Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Ocean Warming “Headed Off the Charts”

Ocean temperatures around the world are “headed off the charts,” according to scientists, who say that April set an all-time high. The average temperature since the start of April has been 21.1C, the scientists say, beating the previous high of 21C in 2016. They base their reporting on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The high surface temperatures can lead to marine heatwaves around the globe. NOAA reports that ocean surface temperatures are the highest since they started taking satellite records. “The current trajectory looks like it’s headed off the charts, smashing previous records,” Professor Matthew England, a…

Cruising Life
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Tourists Follow GPS: Drive Into Water 0000

Two tourists who said they were following GPS instructions for a local snorkel tour shop drove their rental car off a boat ramp and into the water in Hawaii. They eventually climbed out the front windows of their van as men from a nearby sailboat dove into the water to save them. The two women said they were looking for the Manta Ray Snorkel tour company last Saturday and entered its location in their GPS. They ended up in the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Christie Hutchinson, who lives there, started filming the accident, saying, “Pretty sure…

Boat Reviews
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Xquisite Building Hybrid 60 Power Cat

Xquisite Yachts, the South African company, is now building its new hybrid 60 power catamaran, designed to cruise the oceans of the world, in Portugal. The first two hulls have already been sold, and the first will be delivered next year. Xquisite worked with Dixon Yacht Design for two years to develop the new 60, with solar/electric/diesel propulsion. The 60 follows the successful debut of the company’s 40 power cat, also designed by Dixon, at the Miami show in February. Xquisite was founded in 2014 to build sail and power cats “for adventurers who wish to explore our oceans without…

Cruising Life
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2 People, Dog, Rescued from Sinking Cat

The Coast Guard rescued two people and their dog after their 28-foot power catamaran started to sink Monday near St Catherine’s Sound in southern Georgia. The Coast Guard station in Charleston, South Carolina, heard a distress Mayday call on VHF Channel 16 from a man on board the cat, named Pisces, at 5:32 on Monday evening. The caller stated the boat’s name and its position. The Coast Guard called its air station in Savannah, which launched a Dolphin helicopter, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The helicopter arrived on the scene, and a rescue swimmer helped the two people…

Boat Reviews
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Hylas Launches First Diesel Outboard in U.S.

The first outboard-powered Hylas M47 just arrived in the U.S. from the company’s yard in Taiwan. The M47, an adaptation of the diesel-inboard-powered M44, has two 300-hp Cox diesel outboards on its transom. Hylas says it’s the first twin-diesel outboard on the  U.S. recreational boat market. The Cox CXO300s push the new Hylas to a top speed of 31 knots, and a cruising speed of 17 knots. The outboards burn just 15 gph at 2,500 rpm. With the outboard’s standard four-blade props and the boat’s standard 475-gallon fuel capacity, the Hylas has a range of 1,000 nm. With optional 700-gallon…

Boat Reviews
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Selene Launches Latest 60 Ocean Explorer

Selene just loaded its latest 60 on a cargo ship in Yantian Port, Shenzen, China; it’s hull number 46 of Selene’s popular Ocean Explorer series. This newest 60 has a modern full-body layout and a new profile with large side windows and three staterooms with en suite heads. It’s meant for an owner-operator, but it also has a crew stateroom aft with a full head; this space could serve as a fourth cabin. The company calls it “a compact super-yacht.” The 60 is the smallest in Selene’s Ocean Explorer line that goes up to 128 feet. Ocean Explorers have been…

Boat Reviews
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New Rhea 34 Trawlers Heading to U.S.

Rhea Marine’s Trawler 34, made in France, is now heading for the United States, with two boats going to Cardinal Yacht Sales in Bellingham, Washington. The Rhea 34 has a conventional trawler layout, with two cabins, one head, and either one diesel or two. As a former trawler (Grand Banks) owner, I found a few things appealing in the new Rhea. It has a door on each side of the salon, providing immediate access to both sides decks. This is an great help in docking (which I often did by myself), as well as providing more fresh air and ventilation…

Boat Reviews
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Artnautica LRC 58 with 5,000-nm Range

The Artnautica LRC 58 is certainly a different kind of cruiser. Designed as a Long Range Cruiser, the aluminum-hulled Artnautica 58 is self-righting with a narrow beam, shallow draft, and a range of  about 5,000 nm at 7 knots. Artnautica is the brainchild of Dennis Harjamaa, who started out studying yacht design in Maine, and worked as a designer in Finland and then New Zealand before he started Artnautica Yacht design Ltd (NZ) and drew the lines for the LRC 58. He wanted a boat he could live on and take cruising, and he wanted it to be simple, rugged,…

Boat Reviews
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New Virtue V10, Gas or Electric Outboards

The latest entry in the modern Scandinavian minimalist design genre (think Axopar and Saxdor, among others), the new Virtue V10 is made in Poland but the hull is designed in Sweden. It also is made to be powered by gas outboards, reaching speeds of 50 knots, or Evoy electric outboards, that are slower but offer a green, emissions-free propulsion system. Above all else, the Virtue V10 is meant to be a functional, user-friendly boat. It’s small enough so it can find room at most marinas or anchorages, and it has a beam of 9’ 6” so it can fit on…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Ex-Tesla Engineer Making 800-hp Electric Boat

John Yo thinks he has a better idea. Yo, 51, the former head of global manufacturing for Tesla who escaped from Vietnam when he was 16, is working on a 30-foot electric boat with two 400-hp motors, far more horsepower than other electric boats of this size. His new boat, called the R30, will have a top speed of about 40 knots and a range of a few hours at its cruising speed of 20 knots. A prototype will be ready in October; the first production boats are scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 2024. Chuan (John) Yo…

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