Articles - Ocean Navigator

Lessons learned from first Global Solo Challenge

The inaugural 2023-2024 Global Solo Challenge race ended with second place finisher Cole Brauer becoming the first American woman to sail solo, nonstop, unassisted around the world via the capes. As the organizers gear up for the second race in 2027-2028, it’s worth looking at the format and lessons learned, especially at what the organizers have done to address issues that plagued the first run. Out of 16 starting boats, only seven finished the course, taking from four months to 277 days. GSC handicaps are applied at the beginning of the race, there are no classes and the first boat…

Jolly Harbour Marina Adds High-Capacity Travelift

Hoping to bring in service work for the growing large catamaran market, Jolly Harbour Marina & Boatyard in Antigua and Barbuda has added a new haul-out facility and a new 85FFMII mobile hoist from Marine Travelift. The vehicle has a capacity of approximately 187,392 pounds. The facility was built in 1992 and has grown over the years with ownership changing hands twice. Current management says it is maintaining its dedication to investing in up-to-date equipment and having well-trained personnel, many of whom have been with the marina for more than a decade. “The recently purchased boat hoist was also part…

Investigation into Superyacht Sinking Ongoing

At about 5 a.m. local time on August 19, the 184-foot superyacht, The Bayesian, sank in bad weather off the coast of Palermo, Italy. It’s estimated that the sailing yacht was at anchor or idling when it was hit by a microburst or water spout. Seven people on board were killed including British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter, according to the National Public Radio website. In the days following the incident, Italian prosecutors revealed they had opened an investigation into culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter, but added that no suspect has been identified. “We are only in the…

New HP Watermaker Unveiled at Cannes

HP Watermakers launched a new series of compact watermakers at the Cannes Yachting Festival. The HP SCA Double series ranges from 63 gallons per hour to 1,200 gph. “A great technical innovation, the new HP SCA Double series, which greatly reduces the size of the desalination units in the engine room and two important new entries in the “Together We Boat’ strategic alliance,” said Gianni Zucco, co-founder of HP Watermakers, in a statement. “These two strategic partners, Mapei Marine and Feit Pompe, will complete the range of our offer.” HP Watermakers says its RP Tronic system eliminates the need for…

BoatUS to Remove Derelict Boats

The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is seeking a panel of volunteers who will serve as peer reviewers to evaluate applications for Abandoned and Derelict Vessel removal grants between December 2024 and July 2025. The foundation has been awarded a four-year, $10 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program with funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up and improve safety along coastal areas by removing abandoned and damaged boats from the nation’s waterways including the Great Lakes. Reviewers will be part of the effort to improve the environment and…

The 2024 Camden Classic Yacht Regatta

You couldn’t ask for a better summer weekend to be on a sailboat on the Maine coast. Clear skies, temperatures in the 70s and enough breeze to move 88 sailboats around the marks in Maine’s Penobscot Bay. It was the eighth running of the Camden Classic. Friday, July 28, the first day of competition, started out calm as the fleet motored out of Camden Harbor to mill around the committee boat, waiting. By noon, the wind had filled in from the north, first at 10 knots and then up to 15 by mid-afternoon. Following a late start, more than a dozen…

Notable New Titles – Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost

Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost by Paul Hendrickson Penguin Random House $21 Paul Hendrickson is a craftsman of letters who knows his work the way a master shipwright knows the grain of wood he fashions into planks and spars. Hendrickson’s engrossing tale, as its title indicates, is about a boat, Hemingway’s boat, a fast, commodious, 38-foot cabin cruiser built by Wheeler Shipbuilding, Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1933 and used by the famous author as a platform for writing, drinking, womanizing and deep-sea trophy fishing in the Gulf Stream between Cuba and Florida. At the same time, Hemingway’s…

Key considerations when upgrading your onboard electronics

On a recent delivery from the Virgin Islands to Florida, I was once again enlightened on how important AIS and radar are for ship and storm avoidance. Yes, I have both on my 1984 Grand Soleil 39, Yahtzee, but the systems I was using on the delivery were newer and, in many of their functions, easier to use. When the delivery was successfully completed, I decided to look into what was currently on the market for those looking to upgrade their AIS, chartplotter and radar systems. There are more technology choices now than even a few years ago and, of…

Bessie: Our perfect loop boat

Agreed: there is no “perfect loop boat.” However, we purchased our 2004 Nordic Tug 32 in 2020 intending to cruise the Great American Loop. We wanted a comfortable, easily maintained (no external wood), economical vessel. This one ticked all our boxes and four years and more than 8,000 miles later, it continues to please us. The previous owners had maintained it in excellent condition, and all we did before departing Connecticut to Florida was change the oil and filters and install a larger anchor. We also renamed her after Jane’s great-grandmother. Routine maintenance and various additions since our purchase make…

Inspection of running rigging

Planning an offshore passage entails seemingly endless details, but on a sailing vessel, a vitally important component is the type of running rigging, both rope and wire, we install to keep our vessels under sail and on target for our next anchorage. Standing rigging, which is the wire structure holding up the mast(s) and perhaps a bowsprit and boomkin, are a different matter, requiring a separate set of installation and maintenance protocols, so we’ll set that aside for future discussion. Our running rigging, the rope and perhaps wire we use to control the sails, faces constant stretch and exposure to…