Picture yourself at the helm of a 40-foot cabin cruiser motoring at 5 knots or so along a narrow canal that is bordered on both sides by towering plane trees whose roots form the natural reinforcement for the canal’s sides. Beyond, there are wide open fields of ripening wheat and sunflowers and huge rolling vineyards. It is hot and the air is still. You are on the Canal du Midi in the south of France and you are very close to heaven. For many a cruiser, a week or two on this ancient and historic canal ranks high on their…
Browsing: On Watch With Peter Janssen
Preparing a boat to tackle the year-long adventure of circling America’s Great Loop, or any of the smaller cruising circles in the country, takes time and often a bit of money. But what about preparing ourselves for such an adventure? As it happens the Loop passes through up to 20 U.S. states, depending on your route, and into Canada and back. Many states require skippers to have certificates of competency and proof that they have taken and passed a range of courses on seamanship, boat handling and safety. Completing the required courses takes time so it should not be left…
In the world of yacht building, Cheoy Lee stands alone as the oldest continuous builder of boats, yachts, ships and working craft. This year, the company, which has been owned and run by the same family since its founding, is celebrating 150 years in business. Now managed by the fourth and fifth generations, the company is marking the anniversary with several striking and innovative new designs. At Australia’s Sanctuary Cove Boat show in May, the brand new CLB 65 SUV (above) was launched as part of the expanding B Series line of boats. Martin Lo, a fourth-generation director of the…
It was a beautiful day for a boat ride. On Wednesday this week, the rain that had covered the Northeast on Tuesday moved out to sea, leaving us a warm and sunny afternoon to take the new Marex 310 Sun Cruiser out for a spin on Long Island Sound. I met Hal Slater and Dan Trusty of Brewer Yacht Sales at their offices at Safe Harbor Marina in Westbrook Connecticut, the yard known for years as Pilot’s Point. Hal is the president and owner of Brewer Yacht Sales and has decades of experience in marine brokerage and new boat sales.…
The new Krogen 60 Open was introduced at the Palm Beach boat show earlier this spring and proved to be a real show-stopper. The 60 Open is simply huge and offers all the space and accommodation a family might need for extended living aboard and far-flung adventures. While the 60 Open carries all of the Krogen trawler DNA, the new design has really pushed the envelope on the size of the living and working spaces. It looks and feels like a much bigger boat. The afterdeck is truly an outside living room with a hard cover for sun and rain…
Silent Yachts is the first boat builder to have a boat cross the Atlantic Ocean using only solar powered electric motors. This is no small feat and proves that the original concepts behind the Silent catamaran designs and technology are sound. But, the business in 2022 and 2023 became a victim of its own success and adverse market forces. It simply outgrew its ability to deliver boats and ended up in receivership. As has happened numerous times in the past, one of the owners of a boat yet to be completed stepped in and bought the company. The new owner,…
While the Great Loop of the eastern half of the US is famous and often referred to, its little cousin, the Great Eastern Loop, is well worth any adventurous cruiser’s attention The 2,400 mile loop makes a circumnavigation of the US Northeast and the Canadian Maritimes. Nominally, the route starts in New York City and leads up the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. From there it follows the Richelieu River the length of the Chaplain Valley into Canada where it joins the St. Lawrence River at the city of Sorel-Tracy. There’s a 17-foot height limit on this section of the…
The True North brand was initially developed by Pearson Yachts in Rhode Island but was acquired by Catalina Yachts a few years ago and the two boats they build, the 34 and 39, have gone through a complete re-engineering. The new 39 that was launched last summer is an evolution of the successful 38. The 38 was an inboard-powered Down East-style express cruiser with a single owner’s cabin. The new 39 is similar in many ways but Catalina has changed the inboard for three Mercury Verado outboards. The 39 has a lot to like. This is a sensible American-built cruiser…
In May of 1940, at the start of World War Two, the British Expeditionary force that had been transported to France to fight the invading Nazi army, was quickly overwhelmed and driven back to the shores of the English Channel. What followed was one of the most heroic civilian efforts ever undertaken in a time of war. The call went out to boat owners across England to register with the British Admiralty and to join what would become the mass evacuation of the British army from Dunkirk, France to England. This month, 75 of those Little Ships as they became…
Since 1999, the Swedish builder J Craft has been building classic ultra-luxury speedboats on an island near Gotland. Their 42-foot Torpedo is a hand-made collector’s item that evokes La Dolce Vita from the Riviera and the Gatsby Days on Long Island, New York. Torpedos have advanced, cored-fiberglass hulls and classic mahogany decks that are finished with 18 coats of hand-rubber lacquer and varnish. Her leather seats and bolsters are made from the finest leather and hand-stitched to perfection. At the end of a dock the boat shines like a precious jewel. But, with Swedish DNA –think sea-going Vikings—each Torpedo is…