On Watch with Peter Janssen

Beneteau Swift Trawler Hits Log Off Oregon, Gets New Prop from France, Cruises to San Diego

By Peter Janssen on May 30, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Beneteau Swift Trawler 47 just arrived in San Diego, completing its Swift Pacific Adventure down the Pacific coast from Seattle, but not without a hiccup – or more precisely, a run-in with a submerged log – that caused some delay. The Swift Trawler left Seattle in early May and headed up Puget Sound, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into the Pacific. All was well for the first few days, even when running through 12-14 foot rollers on the nose, until the boat headed into Newport, Oregon, for a crew change. The original plan was to refuel…

Six Boats in Slowboat Flotilla Cruising Up Inside Passage to Sitka, Alaska

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The annual Slowboat Flotilla is heading up the Inside Passage, expecting to reach Sitka, Alaska, around June 5. The trip up the Inside Passage, from Seattle to Alaska, is an awe-inspiring voyage, with majestic vistas of snow-capped mountains, tumbling waterfalls, deep-blue water, remote coves and the possibility of the sudden appearance of whales, eagles and bears. And then there are the open water passages where the next land to the west is across the Pacific in Asia. You can do the Inside Passage on your own, or in a group, such as the Slowboat Flotilla. I’ve done it both ways,…

Palm Beach Launches New Flagship 70: An Elegant, Fast and Efficient Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on May 16, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Palm Beach Motor Yachts just launched its new flagship 70 in Malaysia, with the same beautiful lines as the 65, but with more room inside. It also has the signature Palm Beach warped hull, which cuts through the water so efficiently that it leaves almost no wake behind. Powered by twin 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives, the new 70 is expected to top out at 38 knots, and cruise at 32 knots. “The Palm Beach 70 was born from customer demand – they wanted a larger Palm Beach Motor Yacht,” said Mark Richards, the founder and CEO of Palm Beach…

Brand New Ranger Tugs 41 Flagship: Two-Stateroom, Two-Head Family Cruiser with IPS Performance

By Peter Janssen on May 8, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Ranger Tugs has just launched its new flagship, a 41-foot family cruiser with two staterooms, two heads, and Volvo Penta IPS performance. The R-41 also has enough amenities to furnish a New York apartment, including standard washer and dryer, three AC units and three refrigerators. The 41 is Ranger’s largest boat yet – by a long shot. Until now, the Ranger Tugs line went from 23 to 31 feet. Ranger Tugs, along with Cutwater Boats, are made by Fluid Motion in Washington State, one of the most successful builders in the U.S. Ranger and Cutwater have well-earned reputations for building…

John Hauck, 80, Starts a New Adventure, Alone, on Grumpy

By Peter Janssen on May 2, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Even at 80, John Hauck is looking for new challenges. “I like adventure,” he told me. “I’ve been an adventurous individual my whole life.” Hauck’s latest adventure is to take on the Great Loop, by himself (“All my adventures have been solo,” he said) on his 2003 Rosborough RF-246 Grumpy with twin 150-hp Mercury outboards. He left Demopolis, Alabama, on April 15, and he’s now cruising down the Gulf Coast of Florida, aiming to complete the 5,600 mile Loop in two to four months. “I thought this would be a good way to celebrate my 80th…

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New Jersey Couple Ride the Great Loop on Their Yamaha WaveRunner, and Love It

By Peter Janssen on April 25, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

When most people start planning a cruise on the Great Loop, they have to decide whether they want to do it on a 30-foot, 40-foot or even a 50-foot boat or more. Not John Cacciutti, a builder of luxury vacation homes from Ocean City, New Jersey. Cacciutti thinks outside the box. He and Barbie Evangelisti, his riding partner, are doing the 5,800-mile Great Loop on their Yamaha WaveRunner. And they’ve already put 1,700 Loop miles behind them. Cacciutti and Evangelisti are not the first people to do the Loop on a PWC. Indeed, Larry Harcum completed the Loop in 87…

Living the Dream: Mystic Moon Cruises Up to Glacier Bay, Alaska

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

John and Kathy Youngblood have just left Glacier Bay, one of the most beautiful spots in the world, on their 2004 Selene 53 Mystic Moon. The picture above shows Kathy in front of Reid Glacier, one of the 50 named glaciers there; it’s 11 miles long. The Youngbloods have cruised some 35,000 nm on Mystic Moon in the Caribbean and the Pacific, so they’re not easily impressed by the works of nature. But when they were leaving Glacier Bay a few days ago they quoted one of their friends who talked about “such beauty so close to home.” They wrote on…

After Three Months in Mexico, the Schultes Head South on Their Grand Banks 42 Bumfuzzle

By Peter Janssen on April 11, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

After three months in Mexico, Pat Schulte, his wife Ali, daughter Ouest, 9, and son Lowe, 7, are heading south on their 1986 Grand Banks 42 Bumfuzzle, continuing to live the dream, no matter what country they’re in. They arrived in Isla Mujeres from Key West in January. Pat took the boat over by himself since Ali and the kids were back home in Minnesota visiting family. (That wasn’t exactly the way they planned it, but a weather window opened up, and he took advantage of it.) They enjoyed their time there, touring the Yucatan, celebrating Carnaval (it was pretty…

The Hamiltons Cruise from Amsterdam up to Sweden on Their Nordhavn 52

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The worldwide cruising adventures of James and Jennifer Hamilton continue, as the Seattle couple arrived earlier this week in the Swedish town of Kalmar on the Baltic Sea on their Nordhavn 52 Dirona. Pushing the season, they left Amsterdam at 0500 on March 19, with frost on the deck, to head for a spring and summer in Sweden, Finland and Norway. The Hamiltons had been in Amsterdam for five months, and they wrote on their blog that it was time to go. “We’re loving being underway again. It’s been such a long time since we were at sea.” They hit…

New Zurn 60 Powercat, Filled with Light, Space and Innovation

By Peter Janssen on March 27, 2019 On Watch with Peter Janssen

With his new Zurn 60 Powercat, Doug Zurn has definitely stepped out of the box – again. There’s a lot going on in this boat, originally designed for an experienced ocean-cruising owner, from its innovative layout to its 23-knot top speed, but the main themes are privacy, space and light. Ever since he drew the first Shelter Island Runabout two decades ago, Zurn has designed low-profile, long-sheerline, Downeast-style boats with generous tumblehome, head-turning looks and head-snapping performance. Bob Johnstone saw that boat and had Zurn design the first MJM, a 34z (the “z,” of course, is for Zurn), in 2003.…

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