Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Ice Melting at Record Levels in Bering Sea, Even in Winter

Even in the depths of winter, ice in the Bering Sea has been melting at a record rate, and scientists say the amount of ice that has disappeared this winter has been “extreme.” Ice covering the Bering Sea is the lowest on record at this time of year. Indeed, this winter the amount of ice lost is about the size of Montana. It was the second straight year that ice retreated drastically. Now, low ice levels affect local communities who traditionally hunt for walrus and other wildlife during the winter; it also will change the feeding habits of Arctic animals.…

Cruising Life
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Historic Shoaling Closes Part of Tenn-Tom Waterway

Heavy rains have created historic shoaling along parts of the 234-mile Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, closing it to navigation below the Aberdeen Lock and Dam in Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to start dredging there, where the waterway is completely blocked, but it may take some time. Opened in 1984, the Tenn-Tom is a man-made waterway connecting the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee River. It is popular with recreational boaters as part of the Great Loop, and it also is used by commercial barge traffic connecting to the Gulf of Mexico. Heavy rains last month caused a rapid rise…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Florida Couple “Enjoyed Every Second of Every Day” on Great Loop. Plan To Do It Again

Steve and Jane McKinney just completed the Great Loop in Sabbatical, their 1988 Albin 36, crossing their wake just north of red day beacon 74 in Charlotte Harbor in Florida. The trip took 369 days and lasted for 6,845 miles, and they had such a good time they’re going to do it again. “We enjoyed every second of every day,” Jane told me. The McKinneys are not life-long cruisers. Indeed, they didn’t start thinking about the Loop until two years ago. They’d been married for 33 years and have four grown children, and they were approaching a time in life…

Cruising Life
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New 9-Pound Crankenstein Portable Jump Starter from Weego

Weego says its new portable jump starter is so light you can lift it with only one finger: It weighs just nine pounds. The new wonderfully named Crankenstein is also, according to Weego, the smartest, safest and most compact marine-grade jump starter in the world. The new Crankenstein Jump Starting 12V/24V Power Pack may well be all of that. It is a powerful 12- and 24-volt portable jump starter that would be a smart and safe addition to your boat’s basic cruising equipment. What boat owner hasn’t worried about losing battery power at some time? It’s hard to deny the…

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New Company Converts Aquilla 44 to an All-Electric Cruiser

Here’s a new idea from a new company. Nova Luxe Yachts, a New York company, converts production power catamarans from 35 to 50 feet to all-electric power. It is now fitting out its first conversion, an Aquilla 44, in a yard in St. Petersburg, Florida, and it will be launched on June 1. The new Aquilla, usually powered by twin diesels, will be a totally solar/electric boat. It will have Torqueedo Deep Blue drives, BMW i3 batteries and an array of 16 solar panels on the cabintop. Nova Luxe says the new green Aquilla will be an environmentally friendly cruiser…

Cruising Life
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Aging Commuter Boat Gets a Total Refit and a New Life at Lyman-Morse

Here’s a wonderful blow-by-blow account, with pictures, showing how Lyman-Morse restored a beautiful, but suffering, 73-foot, 1930 commuter boat named Scout to all its former glory – plus some. In fact, over a six-month period. Lyman-Morse worked a total refit on Scout, replacing everything from her timbers to her engines. Now, once the weather improves Scout, based in Newport, Rhode Island, will be cruising the Northeast from Long Island Sound to Downeast Maine. The boat that now is Scout was originally christened Cormar when she was launched on April 4, 1930, at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan. Designed by Eldredge-McInnis of…

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New Report: Ocean Heat Waves Threaten Marine Life

Heat waves in the ocean are occurring more often, and lasting much longer, than they have in the past, and they’re threatening marine life around the planet. Here’s a solid report from The New York Times about what this means: When deadly heat waves hit on land, we  hear about them. But the oceans can have heat waves, too. They are happening far more frequently than they did last century and are harming marine life, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, looked at the impact of marine heat waves on the…

Cruising Life
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After Alaska on a Nordhavn 40, This West Coast Family Moves Up to a Nordhavn 56 Motorsailor in Florida

When we last checked in with the Gardyne family from Alameda, California, they had just returned from a trip on their Nordhavn 40, MV Cassidy, up to Juneau, Alaska, last summer. The trip was such a success that the Gardynes, Dougal, Jen and Cassidy, then 7, wanted to move up to a bigger boat. Now, it turns out, they’ve found one. It’s still a Nordhavn and it’s much bigger, at 56 feet, but it’s a motorsailor, and they don’t know  how to sail. Ever adventurous, they say they’ll get some expert advice and figure it out. The Gardynes loved the…

Cruising Life
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Early Predictions for Hurricane Season: About Same Number, and Just as Destructive, As Past Two Years

It’s still very early in the hurricane prediction business, but we already have two major forecasts for this year’s season, which starts June 1. They both agree that the Atlantic and Gulf coasts will have about the same number of storms as in an average year, but one prediction says the hurricanes we do have will be just as destructive as they’ve been in the past two years. Global Weather Oscillations Inc. specializes in predicting hurricane landfalls, which is what we really want to know. They use ClimatePulse technology, developed by David Dilley, a former NOAA meteorologist; it tracks landfall…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Issues Largest Fine Ever in Crackdown on Illegal Charter Boats

The Coast Guard just issued its largest civil fine ever to a Chicago man accused of operating two illegal charter boats. The Coast Guard said the man, Robert Glick, violated three federal regulations for each of his two boats, Fun, a 40-foot pontoon boat, and Allora, a 37-foot Sea Ray. It said that it first warned Glick in June, 2016, that he was operating an illegal charter business, carrying passengers for hire, but that he continued to operate the charters anyway. Originally, the Coast Guard recommended fining Glick $214,000, but reduced the amount. The fines now include: $44,000 for operating without certificates…

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