Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Jury Convicts Man Who Killed 8-Year-Old Girl in Lake George Boating Crash of Manslaughter

On a July evening last summer, Robert Knarr, 68, took his granddaughter, Charlotte McCue, 8, and her mother, Courtney, out for a pre-bedtime cruise on the west shore of Lake George, New York, on his antique 28-foot Gar Wood Enchanted Evening. The McCues were visiting from California. Suddenly a 21-foot Larson slammed into the starboard side of Enchanted Evening. The Larson was going so fast it went airborne. The prop hit Charlotte, killing her instantly, and seriously injuring her mother. The Larson stalled, but the driver restarted it and then sped away. The next morning, the driver of the Larson,…

Cruising Life
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Opening Day in Seattle: One of the Best Times Anywhere

Opening day of the boating season in Seattle, always the first Saturday in May, is simply a hoot. I’ve been there, and believe me, it’s one of the best times to be had on the water, anywhere. The boat parade has everything that floats, from megayachts with helicopters to golden oldies to floating locomotives, with dogs, dogs and more dogs everywhere. For a look at this year’s parade, see the photo gallery below. And to get even a better flavor of the event, see the video from an earlier year below that. http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/photos-the-sun-shines-for-seattle-yacht-club-opening-day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQDNb51JKA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQDNb51JKA

Boat Reviews
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First Look at New, Impressive Grand Banks 60 in the Water: Video

Here’s a first look at the much-awaited Grand Banks 60 in the water, before it is unveiled at the Sanctuary Cove boat show in Australia later this month. The running shots are great; this is a pretty boat (majestic, even), with a good attitude. Its first showing in the U.S. will be at the Newport, Rhode Island, show in September. A three-stateroom, two-head long distance cruiser, the new 60 will be the flagship of the Grand Banks Heritage fleet, powered by twin 900-hp Volvo diesels and topping out at about 32 knots.  As we have written here before, it will…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Reports Laser Strikes on Ships in the Chesapeake

This is just nuts. Someone is shining laser lights on the helm stations of commercial ships in the Chesapeake near Solomons, in the area between Drum Point and Cove Point. On one recent night four strikes between midnight and 3 a.m. targeted three separate ships and a pilot vessel. There had been three more strikes in the previous days, and several in the past month. Each time the strikes lasted about 15 minutes, long enough to do some serious damage to the helmsman’s ability to see and navigate safely at night. “Laser lights, and other bright lights, can be a…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

After Completing the Great Loop, a New Jersey Couple Plans to Keep on Cruising – in a Bigger Boat There’s no stopping Clark and Evelyn Woodworth, a retired couple from Rumson, New Jersey. For a while, after they completed the Great Loop a year ago, they thought they were finished. Then they bought a bigger boat… Avid boaters, the Woodworths started planning for the Loop more than a decade ago; they owned a Mainship 350, named Sea Moss, that they had bought new in 1999. They took Power Squadrons courses; Clark even took a Yanmar diesel engine course so he…

Cruising Life
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Captain and Masseuse Fled Sinking Charter Boat on Jet Ski, Leaving Passengers Stranded in Indian Ocean, Suit Says

This is a pretty ugly story and now that it’s in court, it may get even uglier.  According to a suit just filed in California, the captain of a 69-foot charter boat jumped on a Jet Ski at 4 in the morning as it was sinking in the Indian Ocean, picking up the boat’s masseuse and heading for safety, leaving eight passengers and various crew members behind. “An incompetent captain and crew, in complete disregard for the plaintiffs’ safety, panicked and abandoned ship without the plaintiffs,” the suit charges, who then were “forced to abandon the vessel in the dark of…

Boat Reviews
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Jock Williams’ Super-Traditional, Built-in-Maine Stanley 38 Lobster Yacht

They don’t come much more traditional than the Stanley 38, built on the shores of Somes Sound, just up from Southwest Harbor, Maine, by the John Williams Boat Company. With its lobster boat heritage, graceful sheerline and hint of tumblehome, the Stanley 38 has enough visible wood to keep the most ardent of purists happy. A year ago, John (Jock) Williams worked with Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Mass., designer, to build a special Stanley 38, with a high-tech hull laid up with vinylester resin, stitched e-glass and Corecell construction and powered by twin Volvo IPS 600 pod drives; it topped…

Cruising Life
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New High-Tech Man Overboard Systems Can Keep Your Crew Safe

Man overboard – every captain’s nightmare scenario, when seconds can mean the difference between life and death. The point, of course, is to locate the man overboard absolutely as quickly as possible and then start the recovery effort. Now three new high-tech systems make it possible to find that person faster and easier. Developed by a French start-up, the Sea-Tags MOB wristband alarm system starts with downloading a free app to all smartphones on board the boat to monitor the wristbands. When anyone wearing the wristband goes overboard and the wristband is submerged, the smartphones will sound an alarm and…

Boat Reviews
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American Tugs Designs New Large Stateroom for Owner of 395. See Pictures

Most American Tugs 395 models have two staterooms forward, a master in the bow with a walk around queen bed and lots of storage, and a guest a bit aft with a single upper and double lower berth. But the LaConner, Washington-based company also specializes in building what an owner wants, and here’s a case where the owner wanted just one extra-large stateroom. Take a look at the results below. We previously published a story about the American Tugs 395, calling it a sturdy cruiser, with its raised-pilothouse design, comfortable salon, and 15-knot cruising speed with a single 380-hp Cummins…

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Closes Mississippi Near St. Louis: Flooding

Bad news for Loopers trying to get an early start or anyone else cruising on the Mississippi River: Due to heavy rain and flooding, the Coast Guard has closed the Mississippi to all traffic near St. Louis, from mile marker 184.5 to mile marker 179, near the MacArthur Bridge. More rain has raised the possibility of other river closings in the Upper Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois River basins, and the Coast Guard is worried about rising water levels near the Cape Girardeau area this week. For more: http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-closes-portion-of-upper-mississippi-river-to-all-vessel-traffic/2017/05/02/

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