Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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New Waypoint 36 Coming This Spring from American Tugs. A Solid, Two-Stateroom, Pilothouse Cruiser with an Appealing Price

The Tomco Marine Group, makers of American Tugs in La Conner, Washington, is launching an entirely new model called the Waypoint 36 later this spring. It is basically a new, lower-priced version of the American Tug 365, with two staterooms, one head, a 260-hp Volvo diesel and an introductory price of $350,000. The new Waypoint 36 uses the same hull and deck as the American Tug 365, but the interior will have more molded components and fewer options. The company says the idea is to build a more affordable, quality, trawler that can cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska…

Cruising Life
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The Hamiltons Get a New Prop Shaft After 9,500 Hours on Their Nordhavn 52. Then They Get a Vibration. A Blow-by-Blow Account

Back in December, James and Jennifer Hamilton, the globe-circling, high-tech cruising couple from Seattle, passed the 9,500-hour mark on the single 265-hp John Deere engine that drives their Nordhavn 52. That was in the North Atlantic. Since then they cruised to Ireland and then England, where, starting on Jan. 9, they decided to replace the cutlass bearings on the rudder shaft and on the wing and main prop shafts as well. They were at Saxon Wharf in Southampton. Hamilton gives a blow-by-blow account of what happened next, with pictures, all on their website (mvdirona.com). Here’s the short version: They loosened…

Cruising Life
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For Some of the Best of Maine, Head for Prouts Neck and the New 250 Main in Rockland

In case you need another reason to go to Maine, take a good look at these stories and pictures of what you can find in Prouts Neck, just below Portland, with its rocky shoreline immortalized by Winslow Homer, and then farther up the coast in Rockland, known as the art capital of Maine but now also the home of an “art hotel” created by Cabot Lyman, of Lyman-Morse boatbuilders. Here’s a great guide from The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, MA, that will have you heading Down East in a hurry. You’ll find Prouts Neck first; it’s on a peninsula in Scarborough, surrounded…

Cruising Life
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How, and When, To Make a Mayday or Other Distress Call. A Good Primer from the Power Squadrons

Let’s assume that you’re up to speed on how to make a distress call to the Coast Guard in an emergency. And that you know proper VHF radio procedure, and you’re familiar with the three levels of distress calls, starting with the life- or vessel-threatening Mayday. But what happens if you’re incapacitated, or you can’t make the call yourself? Does your spouse or crew know what to do? Here’s a great reminder from the U.S. Power Squadrons on how to call for help when you need it most. Before you start a cruise, it’s a good idea to make sure…

Cruising Life
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More Atlantic Hurricanes than Usual This Year, Says Colorado State Forecast

Last year was the worst hurricane season ever on the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. This year, according to the well-regarded annual forecast from Colorado State, there will be more hurricanes than average, with a chance that seven named storms will turn into hurricanes. And there’s a 63 percent chance the U.S. will be hit by a major hurricane. No one wants a repeat of last year, when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused more than $217 billion worth of damage, the most ever. The Colorado State study, now in its 35th year, predicts that the Atlantic coast will have…

Cruising Life
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Father-Son Team Convicted of Dumping Oil from Fishing Boat’s Bilge into Washington Harbor, Ocean

A jury in a U.S. District Court in Seattle just found Randall Fox, former captain of the fishing vessel Native Sun (above), guilty of discharging oily waste into the ocean. He now faces a maximum of six years in prison and a criminal fine of $250,000. Last year his father, Bingham Fox, the former owner of Native Sun, was convicted of similar crimes. The original indictment said that Bingham Fox ordered the crew to discharge oil and other bilge waste overboard in the harbor and adjoining shoreline of Blaine, Washington, which is on the Strait of George just south of…

Cruising Life
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Cargo Ships Loses Steering, Crashes into Historic Mansion on the Bosporus. See the Video

A 738-foot-long cargo carrier lost its rudder and crashed into a historic waterside mansion on the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, causing a great deal of damage and temporarily closing the Strait, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The 17-mile Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and then the Aegean and  the Mediterranean. The Maltese-flagged ship, the Vistaspirit, crashed into a red mansion that dates back to the 18th century; it once belonged to a doctor in the Ottoman palace but now is primarily used for events, such as weddings or concerts. The…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

Energy Observer Starts a Tour of the World, Powered by Hydrogen Produced from Seawater By Peter A. Janssen The first vessel in the world to produce hydrogen from seawater, Energy Observer, which looks a bit like something from outer space, just crossed from Marseille, France, to Corsica at the start of its six-year, 50-country trip around the world. It will spend this summer cruising the Med, and ultimately will make it to the Americas in 2020. Energy Observer was launched last April in Saint-Malo, pictured above, and made the first of its planned 101 stops around the world in Paris.…

Cruising Life
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Vanity Fair: A Terrifying Account of El Faro’s Final Hours

Here’s an absolutely gripping – and terrifying – account of the last 26 hours of El Faro, the 790-foot-long cargo ship that ran into the eye of a Category 3 hurricane off the Bahamas on Oct. 1, 2015, and sank, killing all 33 people on board. It was the worst U.S. maritime disaster in 30 years. Now, Vanity Fair has pieced together a thorough account of what happened, based on information from the ship’s digital data recorder, which recorded everything that was said on the bridge and was recovered 15,400 feet underwater, and from intensive investigations by the Coast Guard…

Cruising Life
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More Recovery in the BVI: Cooper Island Beach Club Reopens with Same Rum Bar, Same Views

The recovery in the British Virgin Islands is getting stronger. Indeed, the Cooper Island Beach Club just reopened as a result of major rebuilding since the hurricanes last fall. Cooper Island is on the Sister Island chain leading to The Baths at Virgin Gorda, and is a popular overnight (or longer) spot for people cruising or chartering in the area. There are a lot of reasons to head to the Cooper Island Beach Club. It has one of the largest rum bars in the Caribbean, with stunning sunset views; an infamous microbrewery, a beachfront restaurant, and all its rooms have…

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