Author Peter Janssen

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…

Cruising Life
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Large New Steelpointe Marina Opens in Bridgeport, CT

Here’s some good news for anyone cruising up or down Long Island Sound this year. The new Steelpointe Harbor Marina, with 200 slips on floating concrete docks, is open in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Steelpointe offers a new overnight (or longer) destination for anyone heading to or from New York, Mystic, Newport, the islands or farther Down East, and it has all the amenities to make a visit comfortable. The driving force behind Steelpointe is its location. It’s part of a $1 billion, 55-acre waterfront development in Bridgeport. A super-sized Bass Pro Shop opened there in 2016, and now there’s a Starbucks,…

Boat Reviews
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New True North 34OE: Outboard Performance, Down East Lines

The first True North 34 Outboard Express under the ownership of Catalina Yachts just made its debut at the Miami boat show, and it had a new hydraulic Porta Bracket to lift its 300-hp outboards up vertically on the transom. The idea is to let captains adjust the outboards for running in shallow water, and to lift the lower units completely out of the water when they’re not running, to help eliminate growth and corrosion. Catalina bought True North from US Watercraft in Rhode Island more than a year ago and moved the molds for the 34 and a 38…

Cruising Life
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The Cruising Life: Bumfuzzle in the DR

Patrick Schulte and his family just reached Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic on Bumfuzzle, their 1986 Grand Banks 42, continuing their cruising life in the Caribbean. When we last checked with them, they were in the Caymans at the start of the year. Since then they’ve gone down to Jamaica, and then over to the DR. It took the Schultes, Pat, his wife Ali, their daughter Quest, 10, and son, Lowe, 8, about 48 hours to go from Port Antonio, Jamaica, to Santo Domingo. They waited for a three-day weather window, and then left early in the morning, helped…

Boat Reviews
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New, Open, Bavaria SR41: Built for Fun

The Bavaria SR41, just introduced at the Düsseldorf show in January, is another example of the low-profile, fairly-open weekend cruisers designed for maximum enjoyment on the water. The SR41, with two large cabins and two heads below, also has some creative touches. The cockpit, for example, does triple duty in the sociability department. In one configuration, it has as an aft-facing dinette, with a U-shaped settee just above the teak swim platform. You can rearrange this area to serve as a comfortable sun lounge, large enough for several adults. And you can rearrange it again by flipping a backrest and…

Charter
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Explore Greenland on a Luxury Expedition-Yacht Charter

The world of adventure travel is growing rapidly, as more and more people want to try new experiences in new places. Increasingly, Greenland is one of those places. Sure, you can cruise there on your own Nordhavn, your Fleming, or your Kadey-Krogen (among other brands), or you can relax, charter an expedition yacht and let someone else worry about navigating through the icebergs and the frigid waters. We usually concentrate on owner-operated boats. But every once in a while it’s fun to take a look at what’s possible out there. If you’re thinking of cruising to Greenland, for example, you…

Cruising Life
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New Music Hull: Listen To Your Favorite Tunes Underwater

Here’s something you probably haven’t thought about before: Music Hull from Videoworks, a revolutionary new acoustic system that lets you listen to your favorite tunes underwater. And no, it’s not a group of underwater speakers. It is instead a system of six “shakers” that are built into the inner hull that produces high-fidelity music you can hear underwater for up to 65 feet away from the boat. Music Hull uses the hull as if it were a high-definition speaker. The shakers are placed on the inner surface of the Pershing’s carbon-fiber hull and they make the hull vibrate in the…

Cruising Life
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How To Get Ready: Spring Commissioning Checklist from BoatUS

It’s that time of year again. With spring approaching, it’s time to get the boat ready for the new season. Here’s a great checklist from BoatUS about what to do now: SPRINGFIELD, Va., March 3, 2020 – Getting the boat ready for the summer boating season is an exciting time for America’s nearly 12 million recreational boaters. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has a Spring Commissioning Checklist to help boaters start the season right, along with a new YouTube Spring Fitting Out video library that shows you how to do some basic tasks, from changing the outdrive…

Cruising Life
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Brooklyn Marina Closes: Fuhgeddaboudit

The well-established Marine Basin Marina on Brooklyn’s Gravesend Bay will close on April 1, forcing some 200 boat owners to find a new spot for their vessels. The marina, on Brooklyn’s western shore opposite Staten Island, offered deep-water access to fishing and cruising on the Lower Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the Gagliano family owned the marina for half a century and is selling it, and adjacent properties, to a real estate investment firm for $57.5 million. The marina’s website said it offered “endless opportunities for shopping, eating, drinking. You can also just roam around…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Tiara 49 Coupe: Lots of Light, IPS Performance

Tiara’s new 36-knot, bright and open 49 Coupe will be on display at the Palm Beach show, starting March 26. The 49 Coupe features a salon filled with light from windows all around (and the large sunroof, when it’s open), and two staterooms with two heads below. Power comes from twin 600-hp Volvo IPS800 pod drives; they deliver a top speed of 36.1 knots and an optimal cruising speed of 26.2 knots with a range of 219 nm. Volvo is a long-time partner with Tiara (I tested the very first IPS on a Tiara in the Great Lakes more than…

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