On Watch with Peter Janssen

MJM Launches New Zurn-Designed 38-foot Day Boat

By Peter Janssen on June 30, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

MJM just announced that it’s entering the growing day boat market with a new 38-foot Dual Console 3z. It has the same Doug Zurn design that the company has used on all its Down East cruisers since it was started in 2002. In a webinar introducing the new boat, Peter Johnstone, the MJM chairman, said the new day boat is designed “to address the way people boat around the country. Our outboard boats enabled more people to enjoy our brand. This is the way people are boating today. We’ll always have our express cruisers as the core of our brand,…

New Hunt Ocean 63 Expedition Yacht Now in Rhode Island

By Peter Janssen on June 24, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Hunt Ocean 63, the latest yacht to be launched by the Hinckley Company, has been commissioned at the company’s yard in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. With its iconic Hunt deep-V hull, the Ocean 63 is designed as an expedition yacht that will perform well in any sea conditions anywhere in the world. The new Hunt has the clean, classic lines that define the brand, with an aggressive bow, a long sheerline, and a low profile for a 63-foot flybridge yacht. It was designed by the C. Raymond Hunt Design studio in New Bedford, Massachusetts, which has been developing and refining…

Boat Sales Soaring This Summer, Reaction to Pandemic

By Peter Janssen on June 17, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Boating, it seems, is the perfect answer. In a time of COVID-19 crises and social distancing, taking to the water is an increasingly attractive proposition. At least that seems to be the case for a lot of people buying new and used boats. Across the country, many dealers are reporting near record boat sales for the past month or so. MarineMax in Quincy, Massachusetts, for example, says they sold 100 boats in May, a 30 percent increase from last year. In Clinton, Connecticut, John Benchimol, the owner of Harborside Marina and Yacht Sales, told WTNH that when the pandemic hit…

Why Are These Ships Running in Circles?

By Peter Janssen on June 8, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

We all know that AIS (Automatic Identification System) is a major advance in boat navigation and safety. It shows the track of vessels underway throughout the world, and is used by thousands of commercial and recreational vessels. It adds a new level of safety, and displays the name and location of boats near you, even before they can see you. When it works. There is now reason to think that some vessels’ AIS systems have been hacked. The mystery is why, and who did it. The problem is that AIS tracks showed about a dozen ships traveling in circles near…

Bahamas Reopen to Boating on June 15

By Peter Janssen on June 3, 2020 Destinations, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Tourism officials in the Bahamas just announced a two-phase plan to reopen the islands to international travel. In Phase 1, recreational boats can return starting June 15; in Phase 2, the islands will be open to international air and ship travel starting July 1. Dionisio D’Aguilar, the Bahamas Tourism Minister, said that Phase 1 “is expected to see the opening of the tourism sector with the return of boaters, yachters, and private aviation being allowed to enter the destination. We are starting with these smaller special interest groups as they provide a more controlled segment. They all will pre-register electronically,…

Ray Hunt Designs New Yachts, New Hull Shape

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Few names in American boating are more iconic than C. Raymond Hunt. After all, he designed the deep-V hull more than 60 years ago that has been regarded as the gold standard for offshore performance and safety ever since. So it’s news, big news, when his successors have made some adjustments now, creating a more efficient hull shape for today’s yachts with the goal of producing double-digit cruising speeds, under moderate power, while still retaining all the seakeeping abilities of the original. But Ray Hunt Design, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, has done exactly that, drawing a new Ray Hunt Design…

What Better Place?

By Peter Janssen on May 21, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Memorial Day weekend is the normal start of the boating season for a lot of us, but there’s nothing normal about the season this year. In many parts of the country, people are just starting to emerge from their stay-at-home restrictions, trying to figure out where and how to get back to their normal boating and cruising lives again. In the Miami area, some people had an early start. The boat ramps were filled, and overflowing, when the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted; the pictures were evidence of pent-up demand in action. It is a good time to have a trailer…

Ocean Alexander Launches New 45 Divergence Coupe Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on May 12, 2020 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Ocean Alexander just launched its new 45 Divergence Coupe, an outboard-powered, two-stateroom cruiser with all the comforts of a yacht but with the size, speed and handling of a sportboat. The Coupe, with a fully enclosed, climate-controlled salon and helm deck, is an update of the 45 Divergence that Ocean Alexander introduced at the Miami show in February, 2019. Several high-end builders, including Hinckley and MJM, have introduced outboard-powered boats lately, but Ocean Alexander was the first to move down significantly in doing so. Indeed, Ocean Alexander’s luxury fleet runs from 70 to 155 feet. There was so much interest…

Maryland Lifts Ban on Recreational Boating

By Peter Janssen on May 7, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

There’s good news in Maryland. You can go boating there again. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan just lifted the state’s boating restrictions, which have been in place for more than a month as part of the fight against COVID-19. They had prohibited recreational boating, except for paddle boards and for people fishing for food. Now, recreational boats, power, sail and PWCs, are permitted in the state’s waters once more. Anglers can fish for the sport of it, and not just for sustenance. The state’s Department of Natural Resources expanded permitted recreational activities to include boating, fishing, golf, tennis and camping. Hiking,…

92-Foot Yacht Sinks Near Monterey, Coast Guard Rescues Crew

By Peter Janssen on May 2, 2020 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Going Coastal, a 92-foot Paragon Motor Yacht, just sank nine miles south of Monterey, California, despite the Coast Guard’s efforts to keep it afloat. The Coast Guard rescued the two men on board, who were not injured. The Coast Guard reports that the Going Coastal crew made a Mayday call at 11:45 a.m. on Channel 16, saying the yacht, built in Taiwan in 2006, was taking on water about 35 miles south of Monterey. The Coast Guard dispatched a 45-foot response boat from Monterey and a Dolphin helicopter from San Francisco to help in the rescue. The Going Coastal crew…

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