Bill Morris - Ocean Navigator

12 Jun

Stay Safe with a Depth Sounder

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newsletter

A critically important piece of equipment for all vessels, both coastal and offshore is a depth sounder. On many boats, standing watch today means shifting effortlessly through full-color screens showing GPS mapping, depth sounder/fish finder, anemometer, radar and other features through an NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000 or open source network. However, sailors who depend on paper charts and minimal electronics—VHF radio, handheld GPS and a stand-alone depth sounder—are still making successful ocean passages, blissfully innocent of the compulsion, or ability, to spend a fortune on more elaborate systems. Just to refresh our memories, a traditional depth sounder consists of a…

22 Apr

Handheld VHF for the Life Raft

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Newsletter, Voyaging Tips Newsletter

Probably the worst fear you can face as an offshore sailor is losing your vessel at sea. And while we definitely want to make sure we have a vessel-mounted and personal EPIRB ready to send out a distress signal immediately, we also need some means of communicating with rescue operations should this unthinkable horror ever come to pass. Packing a survival VHF radio in your ditch bag is the best guarantee you will have voice communication with nearby ships. However, the ideal choice for this radio should include the ability to summon help beyond the typical eight-mile range of a…

23 Jan

Windvane self-steering maintenance

Bill MorrisSeamanship & NavigationSeamanship

by Bill Morris No matter how hard the wind blows, a windvane self-steering system is your vessel’s round-the-clock helmsman. So it makes good sense to maintain the vane gear in top condition at all times. Performing the following procedures will keep your windvane steering system functioning properly with fewer hassles and will aid you in making major repairs in the unlikely event that something goes awry while under sail. Inspection Your predeparture checklist starts with checking all fasteners, which should be snug, particularly at the mounting brackets. Large rings of brown rust around bolt heads or nuts indicate a loose…

12 Jan

Streamline your electrical system with a new panel

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Marine Electronics Newsletter

by Bill Morris As a vessel and its crew evolve together, new electrical systems replace the old, and often new switches are added on separate mounts in odd places throughout the cabin and pilothouse, creating a confusing and potentially hazardous living space. Installing one or more new electrical panels, including a few extra switches for future equipment add-ons, will alleviate the headache and cluttered appearance of a cabin full of multicolored lights glowing like a Christmas tree. With the multitude of manufacturers and panel styles, both AC and DC, available on the market, you should have no trouble picking out…

15 Nov

Electronic wind indicators

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newslettermarine

by Bill Morris Whether you are racing or cruising, knowing your precise wind speed and direction while underway contributes greatly to sailing strategy as you count down the miles remaining to your destination. But before you run to your local chandlery to select a digital or analog wind sensor and display, consider the wide array of options in these systems and find the package best suited to your needs. Some wind indicators are available as stand-alone units while others are included as part of a larger kit, which may include a thru-hull depth finder with transducer and a GPS receiver…

13 Sep

Stay on course with electronic charts

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newslettermarine electronics, marine gear, multifunction display, navigation, voyaging

by Bill Morris Staying on course under sail, particularly within 100 miles of any coast, is a lot easier with a modern, GPS-controlled chartplotter. With the latest generation of chartplotters, you can navigate to virtually any point on the world’s oceans while staying on course and out of harm’s way. To start off, there are two types of digital charts: raster and vector. Raster charts are digitalized copies of paper charts, such as those published by NOAA and the British Admiralty. On the other hand, vector charts are purely digital, capable of changing the amount of chart detail depending on…

11 Jul

SSB whip antennas

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newslettercommunications, HF antenna, HF SSB, HF whip antennas, marine ba, radio communications, SSB, Whip antennas

by Bill Morris If you have chosen to install a single-sideband (SSB) transceiver with an automatic tuner on your vessel, you will also need to install an antenna system capable of transmitting and receiving from 0.5 to 30 MHz, come rain or shine anywhere on the world’s oceans. On sailing vessels less than roughly 50 feet LOA, the common practice is to install a backstay antenna. This requires removing the backstay, cutting out a long piece of the wire and reinstalling it with insulators to ensure transmitted power is kept safely above the heads and hands of crew. Another approach…

10 May

Dependable multimeters

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newsletterbatteries, battery voltage, electrical testing, marine electronics, multimeter

by Bill Morris Arriving at our next port successfully depends, in great measure, on properly functioning electronic navigation and communication systems. And maintaining those systems in tip-top condition requires dependable test equipment, most notably a high-quality multimeter. Surprisingly, many cruising vessels carry no more than a current tester consisting of two wires and a sealed lightbulb to demonstrate the presence of current — how much is anyone’s guess. Some skippers rely on a small, inexpensive battery tester with color bands: green for good, yellow for so-so and red for replace. Properly prepared skippers, on the other hand, equip their vessels…

13 Mar

VHF antenna mounts

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics Newslettermarine, VHF, VHF antenna

by Bill Morris While we are perusing the various types and brands of radios for our boat’s nav station, we should give ample attention not only to what type of VHF antenna we intend to install, but the mounting system for that antenna as well. Holding the antenna securely to the deck, mast or aft pulpit plays a critical role in getting our signal out efficiently and safely, especially in an emergency. To be sure, if you are crossing oceans, you will undoubtedly carry, at the very least, an antenna for your marine SSB or ham radio station, but we’ll…

11 Jan

Marine multi-band Ham radios

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics NewsletterHam radio, HF SSB, radio communications

by Bill Morris With the growing array of communication options for offshore sailors, it is easy to be dazzled by the growing availability of satellite phones and even digital television. In reality, though, hardcore voyaging sailors by and large depend on the flexibility and independence afforded by amateur, or “ham,” radio, which allows you to speak with other radio operators on both land and sea anywhere in the world with no monthly or per-minute charge to worry about. As long as you have the requisite FCC license, at least General Class, you can rag-chew to your heart’s content from any…