Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Coast Guard Icebreakers Start Clearing the Great Lakes

So you think it’s cold where you are? Take a look at the ice beard on the crane on the Coast Guard Cutter Alder, above. And that’s before the 225-foot Alder and other Coast Guard vessels start their annual ice-breaking duties on the Great Lakes. They’re starting on northern Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, and then will move south (relatively speaking) as winter sets in. The Coast Guard urges recreational boaters to use caution in the area. See the story, and more  pictures, here: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/12/coast_guard_begins_ice_breakin.html

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Big Changes in Miami

BIG CHANGES IN MIAMI by Peter Janssen The Miami boat shows, yes, both of them, won’t be the same this year. The big yacht show along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, which has been free for years, now will charge $20 admission. And the National Marine Manufacturers Association/Progressive Insurance boat show leaders say they have learned from last year, when they moved from the Miami Beach Convention Center down to the marine stadium on Virginia Key, and promise to have many more free shuttle buses and larger water taxis to make it easier to get down there. Both shows run…

Cruising Life
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Arctic Ice Melting Dramatically, See Two New Videos

Each year, more and more old, thick ice in the Arctic is melting in the summer and is being replaced in the winter by new, thinner ice, which is turn melts even faster the next summer. You can see these changes, which have dramatic consequences both for the Arctic and for the oceans of the planet, on these two new videos: https://youtu.be/c6jX9URzZWg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofsncwIMeWA

Cruising Life
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Great Dismal Swamp Canal Closed Indefinitely

The Army Corps of Engineers now has closed the Dismal Swamp Canal, which first opened in 1805, indefinitely so it can clear all the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in October. The Canal, which is part of the ICW connecting the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia with Albermarle Sound in North Carolina, will be closed while the Corps removes trees and debris, completes dredging and checks for shoaling. Work on the Deep Creek Lock river gates alone will take 75 days, starting in early January. Meanwhile, if you’re heading south for the winter, use the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal section of…

Cruising Life
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Yikes. Scientists Measure 62-foot Wave in North Atlantic – A World Record

And you thought you’d been caught in some bad weather. Consider this: The World Meteorological Organization just announced a new record – a 62-foot wave measured by an automated buoy in the North Atlantic between Iceland and the United Kingdom. This  record-breaking wave was recorded just after a strong cold front with winds of over 50 mph swept through the area. The previous record – 59.9 feet – was also measured in the North Atlantic. Read about it here: https://gcaptain.com/19-meter-north-atlantic-wave-sets-new-world-record/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+%28gCaptain.com%29

Charter
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Le Boat Starts Charter Fleet in Canada’s Historic and Picturesque Rideau Canal

This spring Le Boat, the leading bareboat charter company in Europe, is opening up new cruising territory along Ontario’s historic Rideau Canal in Canada. Le Boat will start in May with a fleet of 16 boats and, if all goes well, will expand to 32 boats in five years. Opened in 1832, the Rideau Canal runs 125 miles from the capital of Ottawa to Kingston on Lake Ontario, passing through no fewer than 47 locks along the way. The company will offer a series of high-end bareboat models with one or two cabins that can sleep from five to nine…

Cruising Life
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Crew’s Last Moments on Doomed El Faro Even More Terrifying Than You Thought: NTSB Releases Transcript from Black Box

” Something bad’s going to happen,” one crew member said as he started his watch almost ten hours before El Faro, the doomed container ship, sailed into a hurricane near the Bahamas on Oct., 2015, and sank, killing all 33 people on board. Now the NTSB has recovered the ship’s black box in 15,000 feet of water and released a 500-page transcript that shows the bone-chilling terror of the crew’s final moments. “Help me. Help me,” one crewman yells to the captain, who has just ordered everyone to abandon ship. “I’m a goner.” Read about it here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/i-m-goner-transcripts-show-el-faro-s-final-harrowing-n695581

Destinations
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Kennebunkport Harbor: Welcome to the Iconic Coast of Maine

The first time I cruised into Kennebunkport harbor was about 30 years ago when my friend Jerry Berton and I drove a Tempest 38 from Miami to Maine in four days; a fun, if fast, trip. I’ve been back many times since then, usually on trips from Long Island Sound or Newport up to Maine and back, and I’ve loved it every time. To me, Kennebunkport is an almost iconic introduction to the coast of Maine, which almost reeks of color, character and charm that set it apart from the rest of the world. For a good look at Kennebunkport…

Boat Reviews
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New Cutwater 30: Easy Cruising with Twin Yamaha 300s

The trend toward outboard power keeps getting stronger and stronger. Now Cutwater Boats is introducing a new 30-footer with twin Yamaha 300-hp outboards because, says Cutwater President John Livingston, “We’ve had customers asking us to build a boat like this for a while now.” Livingston also says the new boat is “our biggest, fastest and most exciting Cutwater to date. The boat absolutely screams across the water.” I haven’t tried the new 30 yet, but two summers ago I drove a Cutwater 28, with a single 260-hp Volvo diesel, from New York Harbor to Quebec City, and it cruised easily…

Cruising Life
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Murder at Sea: U.S. Skipper Charged with Killing Two Brits on His Boat 38 Years Ago

How’s this for a true crime story? A 75-year-old California man was just charged with stabbing and killing a young British couple on his boat off Belize – in 1978. Their bodies, which had been bound and weighted down, were found off a beach there at the time, but the murder trail turned cold until police in Sacramento interviewed the son of Silas Duane Boston recently about the disappearance of Boston’s wife. The son said he witnessed a violent struggle between his father and the Brits on the boat, when the son was only 13. At his hearing Boston, wearing…

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