Bill Morris - Ocean Navigator

10 Sep

Masthead VHF antennas

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Marine Electronics Newsletter

In the age of cell phones, satellite phones and long-distance HAM/SSB radios, your marine VHF radio is still the most basic, foundational, go-to electronic communication device on your vessel. But a good, properly installed VHF is worth nothing unless it is properly grounded and connected to an external antenna, preferably at the masthead. With prices ranging from around $50 to roughly $500, depending on length, mounting system and type of vessel, the span of choices can at first be intimidating. Among most cruising boats ranging from, say, 30 to 45 feet LOA, the size of boat is irrelevant when it…

20 Aug

Pre-voyage inspection of windvane self-steering

While many of the latest generation of ocean cruisers enjoy the ease that comes with an electronic autopilot, many die-hard sailors still depend on a windvane self-steering system, which requires zero electrical power to steer their sailing vessels through all kinds of weather. If your vessel has a windvane system on its stern and you are planning an ocean crossing, following a few pre-voyage steps will help ensure dependable, accurate steering performancethroughout your next voyage. The obvious first step in regular maintenance of the self-steerer is inspecting the entire unit, looking especially for loose nuts and bolts and signs of…

08 Aug

Weather data for a safe passage

Bill MorrisNewsletter, Weather

While we are underway offshore, wondering what the clouds above have in store for us, it is comforting to know there are electronic resources available to help us make crucial decisions regarding changes in weather. NOAA National Weather Service forecasts are available online at https://www.weather.gov/marine/, so as long as we have Internet availability aboard, we have access to weather data, allowing us to plan our ocean crossings according to conditions most likely to be encountered along our route. Daily NOAA weather charts cover the central Pacific, eastern Pacific, Atlantic, Alaska Sea and Great Lakes regions. These charts offer details on…

23 Jul

Breaking in a New Mainsail

Bill MorrisNewsletter, Seamanship & Navigation Newsletter

A circumnavigation and dozens of coastal cruises gradually turned the new, 8-ounce Dacron polyster mainsail I purchased back in 2000 into a flimsy, dirty, patched, salt-encrusted quilt, finally forcing me to order a new mainsail from Rolly Tasker a few months ago. My 1966 Cal 30 sloop Saltaire would normally carry a 6-ounce mainsail for coastal sailing, but an offshore environment of strong winds, salt spray and long hours of exposure to the sun required a tough beast, strong and durable enough to sustain many more years of abuse. Using the old, 8-ounce cruising mainsail as a starting point, I…

09 Jul

Marine Stereo Systems

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Marine Electronics Newsletter, Newsletter

Cruising on our vessels along the coast or on the high seas is exciting, but sometimes we require a bit of entertainment to fill the hours between conversations with crew and other fellow cruisers in VHF and HF radio conversations. A remote-controlled stereo system with wireless speakers is an easy, affordable way to bring some extra cheer aboard while we count the nautical miles left to our next anchorage. Before you shop for a stereo system, keep in mind some stereos include speakers while others do not. If you already have dependable, waterproof speakers mounted out on deck, then all…

02 Apr

Cruising sabbatical becomes a new lifestyle

Bill MorrisBluewater Gear, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyager, Offshore Sailing

Corinne Gau-Tchekov and Michel Gau voyage aboard their Alliage 49 aluminum monohull, Ganesh. They left France in 2011 after Michel’s retirement and have been sailing around the world on a six-month-at-sea/six-month-on-land rhythm, leaving Ganesh in various boatyards along the way. Having crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, then cruised for six years in Southeast Asia, they are currently in Malaysia, almost ready to cross the Indian Ocean. Corinne and Michel have been married for 37 years, and they started sailing in 1987, just after the birth of their first daughter, Marina. In 1990, they took a sabbatical year on their…

26 Mar

Sailing from Panama to San Diego

Bill MorrisNewsletter, Seamanship & Navigation

Most Pacific sailors and published cruising guides will tell you there are two ways back to Southern California from Panama: a motor bash 3,400 miles along the coast of Central America and then up along Baja, or out to Hawaii, over the Pacific High to San Francisco, and then down the coast, rounding Point Conception (a.k.a. Little Cape Horn). But there is a third way back: a sail from Panama to California via Clipperton Island with very little motoring. Jimmy Cornell’s directions in World Cruising Routes take you directly from Panama out beyond Clipperton Island, and then north until arriving…

20 Mar

A family braves the elements together

Bill MorrisHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyager, Offshore Sailing, Voyaging Skills

Jon and Megan Schwartz, along with their sons, Ronan, 16, and Daxton, 14, have been cruising full time aboard their Boreal 47, Zephyros, an aluminum expedition monohull, since 2017. Since picking up the boat at the factory in northern France, they have sailed 40,000 NM together. Driven by a desire to explore the world and experience its disappearing wilds, they have often pursued places less traveled. They started in northern France, the UK, Atlantic Spain and Portugal before heading into the Mediterranean for a season. The Paxtons then crossed the Atlantic Ocean from late 2018 to early 2019. They were…

13 Mar

The Latest Tech in EPIRBs

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Marine Electronics Newsletter

What started out decades ago as a military tracking device has become standard equipment on offshore cruising vessels: Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs). Fortunately for today’s coastal and offshore cruisers, numerous manufacturers compete to give us the best EPIRB technology, battery life and ease of use. When we sailors go shopping for marine products, we have the advantage of choice and competitive pricing, and the same goes for EPIRBs. McMurdo, RescueME and ACR Electronics are among the leaders in both technology and competitive pricing. The McMurdo SmartFind G8 Automatic EPIRB is a revolutionary device, the first to combine both…