On Watch with Peter Janssen

Popular Ranger Rendezvous in the San Juans

By Peter Janssen on September 13, 2016 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Here’s a great picture of the annual rendezvous of some 150 Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats at Roche Harbor in the San Juans, one of the biggest gatherings of boat owners in the United States at one of the best cruising destinations in the United States. To continue the superlatives, Fluid Motion, LLC, the parent company for Ranger and Cutwater, is one of the most successful boat companies in the United States – having started with a 21-Ranger Tug in 1999 and now producing hundreds of Rangers and Cutwaters in six factories throughout Washington State. (See our “Boat Reviews” section…

Nordhavns Set Two New Cruising Records

By Peter Janssen on August 23, 2016 On Watch with Peter Janssen

. If you have a Nordhavn, chances are you’re not going to sit home reading a book by the fire. Indeed, ever since a Norhavn 40 circled the world in 2002, Nordhavn owners have been among the most adventuresome of them all. Now, Nordhavns have set two new records: First, the Nordhavn 68 Migration has made it to Svalbard, Norway, at 80 degrees north the fourth-highest spot in the world. This is the farthest north any Nordhavn has ever gone. Migration will stay there for three more weeks or so, exploring the area and taking pictures of its exotic birds and…

Nordhavn’s Far-Flung Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2016 On Watch with Peter Janssen

So you want to go cruising – really go cruising. Not just for a long weekend or a two-week summer vacation, like most of us, but way, way out there. Nordhavns are built to take you anywhere you want to go, anywhere in the world. And Nordhavn owners are among the most adventuresome people on earth. They have goals, and they reach them. The company even has a Distance Pennant Program, launched eight years ago, to recognize – with incremental pennants – the number of miles Norhavn owners have cruised so far (the total: 5.5 million!). So now they’ve made…

The Moorings’ Ultimate Dive Charters in the BVI

By Peter Janssen on July 3, 2016 Charter, Destinations, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Moorings, the world’s premier yacht charter company since 1969, has just come up with a new idea: The Ultimate Dive Vacation in the British Virgin Islands. This sounds like a natural to me, a combination of a luxurious Moorings 5800 catamaran with a seven-day dive charter in some of the most beautiful water on the planet.

Doug Zurn's latest: a John Williams 38 with IPS drives.

Doug Zurn’s New Williams 38

By Peter Janssen on June 24, 2016 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

At first thought, this doesn’t seem like a logical partnership: Doug Zurn, who’s designed the sleek, fast MJM 50Z; the sleek, fast Shelter Island Runabout 38, and the sleek, fast 57-foot Vendetta for Billy Joel, has joined forces with John (Jock) Williams, who designs and builds the most traditional of all Maine lobster boats, originally for commercial fishermen and now for well-heeled owners who appreciate the “lobster yacht” aesthetic. But come together they did, with the new Williams 38 as the result – a classic-looking lobster boat above the waterline, with a state-of-the-art hull design below. The visible part of…

Incredible Coast Guard Rescue in Alaska

By Peter Janssen on June 19, 2016 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

This is one of the best Coast Guard rescue videos ever. It’s all in a day’s work for these people, but here a Coast Guard helicopter crew put their own swimmer the water in Alaska to hoist four fishermen to safety as their boat sinks behind them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S12DrHyQXUg

See Alaska Cruise Liner Slam into Pier

By Peter Janssen on June 4, 2016 On Watch with Peter Janssen

https://gcaptain.com/watch-celebrity-infinity-slams-into-pier-in-ketchikan-alaska/

Logs, Swirling Currents on Erie Canal

By Peter Janssen on June 2, 2016 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Several cruisers have reported problems on the Erie Canal in the past few days, the result of heavy rain and flooding in the areas of Locks 9, 10 and 11 near Amsterdam, NY. Locks 10 and 11 were closed for a while at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, although they have reopened. And one captain reported on the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association blog that “the swirling current going 9 was vicious.” Another, Clay Logan on SaSea Sally, a Mainship 43, said he encountered “LOTS of logs and debris” in the area. On Seasons, a Tayana 42 trawler, John…

Aussies Tackle Great Loop; Winning So Far

By Peter Janssen on May 25, 2016 Cruising Life, Destinations, On Watch with Peter Janssen

This isn’t exactly the New York Yacht Club annual cruise, but it is two Aussies on a leased C-Dory 26, with a single 150-hp Honda outboard, doing the Great Loop. They started this spring in Florida and they’re now in Canada. Good on ’em. Here’s their daily blog. http://balakera.com

Circling the Atlantic, Heading Home

By Peter Janssen on May 12, 2016 Cruising Life, Destinations, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Sean and Lois Johnson, two Brits with a lot of salt water in their veins, are now in the Dominican Republic on their Nordhavn 64, Kapowai, after a circumnavigation of the Atlantic – from Miami up to Canada, across to Europe, and then back to the Caribbean. They had already crossed the Atlantic twice since they bought Kapowai just two years ago. If you’re interested in learning about long-range cruising from the people who’ve been there, here’s their latest blog postings before they head back to Miami.http://www.kapowaicruising.com

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