Author Peter Janssen

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…

Cruising Life
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Maine Maritime Academy Degree Pays Off More Than Harvard

Want to make money after you graduate from college?  Forget Harvard. Go to Maine Maritime Academy instead. If that doesn’t work, think about the United States Merchant Marine Academy. A new study from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce shows that in terms of return on investment 40 years after graduation, Maine Maritime Academy is number six in the top ten among 4,500 colleges studied, Harvard is number eight, and the  U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is number ten. For some perspective here, Harvard was founded in 1636 and has an endowment of $40.9 billion. Maine Maritime Academy, a…

Cruising Life
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Two Superyachts Destroyed in Fort Lauderdale Fire. See Video

A dramatic pre-dawn fire destroyed two superyachts at the Universal Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday morning. More than 100 firefighters fought the fire, which sent flames and smoke soaring into the air, for four hours. No one was injured in the fire, but Reflections, a 107-foot, 1997 Christiansen (left, in the picture above), and Lohengrin, a 160-foot, 2006 Trinity, were destroyed. Fort Lauderdale Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said the fire appeared to have started on Lohengrin and spread to Reflections, which was next to it. Witnesses said they heard explosions as the fire spread. Lohengrin was valued at…

Cruising Life
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NTSB Criticizes Coast Guard in Fatal Duck Boat Sinking

The National Transportation Safety Board has just criticized the Coast Guard for ignoring suggestions about improving the safety of duck boats for almost 20 years. The proposals possibly could have prevented the sinking of a duck boat, known as Stretch Duck 7, in a storm on July 23, 2018, on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, killing 17 people on board. The criticism came in a NTSB Safety Recommendation Report even while the federal agency is still investigating the sinking. The NTSB is urging the Coast Guard to require sufficient reserve buoyancy on duck boats (amphibious passenger vessels similar to…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Fountaine Pajot MY 40: Year of the Cats

Judging by all the activity and new launches so far, this is shaping up to be the year of the cats. New catamarans, it seems, have leaped into the power cruising mainstream. Several were introduced at the recent Fort Lauderdale show, while others are already in the private or charter markets, and even more are on the drawing boards. The new Fountaine Pajot MY 40 (pictured above) was a big hit in Lauderdale, and so was the Bali 4.3, which is 42’ 3” LOA and has a massive 23’ 3’ beam. Silent-Yachts had its newly repowered 55 solar cat on…

Boat Reviews
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Ranger Tugs Launches New 25 Trailerable Pocket Cruiser

Ranger Tugs just launched its new R 25 trailerable pocket cruiser at the Fort Lauderdale show. This newest Ranger is powered by a single Yamaha 250-hp outboard and, like all Rangers, it’s packed with enough amenities to make cruising easy and fun. Over the years, I’ve cruised on several Rangers in the Pacific Northwest. They’re made by Fluid Motion, based in Kent, Washington. It also makes Cutwater Boats, and it’s one of the most successful boat companies in recent times. I’ve always felt that each cruise ended much too soon, as Rangers (and Cutwaters) provide a lot of room and…

Electronics
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Simrad Launches Two New Radars for Smaller Cruising Boats

Simrad Yachting just announced the launch of HALO20+ and HALO20 radars, a pair of compact, pulse-compression units designed for smaller cruising boats. Both radars provide excellent detection with short-range performance, while HALO20+ has the fastest rotation on the market and can detect targets farther away than the HALO20. With a 20-inch dome, the HALO20+ is Simrad’s smallest pulse compression radar yet, delivering a full 360-degree sweep every second. Simrad says it has an industry-first 60 RPM rotation at ranges up to 1.5 nm. These fast updates give boat owners an almost real-time view of close range activity, helping to avoid…

Cruising Life
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41 Great Christmas Gifts for Your Favorite Cruising Boat Captain

Yes, I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but Christmas is coming in only six more weeks, which raises the question – what do give your favorite cruising boat captain or mate? There are always many opportunities here, no matter how large the boat is, or how experienced the owner is, or how much stuff (all totally necessary, of course) is already on the boat. In the next few weeks, we’ll have more great gift ideas, but here,  for a start, is a list of 41, yes 41, Christmas presents from Yachting World, the British magazine. It has a few…

Boat Reviews
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New All-Solar Silent-Yachts 80 Tri-Deck Luxury Cat

Silent-Yachts just announced that it’s making a new 80 Tri-Deck solar-powered catamaran with a sky lounge or “owner’s deck” on the upper deck with lots of private space and the possibility of panoramic views all around. The third deck is an enhancement of the yard’s successful flagship 80, making it the most spacious Silent to date. “The additional sky lounge is a very convenient space and helps stretch out the period of using the boat,” said Michael Köhler, the founder and CEO of Silent-Yachts, an Austrian company. “The extra space on top extends social areas on board, while offering new…

Cruising Life
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New Underwater Diving Drone Features a Robotic Arm

Here’s something new that could add another dimension to your next cruise or charter: an underwater diving drone with a robotic arm, so you can explore the ocean depths down to 492 feet. It’s called the Geneinno T1. Geneinno is a startup team that makes underwater drones and scooters. They say the Geneinno T1 is the world’s first diving drone equipped with a robotic arm. It dives deep and can explore the ocean floor. If you don’t want to go that far down, it has a precise hovering feature and a high-low angle shot that can be used for professional…

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