Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Let Your Pet Enjoy the Dog Days of Summer with a New Funboy X Yacht Dog Float

Chance are, you don’t have one of these yet. But what better way to keep your dog happy and make him or her feel like one of the crew this summer? Now your best friend can have a float of its own, just like the one you have for yourself. And, as the company says, this new toy “is taking the dog days of summer to a whole new level.” The new Funboy x Yacht Dog Float is made of a thick, puncture-resistant plastic, and has a lined “treat bin” in the bow. It measures 58 inches long and 31…

Boat Reviews
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Aspen Tests New 32-foot Outboard Prototype: Top Speed of 27.5 mph, Burning 21.1 gph

Here’s a first look at Aspen Power Catamaran’s prototype of their first outboard-powered cruising boat, a 32-footer with a 200-hp Yamaha on the starboard side and a 25-hp Yamaha on the port side. The outboard boat is built with the same asymmetrical proa hull as all other Aspens, where the port hull is significantly thinner and lighter than the starboard hull. In all of Aspen’s diesel-powered boats to date, all the machinery – the engine, gears, shaft and prop – is on the starboard side. In its first test, in calm conditions with two people on board and 85 gallons…

Cruising Life
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Maine’s Lobster Boat Race Season (Think 56 mph!) Starts This Saturday in Boothbay Harbor

“That’s right, lobster boat racing fans and racers. The 33rdseason begins right here in Boothbay Harbor at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 16, with the Charles Begin Memorial races.” That announcement of the start of Maine’s iconic lobster boat racing season from the Boothbay Register is just one of the many reasons to head Down East this summer, but it’s certainly one of the most enjoyable. In case you’ve missed all this, a lot of Maine’s lobster boat fishermen love to soup up their vessels and race against each other in these summer festivals, which are held in ports throughout the state.…

Boat Reviews
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Zodiac Launches New 17’7″ RIB, the “SUV of the Sea”

Zodiac just launched its new Open 5.5 RIB, which it calls the SUV of the sea, at a big open house in Crouesty, France. The new Open is 17’ 7” long and can hold 12 passengers; it replaces Zodiac’s popular Pro Open 550 with a more modern design, a new V-shaped hull for cruising, and a T-top to provide protection from the weather. The new Open 5.5 has a high tow bar for watersports, a Fusion stereo, a rear platform for diving, a 14-gallon cooler, a swim ladder, and stern seats with removable back rests for easy access to the…

Cruising Life
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Salty Dawg Opens Summer Rallies from the Chesapeake to Maine and Nova Scotia to Power Cruisers

Here’s some good news for cruising powerboat owners: The third annual Salty Dawg rally from the Chesapeake and then on to Nova Scotia and the gorgeous Bras d’Or Lakes is now open to powerboats. In the past the Salty Dawg rallies, organized by the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, have concentrated, as the name states, on sailboats, with the major effort being a fall rally to the Caribbean. But now as the ranks of cruising powerboat owners are growing, the Salty Dawg rallies have become interdenominational. This summer the Salty Dawgs are organizing two rallies – A Downeast Adventure, from the…

Boat Reviews
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Argos Nautic Launches New 10-foot, Semi-Custom RIB with Lots of Flair

Here’s a new 10-foot RIB from Argos Nautic that will make you think you’re behind the wheel of an Alfa or a Ferrari on the water. The new semi-custom Argos Nautic 305 Yachting is indeed a combination of luxury (see the Isottta steering wheel, above) and all-out-fun performance, all in a center console RIB that seats four. On the new Argos Nautic, the console is offset to starboard, with a full-beam plush seat aft and another on the bow. The RIB was drawn by Facheris Design in Bradenton, Florida, and comes with premium upholstery, a Fusion sound system, teak deck…

Cruising Life
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Hinckley Opens New Full-Service Yard and Marina with Fuel Dock in Stamford, Connecticut

The Hinckley Company just opened a full-service yard and marina in Stamford, Connecticut, the first yard and fuel dock in that major city on Long Island Sound since 2011. It’s on four-plus acres at 2 Selleck Street on the West Branch of the Stamford harbor with direct access to the sound, and it has 12 feet of water at the fuel dock at mean low tide. The new yard is the eighth for Hinckley, running from Hinckley’s iconic home base in Southwest Harbor, Maine, down to Florida. It has 25 slips in the marina plus heated indoor rack storage for…

Cruising Life
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Bermuda Officials Warn of Large Pieces of Broken Up Dry Dock Floating in Ocean

At least two large sections of a broken up dry dock have been sighted floating off Bermuda, and officials there are worried that they pose a threat to mariners. There have been three separate sightings of the dry dock sections, and Bermuda officials are trying to trace them so they can warn commercial shipping and mariners in the area. The dry dock left a yard in the Mississippi River in early September, according to gCaptain and Bermuda News, just before hurricane Irma, towed by the tug Pacific Dragon and heading for the Canary Islands. The dry dock reportedly split into two halves…

Boat Reviews
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MJM Provides More Details, Renderings, Diagrams and Specs for New Flagship 53z with Four Outboards

MJM Yachts has just released more details, with renderings, interior diagrams, layouts and specs for its new flagship, the 53z, which it plans to launch in July, 2019, powered by four 350-hp Mercury Verado outboards. It will be the third outboard cruiser launched by MJM recently (after the MJM 35z, with twins, and the MJM 43z, with triples), and the company says it will be the largest outboard express cruiser ever. The new 53z (the “z” stands for Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Massachusetts, designer who’s drawn all the MJMs) is an outgrowth of the MJM 50z, which is powered by…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

Fatigue and Outdated Watch System Caused Sinking of U.S. Tug in British Columbia, Investigation Says By Peter A. Janssen In a new report that resonates with all of us who go cruising, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that fatigue, caused by the 6-on, 6-off watch system, was the major factor in the grounding and ultimate sinking of the 95-foot-long tug Nathan E. Stewart near Bella Bella, B.C. in October, 2016. The tug ran aground on Edge Reef on the Inside Passage, about 10 nm west of Bella Bella, just after 1 a.m. when the second mate, the only person on…

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