarans. The power cat range incudes a 75, 82 and 87. The new 555 models are the company’s entry-level cats. But there is nothing small about them. Designed by Du Toit Yacht Design…

Cruising Life
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Curious Whale Nudges Woman on SUP. Video

Here’s an incredible video of a curious southern right whale seeming to play with a woman on a standup paddleboard in Puerto Madryn, in northern Patagonia, Argentina. At one point, the whale pushes the board forward gently, and then swims under it to see what’s happening. Maximiliano Jonas, who filmed it, says “These whales surely love paddleboards. Every time they spot one floating on the water they get all excited and approach it but not in an intimidating way.” This is the middle of the whales’ migrating season in Argentina. Marcos Grosso, Puerto Madryn’s tourism secretary, said that 1,600 whales…

Destinations
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Cape May, NJ: A Cruisers’ Crossroads

If the old saying that the three most important things in real estate are location, location,  location can also be applied to cruising, then Cape May, New Jersey, is about as good a spot as you’re going to find. Cape May is particularly important this time of year, as more and more snowbirds are planning their cruises south for the winter. At the very southern tip of New Jersey, it’s where you make a choice about whether to continue offshore down to Norfolk, Virginia, or take the longer, but more scenic, route up the Delaware Bay, through the C&D Canal,…

Cruising Life
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Runaway Boat Threatens Swimmers. See Video

A runaway boat near St. Pete Beach in Florida caused some havoc as a boat from the local sheriff’s office rescued the driver from the water while officers in a helicopter overhead urged swimmers to head for shore. You can see all the action in the sheriff’s video below. The rescue started when the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office got a call that the driver had been thrown from his boat about half a mile off Pass-a-Grille Beach, just south of St. Pete. The sheriff’s office then launched a boat and a helicopter to the scene. They found the driver treading…

Cruising Life
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New Reports: Right Whales Nearing Extinction

North American right whales are in trouble. In fact, according to several new studies by marine scientists, they are in danger of becoming extinct. Three recent research papers say the whales’ problems are caused by a combination of climate change and increasing interactions with ship and fishing gear. Climate change means the waters of the Gulf of Maine, the right whales’ traditional favored waters, are warming faster than any other marine ecosystem on earth. And right whales are increasingly the victims of being hit by ships and getting entangled in fishing nets and other gear. The North Atlantic right whale…

Cruising Life
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Nouvoyage 33: Amphib Tender for Megayachts

For me, the Monaco Yacht  Show was always fun. Forget about playing James Bond at the Casino in Monte Carlo, the really outrageous action was down on the docks at Port Hercules, where the megayachts and the helicopters and the toys were usually way over the top. I’m not at the show this week – the pandemic and all – so I haven’t seen the latest, a 33-foot-long amphibious limousine tender that fits in the garage of a megayacht (a large megayacht). The new tender, the Nouvoyage 33, answers the problem of how to get from your jet to your…

Boat Reviews
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Kadey-Krogen, Summit, Building New Cruisers

Kadey-Krogen and Summit Motoryachts, its new brand, just announced two new boats at the Newport show. Building on the reception to the Kadey-Krogen 50 Open, the company will introduce a new 60 Open, with the same living concept joining the salon and galley area with the pilothouse. And Summit will launch a new 54 Coupe (see rendering, above) to add on to the 54 Motoryacht it just displayed in Newport. Kadey-Krogen has a rich history, having built more than 600 cruising yachts in the past 44 years in its yard in Taiwan. Full-displacement, blue-water trawlers, they have earned a reputation…

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