Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Whale-Watching is Booming in Pacific Northwest, but All Boats Must Keep 200 Yards Away

As the old saying goes, timing is everything. Take a look at the picture above. Everyone on the boat is looking ahead or off to starboard, searching for a whale,  while an orca is jumping out of the water, as if seeking their attention, off  to port. Maybe next time… In any direction, whale watching in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands is booming. In fact, some 400,000 people last year climbed on whale-watching boats from 20 ports in the area, despite federal restrictions enacted in 2011 requiring all boats to stay at least 200 yards (two football fields)…

Cruising Life
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Ezibuoy: A New Magnetic System To Help Pick Up Your Mooring

If you have a new or inexperienced crew, picking up your mooring at the end of the day can cause enough angst to cast a pall over even the best day on the water. And if the water’s choppy or there’s a strong wind or current, the mooring process can produce some extra tension that nobody needs. Now, there’s a new, simple and low-cost system to make this much easier, no matter who’s on board. The new system is called Ezibuoy, and it basically involves a small float with a magnet on top that’s tethered to your main mooring buoy,…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

How Will the New Tax Law Affect Boat Owners? By Peter A. Janssen The other shoe has dropped. The House and Senate worked out their differences and passed the new tax reform package, and President Trump just signed it. Here’s what it means to boat owners: Second-Home Deduction: The new law preserves the mortgage interest deduction on first and second homes (and boats and RVs that have the equivalent of a bedroom, bathroom and cooking facilities), but it lowers the cap from $1 million to $750,000 for new mortgages. It does not affect any existing mortgages. The preservation of this…

Cruising Life
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After Falling Overboard in the Middle of the Night Off Sumatra, Brett Archibald is Found Fading, but Alive, 28 Hours Later

If you fall overboard in the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean, and nobody knows you’re missing, what are you chances of surviving?  Not good. But that’s what happened to Brett Archibald, a South African businessman, and he lived to tell the tale (and write a book), but only after he was nudged by a shark, dive-bombed by gulls, almost nibbled to death by tiny blood-thirsty fish and starting to lose his mind before he was rescued after 28 hours in the Indian Ocean. Archibald, then 50, was starting a surfing and vacation cruise with nine…

Cruising Life
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Larry Polster, New Owner of Hull #1 of Kadey-Krogen 50 Open: “Like a Kid in a Candy Store.”

If you want to see two happy owners of a new boat, take a look at Larry and Janet Polster in the top picture. They’re smiling from the Portuguese bridge of their new Kadey-Krogen 50 Open, which just arrived in Florida from the factory in Taiwan. The boat, hull number one, has been two years in the making, and the Polsters have been intimately involved for all that time; one year for the design and development, another for the construction. And they’re certainly happy about the way things turned out. “Janet and I are like the proverbial kids in a…

Cruising Life
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Another “Extreme” Season with 1,008 Icebergs in North Atlantic Shipping Lanes

The past year was another extreme iceberg season in the North Atlantic, according to the International Ice Patrol, which counted 1,008 icebergs in shipping lanes there. This was the fourth consecutive extreme ice season, according to the organization, which labels any season with more than 600 icebergs as “extreme.” The International Ice Patrol, organized by the U.S. Coast Guard but working with international partners, has been monitoring the North Atlantic, particularly the area around the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, ever since the sinking of the Titanic in 1913. It says the high number of icebergs this past year was due…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Finds 459 Derelict Boats in US Virgins after Irma and Maria. Now Trying to Find Owners

Three months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Coast Guard has found 459 derelict boats that remain damaged or sunk, resting in marinas, coves, bays, mangrove swamps or washed up on shore. Some are hazards to navigation, others are simply in the way. But in all the cases, the Coast Guard is trying to find their owners, taking out ads on the radio and TV and websites, while working to recover the damaged boats and salvage those that can be fixed. Many boats were damaged so much that the owners won’t take them back. The…

Cruising Life
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Navionics To Remap South Florida Waters Hit by Irma; Will Work with Local Community

When Hurricane Irma hit Florida on Sept. 10, it damaged marine resources, changing and rearranging shorelines and bottom contours, making existing charts and maps out of date. Now, Navionics, working with industry leaders and the South Florida boating community, is starting an effort to remap the area’s marine and inland waterways to make them safer in the future. The month-long remapping will start on Jan. 19, and individual boaters can help. You can record and upload sonar logs to Navionics from any boat, because Navionics accepts sonar data from all major brands. Boaters can record sonar logs on their plotter…

Boat Reviews
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New Huckins Atlantic 44: A Thoroughly Modern Boat with a Retro Look and a Rich Heritage

Over the years, ever since 1928, in fact, Huckins Yacht has been true to itself. A Huckins is a Huckins. It doesn’t look like any other boat; Huckins simply tweaks its iconic retro lines a bit as the years go by so they never get stale. A Huckins doesn’t perform like other boat, either. With its patented Quadraconic hull, it performs like a Huckins. The new Huckins Atlantic 44 represents the best of Huckins’ classic approach to boating from stem to stern. If the new Huckins’ profile harkens back to an earlier age of yachting, its performance will challenge most…

Cruising Life
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For a Touch of Adventure, Head to the Real Downeast: The Bay of Fundy, with Ferocious Tides and Lots of Fog but Not that Many People

If you want to tweak your sense of adventure, think about cruising Downeast next summer, the real Downeast, the part that starts at Northeast Harbor, Maine, which is about as far as most people ever go. But if you leave Northeast Harbor in your rearview mirror, you’ll primarily be traveling on your own through cruising grounds that have changed little since John Smith first sailed there in 1614, passing spruce-covered little islands, rocky shoreline fronting dark green forests, and countless little coves and inlets. You won’t have to look hard to see ospreys, bald eagles, puffins and, if you’re lucky,…

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