Author Peter Janssen

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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The Shape of Things To Come?

By now, we all know that one of the fastest-growing trends in boat design in the past few years has been the expansion of usable space on board, particularly in cockpits, swim platforms, and the aft ends of recreational boats. The trend started in megayachts and now has worked its way down to 30- and 40-foot production cruising boats. The idea is to create extra space, and to erase (or at least camouflage) the distinction between the interior and the exterior areas of the boat. We now have “beach clubs” where the transom opens up to a new indoor/outdoor cabin…

Cruising Life
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Panama Posse, with 153 Boats, Starting in Mexico

The popular seven-month, 4,500 nm Panama Posse, a no-schedule, multi-route cruising odyssey from Mexico to Florida, kicks off this week from Barra de Navidad, Mexico. The rally was started in 2017 to promote safe cruising and to help boats navigate the Pacific Coast through the Panama Canal and up to Florida at the start of the cruising season. The first year the rally attracted 83 boats; the second year, 123 boats, and last year it had 178 boats. This year, with many cruisers worried about traveling during the pandemic, 153 boats have signed up. Initially, the rally was almost entirely…

Cruising Life
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Dramatic Video Shows Spanish Police Chasing Drug Smugglers

The Spanish police arrested five alleged smugglers after a five-hour, 100-nm chase in the Med, taking dramatic video pictures from their helicopter as the men tried to escape, throwing cubes of a white substance, thought to be hashish, into the sea. You can see the video below. “Do you want to see what the chase on the  high seas was like?” the police asked in releasing the video. “More than five hours and 100 nautical miles.” The chase started when the National Police in their helicopter saw a 45-foot speedboat, with twin 300-hp outboards, about 80 nm off the coast…

Cruising Life
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Missing Boater Rescued 86 Miles Off Florida Coast

Stuart Bee, 63, is a lucky man. He was rescued, clinging to his sinking 34-foot Sea Ray, about 86 miles offshore on Sunday morning, almost two days after he left his marina in  Port Canaveral, Florida. Here’s the story from the Coast Guard: Bee left Cape Marina in Port Canaveral about 4 on Friday afternoon. When he didn’t return Friday night, his family raised the alarm, since he usually didn’t spend the night on the water. The Coast Guard said it got a call at 11:40 on Saturday morning from someone at the marina, also saying Bee was overdue. The…

Cruising Life
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New Folding Electric Bike Goes 20 mph

Here’s a new high-tech, folding, electric-powered bike that could fit in your lazarette of your boat and then give you a comfortable ride on shore. It has a top speed of 20 mph and a range of about 50 miles on a single charge. The new bike is the Gocycle GXi, just named one of Time’s 100 Best Inventions for 2020, and in ten seconds it folds into a package that’s about two feet high and 14 inches wide. With a frame made from injection-molded magnesium alloy, the Gocycle GXi weighs just 38.6 pounds, and it can carry a load…

Boat Reviews
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Silent Yachts Building New Solar/Electric Cat with VW

Silent Yachts just announced that is working with Volkswagen to develop a new solar/electric catamaran with the electric power coming from VW’s modular electric drive matrix. The still-unnamed cat is being designed by Cupra, a high-performance brand of the Spanish car manufacturer Seat, which is owned by Volkswagen. The new cat will run on Silent’s own photovoltaic system, with the propulsion based on VW’s electric drive system. VW originally designed that system to deliver power from a bank of batteries integrated into a car’s chassis to the car’s rear axle, and later to all four wheels. VW subsequently made the…

Boat Reviews
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Okean Launches Prize-Winning 80 With Open Layout

The new Okean 80 Flybridge gives a whole new meaning to an open layout. Made in Brazil, the new cruiser won the Revelation of the Year Award at the 2020 World Yachts Trophies ceremony in Cannes in September. The flagship of the Okean fleet (there’s also a 50 and a 55), the new 80 delivers on Okean’s signature “Open Up Your World” theme. Indeed, it features a seamless transition between the interior and exterior spaces in the salon, where the hull sides drop down to form balconies and the side doors open wide to let in the sea breezes. The…

Boat Reviews
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Jeanneau Launches All-New NC 795 Weekender

Jeanneau has just launched its NC 795 Series 2 weekender, an all-new version of the best-selling NC 795 (more than 1,000 built so far). Among other things, the NC (for New Concept) 795 Series 2 has a new, 26′ 8″ hull, and it can be powered by a 250-hp Yamaha outboard. The new Jeanneau is built as an all-around coastal cruiser, with a V-berth forward that can sleep two, and a convertible dinette that can sleep two more. The protected helm deck is filled with natural light with windows all around and a sliding glass door aft that leads to…

Cruising Life
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Five Great Gifts for “The Boater Who Has Everything”

Even though we still haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving yet, it’s not too early to start thinking about Christmas and, even in a time impacted by the pandemic, also thinking about what to give to our favorite boat owners. Here are some fresh ideas from West Marine that they say are the “Five Top Gifts for the Boater Who Has Everything:” Magna Newport 2 Gourmet Series Gas Grill (pictured at top): Designed for the marine environment, the grill has rounded edges and a dynamic combustion system that keeps the grill lit even in heavy winds. It’s made with a double-walled case with…

Cruising Life
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Researchers Save Orca Stranded on the Rocks. See Video

Here’s a heart-warming story from the CBC about how a group of whale researchers and volunteers kept an orca whale alive for eight hours after she was stranded on the rocks off the coast of Hartley Bay in northern British Columbia. See the video: An orca that was stranded on some rocks was kept alive for eight hours by a dedicated team of whale researchers and volunteers on the North Coast of B.C. “She cried often, which tore at our hearts, but as the tide came up there were many cheers as this whale was finally free,” said in a…

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