Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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New Forecast: More Hurricanes This Season

You’ll have to watch the weather even more closely if you’re cruising on the Atlantic coast later this year. The Atlantic hurricane season will be worse than usual. At least that’s the prediction from the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project, which is considered an expert on these things. The project predicts 17 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes (with winds more than 115 mph) this year. All those are above the 30-year average. “We anticipate that the 2021 Atlantic basic hurricane season will have above-normal activity,” said Dr. Phil Klotzbach, the head of the project. The official…

Boat Reviews
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New Alva 90 Flagship: All-Electric Power Cat

Alva Yachts, the fairly new German builder, is making a 90-foot flagship all-electric power cat that has trans-Atlantic range and a cruising speed of 8 to 10 knots. The entire surface of the new Alva 90 is covered with solar body panels; the solar modules have been adapted to the shape of the yacht. They produce 40 kWp; the battery capacity is 240 kWh. The luxurious cat is powered by two 500kW electric drive motors and two 100 kVA generators. A hydrogen fuel cell and storage tank are an option. The yacht also comes in a hybrid diesel-electric option, with…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Crew Rescued from Stricken Ship: See Video

Here’s a searing video of the rescue of all 12 members of the crew of a 366-feet-long cargo transporter ship after it threatened to capsize in 50-feet seas off the coast of Norway. A helicopter lifted eight crew members off the slanting deck and picked up the other four after they had put on survival suits and jumped into the swirling water. The Dutch ship, the Eemslift Hendrika, was on a voyage from Bremerhaven, Germany, to Kolvereid, Norway, and was about 60 nm off the Norwegian coast when it ran into trouble in a storm. Heavy seas caused a list…

Cruising Life
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Tesla Unveils Self-Sustaining Electric Yacht

Tesla just unveiled the design for its self-sustaining, all-electric Model Y yacht, and it represents just about everything you’d expect from the extremely creative and game-changing company. After all, Tesla has already made head-turning inroads in the automotive market and in outer space, so it seems reasonable that it might venture into the marine sphere with something new as well. (See the video below.) Elon Musk started making Tesla electric cars in 2008. This week, Tesla’s market cap is $663.85 billion, equal to that of the nine largest car companies in the world – combined. He founded SpaceX in 2002;…

Cruising Life
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Torqeedo Making New 2-hp Electric Outboard

Torqeedo is now making a 2-hp electric motor designed to power dinks and tenders and some types of small sailboats and light fishing boats. The new Torqeedo, called the Travel 603, weighs only 34 pounds, including its 500Wh lithium-ion battery, and it costs just $1,999.99. The new outboard is the lightest in Torqeedo’s Travel line, but it has the standard outboard configuration with a tiller and throttle. “Our goal in introducing the Travel 603 is to make it easier for boaters to discover the unique benefits of clean, green propulsion for smaller craft,” said Dr. Ralf Plieninger, the company’s managing…

Cruising Life
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Cruise in Style on 97-foot Luxury Barge

Here’s a way to travel in style: The 97-foot luxury super-barge named Savvy that was built to cruise the canals and waterways of Europe in luxury and comfort. Savvy is no normal canal barge. It was built by Hakvoort, the Dutch yard specializing in superyachts, and the interior was laid out by H2Design, the British firm that also usually works with large yachts. Most canal barges are about half Savvy’s size. Its steel hull measures out at 97’ 7”, making it one of the largest, if not the largest, of luxury canal barges. It has a slimmed-down beam of just 16’…

Cruising Life
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New Super Kayak Cat: Inflatable, Stable, Fun

Here’s something new and fun that you might want to take on your next cruise or just keep in the trunk of your car: The Super Kayak, an inflatable catamaran kayak that weighs just 30 pounds and takes only four minutes to set up or disassemble (see the video below). The brain child of Kirk Kirchev, a London product designer, the Super Kayak is now on Kickstarter, with a planned retail price of about $2,100 before long. It is 12 feet long, 3 feet wide and can carry a maximum load of 220 pounds. The modular craft has two inflatable…

Boat Reviews
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Greenline 48 Fly: All-Electric or Diesel Power

The Greenline 48 Fly is a thoroughly modern, family-friendly, hybrid-powered cruiser with one-level living on the main deck and 360-degree views from anywhere in the salon. But what really sets the 48 Fly apart is Greenline’s hybrid drive system, where, with pushing one button, you can shift from electric to diesel power, or back again. So far, the Slovenian builder has produced more than 1,000 yachts with this system, and it’s elegant in its simplicity (see the video below). In the diesel mode, with standard 220-hp Volvos, the boat has a top speed of 17.4 knots; with optional 370-hp Yanmars,…

Charter
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EYOS Expeditions: Leaders in Adventure Charter

In the good old days, before the pandemic hit, the adventure charter business was booming. Then, of course, it crashed. People still wanted to cruise to remote parts of the world, to have new experiences, but they couldn’t even get past the Covid-related travel restrictions to get to the charter boat. Now things are starting to open up again. Indeed, EYOS-Expeditions, a worldwide company that puts together charters for “once in a lifetime experiences,” is expecting another boom. They are booking more charters for the Arctic this summer than ever before, and more for the Antarctic’s next season as well.…

Cruising Life
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New York Couple Restore Lord Nelson Tug

A New York couple, whose business is restoring Brooklyn brownstones, have given new life to a 1987, 49-foot Lord Nelson Victory Tug. They now keep the tug, named Lucy after their late dog, at a marina in the East River, ready to head up the Hudson for a short cruise or up Long Island Sound for a vacation in Nantucket with their two young children. In their day jobs, Lyndsay Caleo Karol and Fitzhugh Karol are co-founders of the Brooklyn Home Company. So far, they have restored more than 30 homes there. But their hearts belong to Lucy. The story…

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