Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Walt Bueller, 100, and Living On Board for 37 Years

Walt Bueller just turned 100 years old, and he celebrated with a party on his boat, Why Not, a 32-foot Pacemaker, where’s he’s been living for the past 37 years. Bueller’s boat is tied up at the Marina Pacifica in Long Beach, California.  He moved on board in 1982, and he plans to stay. “I have salt water in my veins,” he told The Grunion. “This is where I want to be.” Bueller and his family lived in Minnesota until the Great Depression hit, and his father sent him to work on a farm in Northern California. That didn’t work out…

Cruising Life
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Azimut Building New Verve 47 with Four Merc Racing Outboards

The new Verve 47 isn’t your typical Azimut. Indeed, it’s only Azimut’s second outboard boat, powered by four 450-hp Mercury Racing engines, and it is expected to top out at 45 knots. The Verve 47 builds on the success of the Verve 40, which was launched at the Newport, Rhode Island, boat show in 2016 and was powered by three 350-hp Mercury Verado outboards. In a sense, with the new 47, Azimut is doubling down on outboards, particularly in the American market. Even such traditional American builders as Hinckley, Back Cove and MJM have introduced outboard-powered cruising boats in the…

Cruising Life
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The Strange Story of the Sinkable Stunt Boat from Jaws

BY JAKE ROSSEN In nautical circles, building a boat that proceeds to sink an astonishing 24 times would be considered a disaster. For the purposes of the crew tasked with filming 1975’s shark thriller Jaws, it meant they had done their job. In an era before computer effects, director Steven Spielberg and production designer Joe Alves wanted their adaptation of the Peter Benchley novel—about a shark that terrorizes the tourist hub of Amity Island—to feel authentic. That meant shooting on location at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where they spent five agonizing months putting actors and several malfunctioning mechanical sharks in the…

Cruising Life
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NTSB Points to Failures in John S. McCain Accident Report

August 5, 2019 by gCaptain The August 2017 collision between the USS John S McCain and a commercial tanker was caused by insufficient training, inadequate bridge operating procedures and a lack of operational oversight, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a Marine Accident Report released today. Ten sailors aboard the John S McCain died and another 48 were injured when the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer collided with the chemical tanker Alnic MC in the Middle Channel passage of the Singapore Strait Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). There were no injuries sustained by the crew of the tanker. The collision occurred as…

Cruising Life
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Lia Ditton: Rowing Alone 5,500 nm Across the Pacific

Lia Ditton, 38, wants to be the first woman to row alone and without support across the Pacific Ocean, some 5,500 nm from Choshi, Japan, to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Don’t bet against her. An ocean racer, in sailboats and rowing boats, Ditton already has 150,000 nm under her belt, and she’s racked up a number of firsts. Last month she was in Anacortes, Washington, training on her new boat. Born in London, Ditton studied as an artist, and traveled to India and the Far East to learn how to carve in stone. In Thailand, she answered…

Cruising Life
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Party’s Over for Chicago’s Carver 570 Voyager “Playpen”

By JASON MEISNER CHICAGO TRIBUNE | A 2015 flyer advertises a party in Chicago’s “Playpen” aboard real estate agent David Izsak’s 58-foot yacht Flying Lady, seen in the image at upper right, which has been seized amid a federal fraud investigation. (Flying Lady Entertainment / HANDOUT) Even amid the wild summer boating scene known in Chicago as the “Playpen,” real estate agent David Izsak’s yacht stood out. Adorned with a pink stripper pole attached to the afterdeck, the 58-foot powerboat dubbed Flying Lady was a regular in the often raucous party spot just off the downtown shore, serving essentially as…

Cruising Life
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Iconic Antique Boat Show in Clayton, N.Y. Draws Enthusiasts

Gus Lombardi, 9, Syracuse, poses for a portrait in his 1976 Chris Craft ski boat named Gus’ Minion on Saturday during the 55th annual Antique Boat Show at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times By MARCUS WOLF mwolf@wdt.net CLAYTON — Nine-year-old Gus Lombardi sat proud in his yellow 1976 Chris Craft Saturday, showcasing it alongside dozens of antique boats rocking in the slips at the Antique Boat Museum for its annual show. His 17.5-foot long ski boat named Gus’ Minion, derived from the cartoon creature from the movies “Despicable Me” and “Minions,” glowed in the sun that…

Cruising Life
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Visit Historic Montreal on the Favors’ Ranger Tugs 29 Kismet

You can’t say that Jim and Lisa Favors, from Traverse City, Michigan, don’t get around. In fact, they’re two of the most accomplished cruisers we know, having already completed the Great Loop. They’ve also cruised in many areas of the U.S. on various boats, including their Ranger Tugs 27 and for the past two years their Ranger Tugs 29, both named Kismet. That’s the new Kismet, with the red hull, in the picture above, in Montreal, which the Favors loved. Here’s Lisa’s account of that trip, along with a series of great photos: Montreal – The End of Our Trent Severn Waterway,…

Boat Reviews
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First Look: New Hinckley 40x Sport Boat with Three Outboards

Here’s a first look at the brand-new Hinckley 40x Sport Boat that was just launched in Newport, Rhode Island, with three 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards. Designed by the legendary C. Raymond Hunt Associates, the new Hinckley was built specifically for outboard power, and it has a 23-degree deadrise at the transom to cut cleanly through rough water. The new Hinckley, coming from the Down East company that invented a genre when it introduced the iconic Picnic Boat in 1994, has two cabins and one head to make cruising comfortable and easy. In keeping with the times, Hinckley says the new…

Cruising Life
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Rockland, Maine: Iconic Laid-Back Boat Show, Museums and Lobsters

You really don’t need a special time to cruise to Rockland, Maine, because it’s one of the most interesting spots up there. But if you do need an extra reason to go to Rockland, the annual Maine Boats & Homes Show starts there on Friday, August 9, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 11, in Harbor Park right in town. With its offbeat mix of Down East boats, dogs, straw-hat musicians and totally laid-back vibes, the Rockland show is in a class by itself. For boats, it usually has most of the area’s favorites, including Hinckley and Hunt (its sister company),…

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