On Watch with Peter Janssen

On Watch

By Peter Janssen on March 22, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Dashews End Quest for Functional Power Boats; Will Go Cruising Instead By Peter A. Janssen After more than a decade, Steve (Skip) and Linda Dashew are throwing in the towel. They are no longer designing or building their iconic FPB (Functional Power Boats) line of aluminum-hulled, long-range cruisers. Dashew wrote on their blog, “The time has come for us to do some cruising. Although we would have rather had the FPB marque continue, we simply could not find an approach that guaranteed our standards would be upheld.” The Dashews have been cruising together around the world for abut 40 years,…

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By Peter Janssen on March 15, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Legendary Alaskan Long-Range Cruisers Staging a Comeback By Peter A. Janssen Alaskan yachts, the legendary, long-range, Art DeFever-designed trawlers, just got a shot in the arm. Seattle Yachts announced that they bought the Alaskan brand and hired Phil Friedman, the former CEO of Palmer Johnson, to modernize and reintroduce the lineup, starting with a new 66-footer. Friedman, who just finished construction of a semi-custom 80-footer in Taiwan, where the new Alaskans will be built, said the cruisers will embody “value engineering” by concentrating on things that are core to the boat’s mission. “Our primary objective is to deliver a rugged,…

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By Peter Janssen on March 8, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Popular Palm Beach Show Opens March 22: More Boats, More Serious Deals. Plus, Our Reviews of 36 New Boats By Peter A. Janssen It’s not hard to understand why the Palm Beach International Boat Show has become the fastest-growing show in Florida in the past few years. Its location is terrific: Centered in downtown West Palm Beach along the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway, it’s pretty and easy to get to, on land or on water. And once you’re there, it’s easy to navigate the docks and tents without competing with hordes of other people. It’s a no-hassle boat show,…

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By Peter Janssen on March 1, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Aspen Power Cat Arrives in New Orleans in Middle of the Night: “Crazy Boating” on the Mississippi By Peter A. Janssen A year ago, when he was planning a 10,000-mile tour around the United States on his then still-being-built Aspen C120 power cat, David Jenkins told me that he and Larry Graf, the company’s founder, president and “chief adventurer,” had to make a decision. Basically, how to get the boat from the west coast of Mexico to the Gulf coast of the United States. They looked at the normal route, through the Panama Canal, but decided it would take too…

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By Peter Janssen on February 22, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Report from Miami: “Bigger is Better,” More Outboards Than Ever, and “A Very Robust Market” By Peter A. Janssen Whatever else was going on (and a lot was going on), the people at Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats hit a home run at the Miami International Boat Show on Virginia Key. They had a bigger display than ever before, with three models from each brand, and there were people than ever before. “It was a great show for both brands,” said Sam Bisset, the communications director for Ranger and Cutwater, “and there were certainly buyers in the crowds.” Based in…

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By Peter Janssen on February 15, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Miami Show Opens Big: More Boats, More People, More Enthusiasm By Peter A. Janssen The Miami International Boat Show got underway under beautiful blue skies with more people, more boats, more outboards, more hybrids, more cats and more enthusiasm that I’ve seen in a long time. The mood on the docks, and in the lines waiting for water taxis and shuttle buses to and from the show at Virginia Key, was distinctly upbeat. Power boating has been coming back lately. The Lauderdale show in November was the best in years, the New York show last month was so good that…

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By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

You Can See More Cruising Boats than Ever at the Miami Shows Next Week. Here Are Our Reviews of 38 of Them By Peter A. Janssen It would be hard to find a larger or more impressive display of new cruising boats anywhere in the world than what you can see in Miami next week. At the ever-larger Miami International Boat Show on Virginia Key, you’ll find more than 1,400 boats (including many more in the 40- to 80-foot range), while at the Miami Yacht Show up on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, there are 500 more. (And that’s not…

On Watch

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

You Can See More Cruising Boats than Ever at the Miami Shows Next Week. Here Are Our Reviews of 37 of Them By Peter A. Janssen It would be hard to find a larger or more impressive display of new cruising boats anywhere in the world than what you can see in Miami next week. At the ever-larger Miami International Boat Show on Virginia Key, you’ll find more than 1,400 boats (including many more in the 40- to 80-foot range), while at the Miami Yacht Show up on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, there are 500 more. (And that’s not…

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By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Cruising the Bahamas on Bumfuzzle: The Schulte Family Stays on the Move By Peter A. Janssen Pat Schulte says that he and his wife Ali are “not ones to settle down.” That’s a considerable understatement. In fact, ever since they quit their jobs in Chicago in 2003, they’ve been on the move, sailing around the world, driving from Alaska to Argentina, and now cruising the Bahamas on their 1986 Grand Banks 42 Bumfuzzle with their two children. And loving every minute of it. While he was still in college in Chicago, Schulte started working in the commodities pit as trader.…

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By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2018 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Revolutionary New Hybrid Propulsion System on Adler Suprema 76: Cross the Atlantic at 8 Knots Without Refueling By Peter A. Janssen In a major move forward for hybrid technology, the Adler Suprema 76 now has a trans-Atlantic range of 3,400 nm on a single tank of fuel at 8 knots, using its own propulsion system combining electric, hybrid or twin diesel power. Adler’s new HMS (Hybrid Marine Solutions) lets the captain choose among the three systems, but its default mode is fully automatic, and the boat simply accelerates through the most efficient system at the time. The new carbon-fiber, semi-displacement…

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