On Watch with Peter Janssen

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…

New Sabre 51 Salon Express to Launch in 2026

By George Day on September 25, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen

This month, Sabre Yachts announced that it will splash their all new 51 Salon Express in late 2025 and debut the design at the 2026 Miami International Boat Show on February 11. The new Downeast-style design is a two-cabin, two-head couple’s cruiser that emphasizes warm private spaces in the cabins combined with large people-friendly social areas in the salon, aft cockpit and foredeck lounge. The 51 has the galley down in the cabin, which makes the best possible use of the spacious salon while providing a large sea-going kitchen with plenty of storage for groceries, cook ware and cutlery. The…

Palm Beach Motor Yachts Celebrates Thirtieth Anniversary

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

One of the highlights for me at this year’s Newport International Boat Show, last week, was taking part in Palm Beach Yachts’ thirtieth anniversary celebration. The elegant dinner was hosted by Palm Beach’s founder and CEO Mark Richards who in turn invited a dozen or more Palm Beach owners and a whole gang of the Palm Beach team to be part of the event. In after-diner remarks, Mark emphasized that he might be the visionary who launched Palm Beach thirty years ago, but it is the owners and the dedicated staff that make the whole process of building the boats…

The Pleasures of Chartering a Power Cat

By George Day on September 10, 2025 Charter, Cruising Life, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

We had just dropped the mooring off The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda’s North Sound in the BVI and started the 15-mile passage north to Anagada when a gusty squall swept in from the Atlantic and began pelting us with rain drops the size of grapes. But, there was no panic, no rushing to the mast to drop the mainsail, no frantic rolling up of the headsail. That’s because we were snug at the inside helm of a 45-foot power cat. The squall passed and soon we climbed to the bridge to enjoy the sunlight and the view of the…

New Sialia 45 Electric Cruiser Dishes Up Impressive Combination of Speed and Range

By George Day on September 4, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

We’ve been covering the Sialia project for a year now and have had a chance to spend time on the first all-electric cruiser from the builder at last year’s Ft. Lauderdale boat show. The reason for our continued attention is simply that the company’s founders may well have found the holy grail of electric boats: extended range and high top speed. The Sialia 45 is being built in Poland and will be launched in a few weeks. This boat is the culmination of years of work on hull design, advanced composite construction and the latest in battery power and electric…

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