Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Fire at La Paz Marina Sinks 5 Yachts

A sudden, late-night fire destroyed or heavily damaged at least 10 yachts last week at the Marina Palmira in La Paz, Mexico. Local accounts said at least five boats sank and five others were damaged in a fire that started about 3 a.m. One boat, a 107-foot Hatteras named Optimus, caught on fire and drifted away from its dock before burning to the waterline against a seawall (see picture below). Optimus was launched in 2019 and took its maiden voyage from the Hatteras factory in New Bern, North Carolina, to New York. Marina Palmira is a full-service marina with 180…

Charter
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New Christmas Market Cruises in France

We usually think of taking European canal barge trips in the warm months, when it’s easy to get off and roam the countryside and nearby villages on foot or bicycle. But European Waterways has come up with a way to extend the season, creating new Christmas Market Cruises through historic Alsace-Lorraine, France. The inaugural cruises are this year, running through the end of this month and into December, and they’ll be on the 12-passenger hotel barge Panache. They’re all-inclusive, with luxury accommodations on board, daily excursions on shore, followed perhaps by a warm drink back in Panache’s salon and then…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Viking 92 Freed from Florida Beach

This isn’t supposed to happen. But last Friday afternoon, a Viking 92 sportfishing yacht named Pastime ended up on the beach in Delray Beach, Florida. The 151-ton boat, launched in 2016, was stuck in the sand, and couldn’t get off. Despite heroic rescue efforts, it remained there for two days, until TowBoatUS was able to pump out more than 1,000 gallons of fuel and water and, working on a high tide, float it off. Remarkably, early reports say the Viking suffered just bent props and rudders. (I’ve been to the Viking factory in New Gretna, New Jersey, many times over…

Cruising Life
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Dive Boat Captain Guilty in 34 Deaths

A federal court jury in Los Angeles found the captain of the dive boat Conception guilty of “seaman’s manslaughter” on Monday, as a result of the fire on Labor Day weekend in 2019 that killed 33 sleeping passengers and one crew member and sank the 75-foot boat in Platt’s Harbor off Santa Cruz Island in Southern California. The jury decided that the captain, Jerry Nehl Boylan, was guilty of “misconduct, gross negligence and inattention to his duties,” charges that amount to the “seaman’s manslaughter” characterization. Five crew members, including Boylan, jumped into the water and escaped as the fast-moving fire…

Boat Reviews
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Hunt Delivers New Ocean 63 Cruiser

Hunt Yachts has delivered its latest Ocean 63 series to its new owner, with a custom galley since the owner represents the third generation of chefs. The Hunt 63 is a popular boat. The latest, named Lady B, is hull number three, and four more are under construction. They all share the same basic Hunt envelope and propulsion, but otherwise they are custom built to suit each owner. In this case, cooking is a family affair, and Lady B is the first 63 to have the galley up in the deckhouse. It runs the full length of the deckhouse on…

Boat Reviews
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New Targa 46: All-Weather Flagship

The new Targa 46 flagship is the largest and most powerful Targa yet. A solid blue-water performer, the 46 has a top speed of more than 40 knots with its standard 480-hp Volvo IPS650 pod drives. But the Targa 46 is about much more than speed. Targa has been building boats in Finland for 40 years, earning a reputation for creating tough, safe and comfortable cruisers that will go anywhere in all kinds of weather. If you want to make sure you can cruise Down East even in sloppy weather, or reach your island destination in the Pacific Northwest all-year-round,…

Cruising Life
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Colombia Wants $20 Billion Shipwreck Treasure

Colombia’s president wants to raise the wreck of a 300-year-old Spanish galleon with up to $20 billion worth of treasure on board before his term ends in three years. The British Royal Navy sank the three-masted, 64-gun galleon San José on June 8, 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Caribbean off the coast of Colombia. It had 600 men on board, as well as 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds, plus Chinese porcelain and pottery. The exact location of the treasure, which is known as “the Holy Grail of shipwrecks,” was not known, until Glocca…

Cruising Life
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Orcas Sink Yacht in 45-Minute Attack

A group of orcas sank a charter boat in the Strait of Gibraltar in a 45-minute attack last week. All the passengers and crew on the boat, a 45-foot Jeanneau Sun Odyssey sailboat, were rescued before it sank off the coast of Morocco. This was the fourth time in two  years that orcas have sunk a boat in the area. A pod of orcas, or killer whales, “hit the steering fin for 45 minutes, causing major damage and leakage,” Morskie Mile, a Polish tourist agency that operates the boat, posted on Facebook. The boat, named Grazie Mamma, was westbound in…

Boat Reviews
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New Gussie Awards for Best Electric Boats

The winners of the fourth annual Gussie Awards, recognizing the best new electric boats, were just announced. The awards were started four years ago by Plugboats to recognize advances in electric boating, as an alternative to boats powered by fossil fuel. They have grown in importance, reflecting the rapid growth of electric boats around the world. This year, 160 boats were nominated for the awards, coming from 25 countries and every continent except Antarctica. The winners were selected by a panel of 25 international electric-boat experts plus votes from more than 5,000 electric boat enthusiasts. Here are some of the…

Boat Reviews
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Hinckley Unveils High-Tech Talaria 43

Hinckley just introduced its new Talaria 43 Mark 11 cruiser, the latest iteration of its popular motor yacht with a lot of state-of-the-art, user-friendly features combined with its made-in-Maine craftsmanship and seaworthiness. Hinckley has been making yachts in Southwest Harbor, Maine, for the past 90 years, earning a worldwide reputation for creating strong, elegant and beautiful vessels. But Hinckley also has been in the forefront of embracing  new technologies, and that tradition continues in the updated Talaria 43. Carbon fiber is now often replacing fiberglass, and Hinckley uses a single-bond, vacuum-infusion process that chemically bonds carbon and epoxy from bow…

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