18 May

Wave energy charts as voyage planning tools

Ocean NavigatorWeather
Pilot charts are key tools for anyone planning an offshore voyage. These charts have been developed through the analysis of weather data gathered over hundreds of years. They graphically present historical climatological data in a sensible and understandable fashion. For each of the world’s ocean basins, a series of 12 monthly charts displays information about winds, currents, wave heights, atmospheric pressure, ice sightings and more. The prudent mariner uses all means to plan a safe voyage and pilot charts provide one of these fundamental means. Recent work by a scientist in Canada has produced a thoroughly modern look at one…
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01 Jan

By the numbers

Ocean NavigatorGood Reads, Weather
Long before the advent of electronics and high tech wind measuring devices, a qualitative wind estimating method called the Beaufort Scale of Wind Forces was used. It was invented by an early English navigator by the name of Francis Beaufort (1774 to 1857) who wanted to correlate ships' log reports of wind speed with the ensuing action taken by the ships' skippers to set the proper amount of sail on the square riggers. Too little sail and the ship was not combat ready; too much sail and the ship risked having its sticks blown out. His scale ranged from 1…
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