Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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New, Elegant Beau Lake Runabout: A Pedal Boat Designed After a Riva Aquarama

The new elegant, high-style Beau Lake Runabout is definitely not your grandfather’s pedal boat, the big white plastic contraption that you’d often find in city lakes and amusement parks. Indeed, its designers say they were inspired by the lines of a Riva Aquarama. With its mahogany deck, inch-thick leather seats, reverse transom and gracious tumblehome, the Beau Lake would be at home in any first-class dock or boathouse from Lake Tahoe to Lake Como. “Traditional injection-molded plastic pedal boats stand out like sore thumbs,” says Paul Lavoie, the co-founder and CEO of Beau Lake. “Nothing about them blends into the…

Boat Reviews
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Outer Reef Starts New 550 Atlas Series Motoryacht, a Strong and Comfortable Long-Range Cruiser

Outer Reef has just announced a new line, the 550 Atlas Series Motoryacht, designed for long-range or coastal cruising with a pilothouse, Portuguese bridge and everything you’d need for a safe and comfortable long weekend or month or so on board. The company says it named the series after the Greek god who personified strength and endurance. Powered by twin 500-hp John Deere diesels, the new 550 Atlas is expected to cruise economically in the 10-knot range, and top out in the 17-knot range. The hull is made of hand-laid fiberglass with PVC core sandwich construction above the waterline and…

On Watch
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On Watch

What To Look for at FLIBS: New Boats, New Trends, New Dreams By Peter A. Janssen Take a good look the yacht above, one of the 1,500 new boats you can see at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that starts next Wednesday, Oct. 31, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 4. It’s the Utopia IV from the Rossinavi yard in Italy, and it’s 207 feet long. It’s powered by four 2,600-hp MTU diesels and it tops out at 33 knots. If you want to get some exercise, or just get wet, it has three swimming pools, plus a “beach club” aft,…

Cruising Life
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Key West: Home of the Colorful Conch Republic and a Great Cruising Destination

Key West is a lot of things. The Conch Republic. The end of the road, or at least the end of the 127-mile-long Overseas Highway. It’s irreverent, different, fun. And it’s colorful: Consider the daily scene where hundreds, or thousands, of people, plus various fire-eaters, jugglers and tightrope walkers, gather on Mallory Square to look for the green flash as the sun goes down. Or the annual Fantasy Fest parade (pictured above right) or the New Year’s Eve blowout (above left). Most of all, Key West is a great cruising destination. If you’re looking for a weekend or more, head…

Cruising Life
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NOAA: What Makes You Seasick, and What You Can Do About It

Sooner or later, everybody gets seasick. If not actually sick, then certainly queasy. One of my best friends has been cruising on sail and powerboats for almost 50 years. Hardly a novice, he’s won the Bermuda Race and a Transatlantic, among other things. And he still gets seasick every time he start a voyage. “I just figure I’m going to be miserable for about two days and then everything will be OK,” he says. Over the years, I think I’ve tried just about everything, wrist bands, ear patches, whatever, for various members of my family to keep them from getting…

Cruising Life
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Simrad Launches New HALO24 Radar with 60 RPM Sweep, an Industry First

Simrad just launched its new HALO24 radar with a compact 24-inch dome that’s just right for a lot of cruising powerboats, with a 60-rpm high-speed rotation for a range of two miles, an industry first. This full 360-degree sweep every second provides extra safety for your boat, giving you an up-close view any potential vessel or navigation problem in any direction. The new Simrad HALO24 also has the company’s Dual Range performance, so you can see near and far at the same time. It lets you monitor two distance ranges simultaneously; you could keep an eye on distant weather cells,…

Cruising Life
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Don’t Run Out of Gas in Oceanside, California

What happens if you run out of fuel or have an engine problem near Oceanside, California, and need a tow home? Until last week, you could call the harbor police and they’d help you out for free. But no longer. Now, you can call Tow Boat US. Here’s the full story from The San Diego Union Tribune: Boaters who find themselves dead in the water can no longer count on a free tow back to the Oceanside harbor. The city has turned its non-emergency assists over to the private company Tow Boat US, said Lt. Aaron Doyle of the Oceanside…

Cruising Life
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What Does It Really Cost To Own a Yacht? These Pictures Will Make You Laugh – or Cry

Remember that old prize-winning Rolling Stone ad campaign, perception vs. reality? The perception was that the Rolling Stone reader was a doped-out hippie who didn’t have a nickel to his name, while the reality, at least according to the ad campaign, was that the average reader was an up-and-coming entrepreneur who could easily afford that new BMW 5 Series convertible or that alluring American Airlines first-class flight to Paris that were displayed in four-color ad spreads throughout the magazine. Now, the same is true of boats, at least according to this very funny piece in Business Insider. In this case, the juxtaposed…

Cruising Life
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Toxic Red Tide Spreads to Florida’s Space Coast, Washing Dead Fish up on Beaches

Florida’s toxic red tide, which has caused terrible damage to Florida’s southwest coast this year, has now spread to the state’s east coast, particularly the area around Cocoa Beach and Melbourne Beach, washing dead fish and other marine life up on shore. The spread of the algae bloom is worst along the Brevard County beaches just south of Sebastian Inlet, with people complaining of itching throats and respiratory problems. The county just posted 300 signs to warm beachgoers about the red tide, putting them up on lifeguard stations and in area parks and oceanfront hotels. Meanwhile, volunteers have cleared thousands…

Boat Reviews
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New 65-foot Elling E6: A Super-Safe, Long-Range Cruiser from the Netherlands

Elling Yachts in the Netherlands is introducing its 65-foot Elling E6, a solid, safe, long-range cruiser to North America at the Fort Lauderdale show, and comes with some fairly unique features, including its ability to right itself in a capsize and its second get-home engine in the event of a catastrophic failure to the main. Ellings are built by Neptune Marine, which has 40 years of experience, and are designed and engineered to be the safest cruisers in the world. With a range of 3,500 nm, the new E6 could cross the Atlantic, explore the fjords of Norway, or complete…

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