Tim Queeney - Ocean Navigator

08 Aug

A racer’s thoughts on the 2022 PacCup

Tim QueeneyCrew's Picks, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyaging, Pacific Cup Race2022 PacCup

In our July August issue we ran a Boat Focus piece on the Hanse 342, Twelve-Winded Sky, owned by Mark Jordan, describing Jordan's and his and his doubled-handed racing partner Randy Leasure's efforts to get the boat ready for the 2022 Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Hawaii. Jordan and Leasure competed hard in the race and they finished with an elapsed time of 16 days 21 hours, 59 minutes and 13 seconds. Though Jordan and Leasure came in last of nine boats in the Kolea DH1 division, they enjoyed their first PacCup and sounds like Jordan will be…

27 Jul

Stroke survivor completes transatlantic crossing

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingdisabled voyagers, Nordhavn, ocean, power voyaging, transatlantic

Any transatlantic crossing is an achievement, no matter the vessel or the crew. For Nordhavn 40 owner Philippe Guglielmetti, however, his June/July 2022 crossing contained an impressive level of personal accomplishment. In 2015 Guglielmetti suffered a a pontine hemorrhagic stroke that left him in a wheelchair. Guglielmetti departed Miami aboard his Nordhavn 40, Embracing Life on May, 28 and arrived in Tarragona, Spain on July 12. The passage was completed in three legs: Miami to Bermuda, Bermuda to the Azores and Azores to Tarragona. Guglielmetti had other crew with him on the passage, the mix changing with each leg, but including Adelaide…

23 Jun

Nordhavn owner tests Starlink satellite system

Tim QueeneyVoyaging Tipscommunications, FCC, GEO, LEO, Nordhavn, Nordhavn 60, satcom, satellite communications, Starlink

For years we’ve seen satellite domes multiply on boats like so many plastic mushrooms. Now, a new player in the satellite market, Starlink, is making its way into the marine world. Even though Starlink is not officially for marine use, some enterprising boat owners have installed the system on their boats, with some undertaking informal testing of its effectiveness while underway. Among these is Alex Dickinson, the owner of the Nordhavn 60, Cherry, based in Dana Point, Calif. An electrical engineer by training, Dickinson has had two Starlink antennas installed on Cherry. They occupy mounts that once sported sat…

08 Jun

Autonomous Mayflower crosses Atlantic

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean VoyagingAI ship, autonomous ship, transatlantic

The original Mayflower brought a boatload of immigrants to America. Now a solar-powered trimaran named the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) — although it's a bit small for the designation "ship" — has crossed the Atlantic, helping to bring shipping into a new age of artificial intelligence (AI). With no crew aboard and navigating via AI alone, MAS finished a 2,700-mile (4,400km) passage from Plymouth, UK to Halifax in Nova Scotia on June 5. The 50-foot long MAS can make 10 knots and was controlled by AI developed by IBM. It uses six cameras and 50 sensors to obtain input from…

11 May

Newest GOES weather spacecraft

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingforecasts, GOES, marine weather, NOAA, weather, weather satellites

NOAA released a photo today from its latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), GOES-18. The image shows the Western Hemisphere from 22,236 miles out into space. GOES-18 was launched on March 1, 2022 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This latest version of the GOES line has an Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument that can see Earth using 16 different channels, each measuring energy at different wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum. This allows the satellite to gather data about Earth’s atmosphere, land, and ocean. This is good news for voyagers, as better imagery translates into better marine forecasts. From the press release: "GOES-18…

15 Apr

Rudder problems snag voyagers

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingemergency steering, ocean voyaging, offshore sailing, rudder failure, steering problems, USCG, USCG cutter, USCG Joseph Gerczak

One of the most difficult gear failures for a voyaging boat is rudder/steering problems. Losing the ability to steer makes getting to the next available port a priority. Jury-rigged steering approaches can work, but call for having the proper materials on board and result in greatly reduced performance and crew fatigue working an often unwieldy emergency steering system. These drawbacks of emergency steering make the case for rigorous maintenance and troubleshooting of your rudder/steering setup prior to departure on a passage. A recent incident off Hawaii brings home the importance of this issue. On April 14, 2022, the 154-foot Sentinel-class…

17 Mar

Puerto Vallarta Race – Roy P. Disney’s PYEWACKET 70 Sets New Record

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingocean racing, Puerto Vallarta Race, Pyewacket 70, Roy Disney

Posted March 15, 2022 As the competitors in the 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race continue south in what is being reported as “great sailing conditions,” it is worth taking a moment to look at how this game has played out in the past. To start, Rio100 owns the elapsed time record set in 2016 at 3 ds, 5 hrs, 42 min, 43 sec. Both Rio100 and Pyewacket 70 have been rolling through the fleet like they’re in a car chase. The trackers are currently projecting both of them to finish ahead of the record, with Pyewacket 70 edging out Rio100 by about an hour, and knocking a little more than 4 hours…

25 Feb

EPROPULSION HITS 200% SALES GROWTH IN 2021 AND PREDICTS 100% GROWTH IN 2022

Tim QueeneyIndustry & Company News

Somerset, N.J. – ePropulsion, a global leader and market challenger in marine electric propulsion systems and services, has announced record sales revenue growth in 2021 and forecasts a strong outlook for 2022. Sales revenue increased 200% year-over-year in 2021, with over 15,000 units sold across the globe. The company estimates a further 100% growth rate in 2022 as more boat owners look to switch to more sustainable boating and convert to electric propulsion systems as commercial use and OEM applications grows. Europe and North America continue to be the two largest growing markets for ePropulsion moving into 2022, with the United…

08 Feb

Voyaging puppies

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyaging, Web Exclusive

What if you were a liveaboard voyager and you not only brought a dog or two, but actually raised litters of pups on board and got them to families in the places you visited like the Philippines? Voyagers Luc and Jackie Callebaut have done that while living aboard their Norman Cross 46 trimaran Sloepmouche. Their two current Schipperke dogs are named Zonne and Zotke. These are the couple's two latest canine crew members, previous crew were dogs named Zoetje, Zenne, Zwetke. The Schipperke is a Belgian breed often found on canal boats. Not only have Luc and Jackie always had dogs aboard their…

31 Dec

Fall rallies recover from COVID slowdown

Tim QueeneyCruising Rallies

Rallies are a popular way for voyagers to cross oceans in the company of other boats. The transatlantic rally known as the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) (www.worldcruising.com) has been around for 35 years. In this year with the COVID pandemic still lingering, there seems to be pent-up demand and the ARC event has 150 entries and even spawned added interest in the ARC’s associated rally the ARC+. The ARC starts from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands and proceeds 2,700 miles through the northeast trades to finish at St. Lucia. The ARC+ also starts from the Canaries, goes to…