Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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New Mooring Fields for Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a Breathtakingly Beautiful Cruising Destination

Many veteran cruisers think that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is the best part of the Bahamas, with simply breathtaking water and sandbar colors and some of the best diving in the world. Created in 1959, the 176-square-mile park is filled with dozens of cays, islets and beaches. It is a “no-take reserve” where all fishing is prohibited. The land part of the park is a protected habitat for iguanas, nesting sea turtles and sea birds. The sea part, a mecca for divers, has spotted eagle rays, spiny lobsters and Technicolor fish. The park just rejuvenated its seven…

Cruising Life
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Remembering George H.W. Bush, Who Loved to Fish and Go Fast

President George H.W. Bush, who just passed away at 94, loved to go fast. He was the youngest pilot in the Navy during the Second World War when he was shot down near Iwo Jima; he was rescued after he bailed out by a passing submarine. Later in life he loved to get behind the helm of speedboats in Florida and then off his family’s compound in Maine. He lived life to the full. Indeed, at his memorial service at the National Cathedral, his son, former president George W. Bush, said his father “was born with two settings: full throttle…

Cruising Life
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Fishing Boat Captain Sentenced for Interfering with Coast Guard in “Codfather” Case

The Codfather saga continues. A federal court in Boston just convicted the former captain of a New Bedford, Massachusetts, fishing boat owned by Carlos Rafael, also known as The Codfather, for interfering with a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel. When the Coast Guard boarded the vessel, the Bulldog, off the coast of Massachusetts two years ago for a routine inspection, the captain, Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, ordered the crew to cut the ship’s net loose. As a result, the steel cables securing the net swung across the boat, endangering the boarding team. Simpson then continued…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

Whatever Happened to Situational Awareness? By Peter A. Janssen Is anybody paying attention out there? A few alarming, and tragic, events recently make that question all too relevant. The most recent, and glaring, accident involved the collision of the 332-foot megayacht Attessa IV, one of the largest private yachts in the world, with a 65-foot wooden charter boat named Prowler, in the Pacific south of San Diego. The Coast Guard airlifted a seriously injured passenger off Prowler (see the picture above), but he died four hours later in a San Diego hospital. The Coast Guard is investigating the accident, but the…

Boat Reviews
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New Vanquish 26: A Fast, Stable, Premium Center Console with a Downeast Look

The new Vanquish 26 Center Console is a user-friendly, hand-crafted, all-purpose boat with a Downeast look and a fast, fuel-efficient and stable hull, all designed by Doug Zurn, one of the best in the business today. It has a long, straight sheerline, bow flare, generous tumblehome and enough teak accents to keep a purist happy, while its 53-plus mph top speed, driven by a state-of-the-art 250-hp Mercury Verado outboard, will give an adrenaline rush to even the most jaded boat owner. In its new 2019 model, Vanquish has added a modest forward cabin to the 26, making it a center-console-plus.…

Charter
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St. Barts: A Magnet for the Rich and Famous for New Year’s Eve and an Island Paradise for the Rest of Us All Year Round

It’s only a few weeks until St. Barts, the eight-square-mile island in the West Indies that seems like a part of France, becomes the yachting center of the world. Well, the rich-and-famous yachting center of the world, that is. Because between Christmas and New Years the gorgeous, protected harbor at Gustavia, the island’s capital, is filled wall-to-wall with beautiful yachts and beautiful people. That’s all well and good, but if you’re like me and the rest of us, that means you’ll probably be spending your holidays somewhere else. But it also means that there are 50 or so other weeks…

Cruising Life
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Here Are the Main Points on Ocean and Coastal Changes from the New Federal Report on Global Warming

The 1,656-page federal government’s report on climate change, called the National Climate Assessment, was mandated by Congress and written by 13 federal agencies and more than 300 scientists and climate experts. You can read the entire report via the link at the bottom of this story, but here are direct excerpts from the part that’s relevant to us. It’s the section on “Climate-Related Drivers of Ocean Change,” dealing with ocean temperature, sea and water levels, and storms. Here are the main points: “Sea surface temperatures are rising and are expected to rise faster over the next few decades, with significant…

Cruising Life
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How To Choose An Anchor Snubber: Longer Is Better, Probably Longer Than You Think

Anchor snubbers, generally a length of nylon line, are meant to reduce shocks on your anchoring system. After the anchor is set, one end of the snubber is hooked in the chain between the boat and the water surface, and the other end is made fast to a strong point on deck. It is not attached to the windlass, which is a weak point, but preferably to a cleat or other strong point. After the snubber is attached, the tension is slacked so that the load is carried by the stretchable snubber. Most snubbers are made with three-strand nylon, which…

Cruising Life
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Leaders of Slowboat Flotillas Buy a New, Bigger, Not-So-Slow Boat

Laura Domela and her husband, Kevin Morris, leaders of the popular Slowboat Flotillas from Seattle to Alaska, just bought a Nordic Tug 44 to replace their old Nordic Tug 34. And they’re more than pleased with the deal. The new boat, Domela wrote on their blog, has “SO MUCH ROOM.” They heard about the 44 while they were leading a Flotilla around the outside of Vancouver Island in September. They worked with Seattle Yachts to both buy their new boat, a 2006 Nordic Tug 44 flybridge, and to sell their old boat, a 2013 Nordic Tug 34. They actually closed…

Cruising Life
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Holiday Boat Parades Now Underway. See Complete Listings of Parades All Across the U.S.

It’s that time of the year again, with holiday boat parades being planned and enjoyed in all parts of the U.S., even in the north. Some have already occurred; about 50 boats were decked out in lights and holiday themes for the annual parade along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, for example, carrying on a 30-year tradition. The Fort Lauderdale Winterfest is probably the largest parade, which is no surprise, given the city’s 165 miles of waterway. It attracts hundreds of boats, and more than a million viewers. Across the country, the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade in…

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