Home Page Hero - Ocean Navigator

17 Feb

ON contributing editor wins writing award

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean VoyagingAnn Hoffner, Boating Lifestyles Award, Boating Writers International, cruising, Sabre 30

Ocean Navigator contributing editor Ann Hoffner has won an award from Boating Writers International at the group's annual conclave at the Miami International Boat Show. Hoffner's piece, "Big Mama the Cruising Spider," which ran in the September/October 2022 issue, won first prize in the Boating Lifestyles category. The article chronicles a boating season aboard Hoffner and husband and photographer Tom Bailey's Sabre 30 Ora Kali as a spider made a series of webs in the corner of the Bimini as the couple cruise through the summer and into the fall. As BWI writing awards judge Kevin Flakey said, "'Big Mama the Cruising…

12 Jan

Rescue recognized with Rob Stephens Seamanship Trophy

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean VoyagingCruising Club of America, Golden Globe Race, ocean, offshore rescue, Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy

The Cruising Club of America (CCA) recently awarded its 2022 Rob Stephens Seamanship Trophy to Golden Globe Race sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer, of South Africa. Neuschäfer was recognized for her at-sea rescue of fellow Golden Globe racer Tapio Lehtinen, whose boat Asteria sank on Nov. 18, 2022 while he was 460 miles southeast of South Africa's Port Elizabeth (which happens to be Neuschäfer's home town!). Neuschäfer rescued Lehtinen and brought him aboard her 36-footer Minnehaha. Here is the CCA website post on the award from CCA communications director John Burnham : The Cruising Club of America (CCA) annually awards the Rod Stephens…

19 Dec

Coast Guard rescues three, 96 miles off Florida

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingcoast guard, offshore rescue, USCG

The Coast Guard rescued three people, Sunday, after their 25-foot sailboat became disabled 96 miles offshore of Anclote Island, Florida. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center received a channel 16 distress alert via VHF-FM radio from the vessel’s owner who reported the need for assistance. The vessel had become disabled and with worsening weather conditions, a passenger was requesting rescue for herself and her 12-year-old and 3-year-old children. A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew hoisted the woman and two children without medical concerns and returned them to the air station where family greeted them. "This…

02 Dec

Rescue off Hatteras

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingoffshore, offshore emergency, rescue, sat phone, USCG

The Coast Guard rescued three adults and a 15-year-old from a sinking sailing vessel Thursday approximately 98 miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The 41-foot sailboat Rojodan crew contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina at approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday, stating that they had lost the use of both their engines and jib. The Coast Guard was unable to tow the vessel because of the distance from shore and weather conditions with wind gusts up to 40 knots and sea swells up to 8 feet. A Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded and hoisted the four…

14 Nov

Boating Writers International Scholarship

Ocean NavigatorHome Page Hero, Industry & Company NewsBoating Writers International, boating writing, BWI, scholarship

Would you or someone you know enjoy pursuing a career in boating media? The BWI Active Interest Media Boating Journalist Scholarship was created to honor undergraduate college students who demonstrate a passion for the field of boating media and have a clear career goal to pursue in this field. Applications for this year may be downloaded from the Boating Writers website and will be accepted through January 17, 2023 If you know a deserving college/student who would like to pursue a career in boating journalism, photography, video, broadcasting, film, or art, please encourage them to apply. Judges will look for applicants with talent, promise and firsthand…

26 Oct

Classic ketch goes electric

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean VoyagingAbeking & Rasmussen, electric propulsion, hydrogenerator, lithium-ion batteries, renewable energy, solar panels, steel ketch, Torqeedo

Sometimes a classic yacht is updated to current technology while still retaining its timeless good looks. The ketch Talisman, is a good example of that approach. The 75-foot yacht was built by Abeking & Rasmussen at its yard in Lemwerder, Germany in 1920 — reportedly the first steel-hulled yacht built by the yard. After an eventful life, which included lightning strikes and also a damaging fire, Talisman fell on hard times. In 2019 Talisman's new owner brought the boat to HCC Badeverft in Denmark for a complete refit that would include converting it to electric propulsion using a Torqueedo system. From Torqeedo's…

13 Oct

The Ocean Race launches Generation Ocean

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingbiodiversity, ocean ecology, ocean racing, ocean sailing, The Ocean Race

The Ocean Race, a team-based, around-the-world race that begins January 15, 2023 in Alicante, Spain and ends six stops later in Genoa, Italy in July, has announced Generation Ocean, an educational program for students to teach about the world’s oceans, their biodiversity and threats to their health. From the press release: “The Ocean Race is launching Generation Ocean, Join the race to protect our incredible blue planet, a new secondary school learning program. The engaging materials equip teachers and parents with all they need to help learners understand the crucial role the ocean plays in sustaining life on Earth, the threats that are…

29 Sep

Voyaging is fixing things

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyaging

Liveaboard voyagers usually like to point out that one of the constant aspects of voyaging is fixing things that break, and that things break all the time. Here is a video from Rebecca Childress aboard her boat Brick House that demonstrates the point. Rebecca and her sailing partner Michael Hayward work on rebuilding their wind generator, which stopped turning and required some major repair. https://youtu.be/UAkoKvG8wbI

24 Aug

SSCA shares unique cruising videos

Tim QueeneyHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingcircumnavigation, Seven Seas Cruising Association, SSCA, voyager video

To commemorate the Seven Seas Cruising Association 70th Anniversary, each month, SSCA is making complementary (public) one of our popular interviews in the SSCA's Circumnavigators and Easier & Safer Cruising Summits! Watch & share. In this interview, we speak with two celebrity members Bruce and Joan Kessler, who were one of the first, if not the first, to circumnavigate in a personal cruising motor vessel, Zopilote, on a 3 year voyage ending in 1993. Bruce is a former Formula 1 race car driver, TV and Movie Director, and Deep Sea Fishing boat Captain, and Joan, better known as Joan Freeman…

16 Aug

Starlink opens to recreational vessels

Ann HoffnerHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyagingcommunications, ocean voyaging, satcom, Starlink, voyaging communications

In late June the FCC authorized SpaceX to offers its Starlink satellite internet network for moving vehicles. Starlink, which aims to sell internet connections to almost anyone on the planet however remote their location, has been providing inexpensive service for rural land-based communities since 2019, but this gives the go-ahead to serve RVs, ships, airplanes, and boats. Earlier in the spring I wrote an article for this magazine on communications for high seas boaters, including options for accessing the internet. Satellites were and still are the ticket; what has changed in a few short months is that this veritable giant…