Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Heading for the Miami Show? Take a Weekend in Bimini

If you’re heading to the Miami show, or just cruising in Florida, you may want to think about taking a 50-mile side trip (with your passport) over to Bimini. Even at 15 knots, you could leave Miami after breakfast and be sitting down for conch chowder at the Big Game Club (founded in 1936 and a Hemingway hangout) for lunch. Or dive, or explore Alice Town (that will be fun but it won’t take long), or fish, or just relax. For me, Bimini has been a favorite for a fast change of scene, and drop of blood pressure, for many,…

Gear
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New Award-Winning All-Purpose Tool from Davis Instruments

It isn’t pretty, but this new all-purpose tool from Davis Instruments is certainly something that almost everybody could use on board. And it’s a prize-winner too. In fact, the Snap Tool Multi-Key was the Grand Prize winner at the recent Fisheries Supply Company innovations award ceremony; it also won the top maintenance award, beating out more than 100 other products. The Snap Tool Multi-Key is made with hardened steel and it manages to pack a lot of must-have tools into one package. It comes with a shackle and two deck-plate keys, a button snapper and un-snapper (save your fingernails), and…

Boat Reviews
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New Kadey-Krogen 50 Open: A Major Change for an Iconic Bluewater Cruiser

Kadey-Krogen does one thing – it builds blue-water, full-displacement, passagemaker trawlers – and it does that very well. Indeed, Kadey-Krogen just delivered its 600th yacht. The company is not known for change for the sake of change. But now Kadey-Krogen has come up with a major change – the new Kadey-Krogen 50 Open, where the main deck is continuous from the cockpit to the salon and the galley and then just one step up to the pilothouse. Indeed, Larry Polster, a Kadey-Krogen partner and vice president, says, “The Krogen 50 Open is revolutionary for our brand. She’s a model all…

Cruising Life
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Volvo Launches New Joystick for Twin Inboard Boats with Shafts, Wins Innovation Award

We all know about Volvo’s revolutionary IPS pod drives, and how they make docking and controlling a boat easy, and actually fun. But now Volvo is going one step further, introducing its new Volvo Penta Joystick for Inboard system, also controlled by a joystick, that makes docking and boat control just as easy for conventional twin shaft-driven inboard boats. The Joystick for Inboards is indeed new and different: It just won a prestigious Innovation Award at the Miami International Boat Show. The new system has the first joystick for twin inboard shaft installations with integrated rudder, engine and bow thruster…

Engine Room
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Cat C7.1 Diesels: No Smoke, No Noise, but More Torque and Faster Acceleration

Cat has just introduced new engines for recreational power boats from 25 to 60 feet – most of the power cruising market – with a lot of advantages in a relatively small footprint. The C7.1 engines are in-line 6-cylinder, four-stroke diesels that are turbocharged and after-cooled, and they come in 406-, 456- and 507-hp versions. The engines’ advanced common rail fuel system delivers optimum combustion and low emissions; they are quiet because of reduced combustion through advanced electronic controls. They also are smokeless, both when starting and underway. With a superior power-to-weight ratio, the C7.1 engines have a swift response…

Boat Reviews
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Jeanneau NC 895: A Pocket Cruiser with French Flair – and Outboard Power

This new coastal cruiser from the prestigious French builder combines two major trends: the growing popularity of pocket cruisers, and the growing popularity of outboard power. It also packs a lot of comfort, innovation and living space into a 29-foot boat. For all-weather comfort, the helm deck is enclosed with a hardtop and surrounded by large picture windows. The hardtop itself has two separate opening hatches to let in more air. And the sliding door next to the helm on the starboard side gives immediate access to the side deck, which is a great advantage in docking or going through…

Electronics
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Stay in Touch, Anywhere in the World, With Garmin’s New inReach SE+

Now you can stay in touch with your family and friends, no matter where you’re cruising, for a reasonable price with Garmin’s new inReach SE+, a handheld two-way text messaging device that sells for $399.99, with satellite plans starting at $11.95 a month. The Garmin inReach SE+ uses the Iridium satellite network for pole-to-pole coverage anywhere in the world, giving you, and your family at home, some peace of mind when you’re cruising. And you don’t have to worry about running up large air time bills. The two-way text messaging connects with cell phones, computers and other inReach devices around…

Boat Reviews
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Lagoon 630: A Large, Luxurious, Long-Legged Cat

A large power catamaran from a highly regarded French builder, the new Lagoon 630 offers a combination of blue-water performance and luxurious living on board. Hull number one of the new 630 cruised on her own bottom from France to Florida, evidence of her sea-going qualities. And the cat’s twin hulls, with 32-foot-plus beam, provide stability at sea plus opening up enormous amounts of space for entertaining and relaxing underway or at anchor. Part of the Beneteau Group, Lagoon has made more than 3,000 large sailing catamarans over the years. The new power 630 is built on the successful Lagoon…

Destinations
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On Watch

Moving On – and Moving Up – With a Dedicated Cruising Couple It would be hard to find a couple more committed to the cruising life than Jim and Lisa Favors. Indeed, they’ve been boating for most of their lives, starting with a 20-foot Four Winns in their home town of Traverse City, Michigan, moving up to a 32-foot Silverton, a 42-foot Silverton and finally a 40-foot Fathom trawler. They lived aboard the two 40-footers full-time for five years after Jim retired, completing the Great Loop once and returning to favorite spots to almost complete it a second time, cruising…

Engine Room
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Volvo Penta IPS 15: Lighter, More Efficient, More Maneuverable

I tested the very first Volvo IPS drive back in 2005, when the engine company put two of their pod drives in a Tiara 38 to see how they would work on a recreational boat. Pods, of course, had been used for years on commercial ships, but this was the first on an American production boat. With two Volvo engineers, I cruised from Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie, up to St. Ignace, Michigan, next to the Mackinaw Bridge at the top of Lake Huron. The test, of course, was a home run. At the helm, we turned a joystick to…

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