Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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Palm Beach Motoryachts Will Launch New GT60 in Miami

The new Palm Beach GT60, with the same low profile, long sheer and elegant tumblehome as other Palm Beach models, will debut at the Miami Yacht Show, starting Feb. 13. It follows the launch of the GT50 Open at Miami last year, and the GT50 Salon Express at the Newport, Rhode Island, show in September, 2018. The GT50 Salon Express was named Best New Powerboat at that show; the judges said the beautiful, fast and light Palm Beach motoryacht was just plain “sexy.” The new GT60 has all the same lines and heritage as the GT50, except it’s ten feet…

Cruising Life
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NOAA Will Stop Making Paper Charts

I don’t know about you, but in a room upstairs at home I have rolled up charts that I’ve used for cruising in the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Great Lakes over the years. You may have a similar space in your home, or on your boat.  They remind me of many great (and some not-so-great) places I’ve been, miles under the belt. They’re a part of my history. Soon they may be relics. NOAA just announced that it will phase out all production of paper charts over the next five years. It will make electronic vector charts instead. NOAA…

Cruising Life
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U SAFE Big Winner in METS Awards. See Video

The innovative remote-controlled U SAFE life buoy was the big winner in the recent DAME design awards handed out at big METS marine equipment show in Amsterdam. Indeed, U SAFE won the top prize in the prestigious annual design competition, and it also won the award in the Lifesaving and Safety Equipment Category. Garmin also won two awards, one for its Garmin GPSMAP 86i in the marine electronics category, and one, as a co-winner, for its Garmin Force Trolling Motor in the Machinery and Propulsion Category. The other co-winner there was the Navico GHOST Trolling Motor. The DAME design awards…

Charter
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Plan Now for an Unforgettable Charter in Historic Greece

Now is a great  time to plan your charter vacation for next spring or summer, and you would have a hard time finding a more historic or alluring place than Greece. It has just about everything – easy cruising conditions, beautiful landscapes, ancient ruins, secluded islands, gorgeous white sand beaches, and waterfront tavernas. The place to start is Zia Marina in Athens’ port of Piraeus (Athens is pictured above). To give some sense of history, Piraeus has been a port since the 5th century, B.C. Today, Zia Marina is a fully-equipped, modern marina with room for 670 boats; it’s also…

Cruising Life
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Totally Over-the-Top Holiday Gifts for Superyacht Owners

Many, many years ago, when my children were young and we had a sailboat, they gave me a sailbag for Christmas. The next year, it was a hand-held compass. I was very happy with both of these presents; my children knew how to connect with my passion. Later on, when they flew down to Fort Lauderdale to join me on our Grand Banks for a holiday cruise to Ocean Reef in the Keys, they brought a set of drinking glasses that I still have to this day. Those are normal kinds of holiday gifts for boat owners. Last week we…

Boat Reviews
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New Sirena 64: A Comfortable Cruiser at 26 Knots

The new Turkish-built Sirena 64, just displayed at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, is one of the latest examples of contemporary European “fast trawlers” – really long-distance, comfortable cruising boats with a turn of speed – that include the Beneteau Swift Trawler line and the Azimut Magellanos. In the Sirena’s case, it offers an Italian design, by Tommaso Spadolini, a Germán Frers hull, and a top speed of more than 26 knots with twin 1,000-hp CAT diesels. Sirena spent a lot of time and research developing the hull, which delivers a fuel-efficient ride in the easy-cruising 8- to 12-knot…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Ferry Captain Hits Boat, Says He’s “The Dog’s Badoodahs”

Even after his 305-foot passenger ferry ran into a 32-foot Doral cruiser with four people on board on the Solent near Southampton, England, veteran ferry captain Ian Drummond, 62, didn’t seem to feel much remorse. “I’m the dog’s badoodahs out on the Solent,” he told investigators from Britain’s Maritime and Coastal Agency. “I don’t know what to feel guilty about. I’m as good as it gets.” Drummond’s remarks were played in court, where prosecutors said he failed to keep a lookout on the day of the accident, Sept. 29, 2018. “If there had been a proper lookout, the vessel would…

Cruising Life
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Colin O’Brady Wants To Row to Antarctica

Colin O’Brady is a professional adventurer, an endurance athlete whose last major feat was to set a record for the world’s first solo crossing of Antarctica. He’s also climbed up Mt. Everest and holds three mountaineering world records. All these adventures were on land. Now O’Brady, part of a team of six, wants to row 600 to 800 miles across the Drake Passage from Cape Horn at the tip of South America to Antarctica, some of the most dangerous waters in the world. It doesn’t bother him that until three months ago he had never rowed anything at all. O’Brady,…

Cruising Life
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Manatees Return to Florida for the Winter

Manatees are returning to Florida for the winter, so boaters need to be extra careful to avoid the huge, slow-moving creatures. Adult manatees are about ten feet long and weigh 1,000 pounds, and they like to swim just below the surface, so they are very susceptible to injury from passing boats. They also are slow, usually swimming at just 3 to 5 mph, although they can go as fast as 20 mph in short bursts. The gentle sea cows are creatures of habit, often returning to the same place year after year. They gather in Florida from November through March…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Busts Sub with 5,000 Pounds of Cocaine

The Coast Guard has boarded and seized a submarine carrying more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine – worth more than $69 million – somewhere in the Eastern Pacific. There was so much coke on the narco sub that the Coast Guard cutter that made the bust had to call in a larger cutter with a crane to offload the drugs. The semi-submersible boat was seized by law enforcement officers from the Harriet Lane, a 270-foot Coast Guard cutter, after a patrol plane had spotted it. Boarding teams from the cutter climbed on the sub just before midnight and took control…

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