On Watch with Peter Janssen

Cruising Adventure of a Lifetime to Desolation Sound

By George Day on December 18, 2025 Destinations, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The coast of British Columbia in the Pacific Northwest has long held an allure for cruisers. Yet, it is hard to get to on your own boat unless you are based in the Seattle or Vancouver areas so the next obvious option is to charter a boat for an adventure cruise Every year, the Bellingham, Washington-based charter company NW Explorations runs a Mother Goose flotilla charter from their base to Desolation Sound and back. It’s a distance of roughly 300 miles. They have a fleet of mostly Grand Banks trawlers that each can take six or more passengers. The adventure…

An In-Depth Look at Fire Prevention on Our Boats

By George Day on December 11, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Several years ago, I got a phone call from our yacht club’s manager in the middle of the day. He was looking for my son’s phone number because, he said, “His boat is on fire on its mooring off the club.” On fire? I called my son and then raced down to the water front and low and behold his 21-footer was engulfed in flames, If you have never seen a fiberglass boat with full fuel tanks burn, it is a terrifying sight. The fired burned through the mooring lines and the flaming hulk began drifting with the wind toward…

New Pearl 63 Introduced with Three Distinct Interior Styles

By George Day on December 4, 2025 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

The boutique British builder Pearl Yachts announced this week that the company will be introducing their all-new 63 family cruiser at boot Dusseldorf on January 15. Pearl builds four models from 63 to 100 so the new 63 is their smallest offering. It replaces the 62. The new 63 is a remarkably spacious cruiser in this size range and features four commodious social areas on the main deck plus the hydraulic swim platform aft and the roomy lounge and dinette on the flybridge. There is a wide sun bed on the fore deck that has a tilting back rest for…

New Aquila 46 Yacht Luxury Power Cat Introduced

By George Day on November 20, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

At the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show last month, I had the chance to visit with the Aquila team and have a look at the brand new 46 Yacht that was being introduced to the North American market. The cruising cat had made its debut at the Cannes, France, boat show in September to great acclaim. The new 46 is replacing the 44 in the Yacht line which is no small ask since the 44 has seen 200 cats delivered. But from a first look, the new boat will be up to the task. The whole Aquila concept is to…

Nordhavn Introduces New N46 MKII Couple’s Cruising Home

By George Day on November 13, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

This is a feel-good story for me due to my long association with Pacific Asian Enterprises, the builder of Nordhavn motor yachts. PAE started life in the late 1970s building the Mason line of classic cruising sailboats at the Ta Shing Boat Yard in Taiwan. Their first boat was the Mason 43 and, as it happens, I and my family bought hull number 3 and spent five years sailing Clover around the world. In 1986, PAE launched their first long-range cruising motor yacht, the N 46 that quickly set the stage for a new era of ocean voyaging for cruisers…

Coast Guard Offers Second Comment Period Regarding the Removal of 100 Navigation Buoys in Northeast District

By George Day on November 6, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Coast Guard’s Northeast District announced this week that they were revisiting the planned removal of some 100 buoys and channel makers between New York Harbor and the Canadian border. The move follows the initial announcement last May, which called for a public comment period. More that 3,000 comments were submitted from private and commercial mariners. The new comment period reflects the modification of the buoy removal plan and seeks to further tailor the plan to the public’s needs in concert with the Coast Guard’s mission to modernize their buoy system. There are 5,460 buoys under the Northeast District’s Water…

14 Mid-Range Cruisers to Debut at the 2025 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show

By George Day on October 23, 2025 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

If you have never been to the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show it may be hard for you to imagine its scale. It’s the largest in-the-water boat show in North America and over five days next week starting on Wednesday a quarter of a million people will walk the docks and hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on new boats and yachts. Every year builders of fine motor yachts from around the world come to FLIBS, as it is known, to introduce their newest designs. From America we have dozens of local builders including famous name brands like…

Catalina and True North Yachts Pause Boat Building Operations

By George Day on October 16, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Since April 30 when Michael Reardon, founder of Daedalus Yachts, announced that he had purchased Catalina Yachts, which also builds True North motorboats, rumors have been circulating about the health of the business and the status of the boat building operations. This week, Catalina’s president Patrick Turner issued the statement below to bring America’s boating community up to speed on the current state of affairs at one of America’s oldest and most respected boat building companies. I want to share an important update directly with those who matter most to this company — our owners, future owners, and the…

With the New Administrator Confirmed, Is NOAA in Good Hands Under Dr. Neil Jacobs?

By George Day on October 9, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Here’s a story we have been following from time to time because weather forecasts are such an essential element of our lives on the water. NOAA is at the epicenter of those forecasts. This week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr, Neil Jacobs to be the new Administrator of NOAA, the umbrella agency that supervises the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center and dozens of other agencies dedicated to earth science, weather and climate issues. Dr. Jacobs is eminently qualified for the position as a scientist and a veteran of NOAA. Under Trump 1.0, he served as the acting administrator,…

Annapolis Powerboat Show 2025 in Full Swing

By George Day on October 2, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

The 2025 Annapolis Powerboat Show opened its gates yesterday morning and the VIP crowds were soon swarming the docks and filling the tents. This year’s show is the largest powerboat show the city has ever seen with more than 300 exhibitors and 400 boats on display. Both the annual powerboat and sailboat shows, which starts next Thursday, are maritime happenings or festivals of the sea and boating. In the spirit of fun, relaxation and recreation, the show has teamed up this year with local craft brewer Pharm Brewing to offer a special Boat Show Brew. Pharm has created a light…

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