Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Big New Carver 52 Command Bridge: Built for Cruising Comfort

The new Carver 52 Command Bridge, the flagship of the Carver fleet, takes some cues from European yachts in maximizing space to make cruising and entertaining easy. The blunt bow, for example, creates more space in the forward VIP stateroom on the accommodation deck, as well as providing for an inviting lounging and sunbathing area on the foredeck. The Carver 52 also has a staircase from the salon to the large, full-beam master stateroom amidships, providing a degree of privacy usually found in much larger yachts. With three staterooms, two heads, a light-filled salon and a protected flybridge, the Carver…

Cruising Life
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Bitter End To Reopen, Starting with a New Nautical Village

Almost two years after it was devastated by Hurricane Irma, the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands is coming back, starting with the building of a new quarterdeck that will overlook the marina (see the rendering above). The resort, one of the most popular in the British Virgin Islands, has been closed since the hurricane in September, 2017. Since then, the owners have removed damage from more than 100 buildings and cleaned up and restored more than 64 acres. Now they say they want to reopen the Bitter End with a nautical village, yacht management programs, a…

Cruising Life
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Seattle Boats Afloat Show To Open with 225 New Boats

You really don’t need a special reason to visit Seattle; it’s one of the most interesting cities in the world. But if you need an extra nudge, you might want to make some plans for the Lake Union Boats Afloat Show, running from Thursday, Sept. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 15. It’s certainly easy to get to, since it’s on Chandler’s Cove in South Lake Union, almost in the middle of town. (If you can’t find it, just follow the float planes.) In addition to the 225 boats on display, there’s plenty to see and do at the show. There’s a…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Rescues Two Men 30 Miles Off Maine Coast

The Coast Guard rescued two boaters 30 miles off the coast of Maine after their 22-foot powerboat had an engine failure and they drifted around overnight. The rescue started when one of the boater’s wives called the Coast Guard in South Portland, Maine, at 10:30 on Saturday night and said they were overdue. They had gone fishing on Cashes Ledge, a hotspot about 80 miles off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire, where the water’s only 40 feet deep. The Coast Guard launched a rescue effort, but it wasn’t until daylight, at 6:20 the next morning, that the crew…

Cruising Life
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The Moorings Building New Flagship 534 Power Cat for Charter

The Moorings is building a four-cabin flagship 534 PC as the latest addition to its worldwide power charter fleet. The new cat, with a draft of just 3’ 2”, will be ready for charters in the summer of 2020. The new 534 is being built by Robertson and Caine in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1991, Robertson and Caine is one of the most important catamaran builders in the world. They also built Leopard cats. The new Moorings 534 is designed for maximum charter comfort. The four cabins, all with en suite heads and showers, also have their own…

Cruising Life
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New Law Requires Boating Safety Courses in NY State

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo just signed a law requiring anyone operating a motorboat on the state’s waterways to take an eight-hour boating safety course. The law has a phase-in period, giving boat owners time to comply, that goes to Jan. 1, 2025. The new legislation is called Brianna’s Law, after Brianna Lieneck, of Deer Park, New York (pictured above), who was killed in a boating accident in August, 2005. She and her family were riding home on Great South Bay when a larger powerboat crashed into the side of their boat where Brianna was seating. She was killed,…

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New Solaris 48: An Italian Version of a Lobster Boat

Solaris just announced that it will introduce its new 48 Open, a modern Italian version of a traditional Maine lobster boat, at the Cannes Yachting Festival starting Sept. 10. It will be available later in hardtop and flybridge versions. Norberto Ferretti, the former head of the Ferretti Group, helped design the Solaris 48 Open. He said he missed being involved in boat building, and he drew the new Solaris because “I was especially smitten by the lobster boat: a perfect combination of seaworthiness, functionality, technology and safety.” Power for the 48 Open comes from two Volvo IPS packages: Twin 435-hp…

Cruising Life
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NOAA Raises the Odds for a Stormy Hurricane Season

Here’s some sobering news from NOAA. Its updated prediction for the Atlantic hurricane season, now entering its peak, calls for greater activity than normal. Indeed, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, says the likelihood of above-normal activity is now 45 percent, a major increase from the 30 percent it had predicted in its preliminary outlook in May. The latest prediction calls for as many as 17 named storms (with winds of 39 mph or more). As many as nine of them will become hurricanes (with winds of 74 mph or more), including two to four major hurricanes (with…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Grumpy Completes Great Loop, with Some Lessons for Us All

Mission accomplished. John Hauck, 80, a retired Army special forces major and helicopter pilot, just finished the Great Loop, arriving back home in Demopolis, Alabama, 110 days and 6,303 miles after he left. He put 416 hours on the twin 150-hp Mercury outboards that drove Grumpy, his RF-246 Rosborough, and said they “performed flawlessly.” Hauck did the Loop solo, except for 21 days when a lady friend joined him, from the Erie Canal to Ludington, Michigan, on Lake Michigan. He says if he does the Loop again, it would be nice to have company onboard. Hauck’s journey was a major…

Cruising Life
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Tony Fleming Cruises 1,848 nm Through British Columbia on Venture

Tony Fleming, the founder of Fleming Yachts, is one of the most accomplished cruisers we know. Aside from what he’s done on other boats throughout his career, he’s put 64,000 nm under the keel of Venture, his personal Fleming 65, starting from his homeport in Newport Beach, California, and going up to the Aleutians, down to the Galapagos, through the Panama Canal and all the way up to the St. Lawrence and back down to Annapolis. Fleming has just finished his 15th summer cruise on Venture, deciding to explore the beautiful waters of British Columbia. He started on May 27 in Sidney…

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