Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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New Antares 11 Flagship with Twin Suzukis and a Balcony

Beneteau just introduced its new Antares 11, the 36-foot flagship of its outboard lineup and the first with a balcony – part of the bulwark in the cockpit that folds out to create a larger social space there. The new Antares, a family weekend cruiser, is powered by twin 300-hp Suzukis, and speeds are expected to be over 30 knots. The Antares 11 is unusually open and filled with light, from large windows all around the salon and from a super-sized sunroof (which could be replaced with optional solar panels). Glass doors slide open aft to merge the salon and…

Cruising Life
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Ice Melting in Antarctica and Greenland Faster than Expected

The ice is melting even faster than scientists had thought in Greenland and Antarctica. Indeed, a new study found that the ice sheets there are melting six times faster now than they were in the 1990s, contributing to about a third of the rise in sea levels, with implications for coastal flooding and erosion. Here’s a report from the BBC: Earth’s great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, are now losing mass six times faster than they were in the 1990s thanks to warming conditions. A comprehensive review of satellite data acquired at both poles is unequivocal in its assessment of…

Cruising Life
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Sound Signals: A Primer at the Start of the Season

Now that boating season is (almost) here, at least for those of us in the north, it’s a good time for a quick review of sound signals – the signals that will help you keep safe on your cruises this summer. We all need a refresher course now and then. The basic sound signals for powerboats are easy to remember. They will help you stay out of trouble in passing situations on the open water and particularly on the narrow waterways that you’ll find on many stretches of the ICW and the Great Loop, among other places. They are particularly…

Cruising Life
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Seven Best Beach Bars in Antigua, from The Moorings

Antigua is one of my favorite destinations in the world. Great beaches, warm breezes, friendly people, and lots to do, on land and on the water. One of the best things to do on land is to head for the nearest beach bar. Here, from the people at The Moorings, is a list of their top seven beach bars there. You and I may have others, but at least this is a start. Take a look: Situated in the heart of the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands, opportunities for exhilarating blue water sailing in steady trade winds have attracted sailors to Nelson’s…

Boat Reviews
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New Cold-Molded Vicem 67: A Blue-Water Cruiser

The latest Vicem, a 67, was scheduled to make its worldwide debut at the Palm Beach show, which has now been cancelled. The new boat now will be unveiled in the U.S. at a later time.  The new 25-knot, blue-water cruiser has all the timeless lines and old-world craftsmanship that have marked Vicems for the past 29 years. It also has the Turkish builder’s cold-molded mahogany construction that makes the yachts easy to customize for individual buyers, while adding strength to the hull. The 67 is built for cruising anywhere in the world, and it has earned a CE Design…

Cruising Life
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NOAA Predicts Higher Tides This Spring: See Where

NOAA has just issued a High Tide Bulletin for this spring, predicting when and where you can expect higher tides than normal. It covers the entire coastline of the U.S. You can click on the link at the bottom of this story to go to a map with details for various parts of the country. Here’s the report: The rising and falling of the sea is a phenomenon upon which we can always depend. Tides are the regular rise and fall of the sea surface caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun and their position relative to…

Cruising Life
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Maine Lobster Catch: More Money, Fewer Lobsters

There was good news and bad news in the annual report on the Maine lobster harvest earlier this month. The good news is that the catch brought in $485.4 million, the fourth highest amount ever. The bad news was that the catch itself was down 17 percent. According to the annual report from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the state’s lobster fisherman hauled in 100.7 million pounds of lobster in 2019. That was the smallest catch since 2010, although it was the ninth year in a row that the catch was over 100 million pounds. But lobster fishermen ended…

Destinations
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Green Turtle Marina, Resort Reopen in the Abacos

Here’s some good news from the Abacos. The popular but definitely laid-back Green Turtle Club Resort and Marina is up and running. It opened on March 1 with its full-service marina, restaurant, bar, eight rooms and two two-bedroom villas. Other villas are scheduled to be ready before summer. Green Turtle, on Green Turtle Cay, is a treat. I stayed there a few years ago when Billy Black, the photographer, and I were delivering a new Maine Cat P-47 to Hope Town, and I can’t wait to go back. Hurricane Dorian devastated the place last September, when it swept over the…

Cruising Life
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Fast-Car Designer Builds a Wooden All-Electric Classic

Here’s a boat that will turn heads: The 31-foot, all-wood, all-electric custom Riverbreeze, developed and owned by Frank Stephenson for cruising on The Thames, behind his house about 35 miles west of London. What’s unusual about this boat, other than its beautiful lines and gleaming brightwork, is its owner. Stephenson is the head of Frank Stephenson Design in London, and he designs cars, usually fast cars, always iconic cars. Over the years, he’s been the design director of McLaren Automotive, and he’s drawn the lines of custom and  production cars including the McLaren P1 (above), the Ferrari F430, the BMW…

Boat Reviews
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Palm Beach Show Postponed: Grand Banks 54 To Debut Later

We just learned that the Palm Beach show, scheduled to start on March 26, has been postponed as a result of the coronavirus crisis. We will have details later, when we learn more. The new Grand Banks 54, with its classic lines and semi-displacement, warped-hull performance, was scheduled to make its worldwide debut there. Powered by twin 725-hp Volvos with straight shaft drives, this latest Grand Banks tops out at 31 knots, cruises at 26 knots, and has a range of about 1,000 nm at 10 knots. The new 54 has the same high-tech hull as the popular Grand Banks…

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