Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
By

Deadly Storm Slams Florida, Heads Up Atlantic Coast

Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida on Wednesday afternoon, with sustained winds up to 155 mph and a life-threatening storm surge as high as 12 feet. It left as many as hundreds of possible casualties as homes floated away, roads turned into rivers and more than 2.5 million people lost electricity. The storm was worst in the Naples, Fort Myers and Port Charlotte areas. Tampa, a bit north, where the last hurricane was in 1921, was spared the worst of Ian. But parts of Tampa Bay emptied out before the storm hit, with the lost water returning as a wind-driven…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
By

New MJM 4: Fast, Quiet – and Fun

“Hang on,” warned Peter Johnstone, the chairman of MJM Boats, as he nailed the throttles all the way forward on his new 46-foot MJM 4 off Newport, Rhode Island. And WOW! The acceleration was fast, almost explosive, as the twin 600-hp V12 Mercury Verado outboards shot it forward. It not only was fast, but it also was smooth, seamless, and quiet. “The 4 is the fastest, and quietest, boat we’ve made,” Bob Johnstone, Peter’s father, told me a few days later at the Newport boat show, where the 4 was named Best New Powerboat. Bob Johnstone founded MJM in 2002…

Annapolis Boat Show
By

Historic Annapolis Show Starts Oct. 6

The United States Powerboat Show will start Thursday, Oct. 6, and run through Sunday, Oct. 9, in Annapolis, the heart of cruising in the Chesapeake and one of the premiere cruising destinations in the world. The Annapolis show is always popular, for a whole lot of reasons. It’s easy to get to (less than an hour’s drive from Washington, D.C., or Baltimore); it’s easy to see a lot of new boats and gear displayed there, and it’s in Annapolis, with boatyards, marinas, waterfront restaurants and watering holes all around. And then there’s the U.S. Naval Academy with grounds next to…

Boat Reviews
By

First Fleming 85 Arrives in U.S.

Designed to be the ultimate cruising yacht, hull number one of the new Fleming 85 just arrived at Burr Yacht Sales in Stuart, Florida. The newest (and largest) Fleming was three years in the making, ending up with a completely new design while keeping the Fleming family lines and character. The company says the goal was “to build the finest ocean-going pilothouse motor yacht,” so its owners could cruise safely and comfortably anywhere in the world. Flemings are made in Taiwan. The hull was designed by Norman R. Wright & Sons in Australia. Standard power comes from twin 1,550-hp MAN…

Destinations
By

The Hudson River: A Gorgeous Fall Cruise

For a memorable fall cruise, there are few places more beautiful than the historic and foliage-lined Hudson River. Stretching 153 miles from The Battery in New York Harbor to The Federal Lock at Troy (just above Albany) and the start of the Erie Canal, the Hudson offers a slice of Americana, everything from the adrenaline-pushing bustle of Wall Street and New York’s West Side up past majestic mountains, pastoral countrysides, the stolid buildings at the state capital in Albany, and many harbors and coves of all descriptions. And lots of history. The Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first…

Cruising Life
By

New High-Tech Buoys Protect Whales

A new system of high-tech offshore buoys is designed to warn ship captains when whales are swimming nearby. The trouble is, some captains pay attention to it, and some don’t. Four whales have been killed by collisions with boats so far this year near San Francisco Bay. The number is probably higher; dead whales often sink to the ocean floor. Last week, an organization called Whale Safe launched a whale-detection system of buoys in known whale feeding areas outside the bay. The system uses a buoy with a microphone 280 feet underwater to listen for whales. It then relays that…

Boat Reviews
By

Pearl To Launch Striking New 72 in Lauderdale

The new Pearl 72, with its striking lines and light-filled interior, will make its worldwide debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show starting Oct. 26. Built in the UK, this latest Pearl has several unique features, including two master cabins designed for co-owners who want to be on the yacht together or simply for favored guests who truly want to be treated like VIPs. Pearl was founded in 1998 with the goal of creating a new range of luxury motor yachts with opulent and voluminous interiors and excellent designs. The fleet now runs from 62 to 95 feet. The…

Boat Reviews
By

North Pacific Unveils New 53 Euro Pilothouse

North Pacific Yachts just introduced its new 53 Euro Pilothouse at the Boats Afloat show in Seattle. It’s an updated version of a low-maintenance, modern, long-range cruiser built for the waters of the Pacific Northwest or just about anywhere else. Trevor Brice, the president of North Pacific Yachts, wrote me that the 53 (pictured above) is the same as the builder’s 49 Euro Pilothouse except that the cockpit was extended. North Pacific first introduced a 49 Pilothouse model in 2013, and then launched a more modern version, the 49 Euro Pilothouse, in early 2021 (pictured below). The Euro version has…

Boat Reviews
By

Sargo Launches New All-Weather 45 Explorer

Sargo Boats just launched its new 45 Explorer, the Finnish builder’s largest yet, a safe, tough, all-weather cruiser, just like its predecessors. The new 45 features wide doors on both sides of the light-filled, modern wheelhouse for easy access to the high walkaround decks, a forward raked windshield, a large sliding sun roof, and social areas fore and aft. Sargo’s new flagship comes with either two or three cabins, sleeping four or six people, and two heads below. Sargo offers several Volvo power options for the 45: twin 440-hp stern drives; twin 440-hp IPS600 pod drives, or twin 480-hp IPS650…

Cruising Life
By

Fiona Tracking North; Destructive Storm Surge

After devastating Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos, Hurricane Fiona was set to sideswipe Bermuda as a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 73 mph and then continue churning north toward Nova Scotia and the Canadian Maritimes. The Atlantic hurricane season got off to a slow start this year, but Fiona made up for lost time. It killed at least five people in the Caribbean as it tore through last weekend, including one in Guadeloupe, two in Puerto Rico, and two in the Dominican Republic. (It slipped past the Virgin Islands.) Fiona hit Puerto Rico as a…

1 … 71 72 73 74 75 … 391