Newsletter - Ocean Navigator

09 Feb

Using satellite images

Ocean NavigatorNewsletter, Weather

Satellite imagery provides a great deal of information on past, present, and future weather. Each cloud swirl, streak, and puff can be associated with a particular weather system or phenomenon. And when images are viewed by a trained voyager with a good understanding of weather dynamics, routing and course decisions can be made with confidence. The most important weather element that satellite imagery provides to the voyager is cloud data. Analysis of cloud altitude, shape, and movement goes a long way toward painting what the associated air mass is doing. Clouds are categorized by both their height and shape, with…

12 Jan

Marine Electronics, December 2022

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Newsletter

With all the advertising and dockside chatter surrounding satellite cell phones and the cost of monthly plans, it is comforting to know there are still active marine SSB nets for cruisers all around the globe. As a matter of fact, SSB transceivers, along with ham radios, are still the norm among offshore cruisers. However, because we offshore sailing folk do not (but should) comprise the huge customer base it takes to shape economies of scale, we are relegated to limited sources for some of our specialized electronics, particularly single-sideband AM radios. Which explains why three manufacturers — ICOM, Furuno and…

12 Jan

Marine Electronics, January 2022

Bill MorrisMarine Electronics, Newsletter

With all the advertising and dockside chatter surrounding satellite cell phones and the cost of monthly plans, it is comforting to know there are still active marine SSB nets for cruisers all around the globe. As a matter of fact, SSB transceivers, along with ham radios, are still the norm among offshore cruisers. However, because we offshore sailing folk do not (but should) comprise the huge customer base it takes to shape economies of scale, we are relegated to limited sources for some of our specialized electronics, particularly single-sideband AM radios. Which explains why three manufacturers — ICOM, Furuno and…

30 Dec

Voyaging Tips, December 2021

Robert MacFarlaneNewsletter, Voyaging Tips, Voyaging Tips Newsletter

Catching dinner from a sailboat on passage is completely unlike sport fishing from a stationary boat. The goal is to get a fish on board for the grill and dinner. On passage the sails are up and you're making the best possible speed, so stopping the boat to fight a fish is not much of an option. A rod and reel is one solution, though you're working with lightweight line, a rod that can break, and if the fish is large enough you'll have difficulty boating it without a net or gaff. Alternatively, a simple, strong, inexpensive handline pays big…

30 Nov

Seamanship & Navigation, November 2021

Ocean NavigatorNewsletter, Seamanship & Navigation

Stories of repairs at sea always make for fascinating reading. Not the fairly routine substitution of a spare part but rather a failure so horrendous that great ingenuity was called for to get the ship to port. You can learn a lot from these episodes; many yachts have made it safely back to land with jury-rigged masts, usually broken offshore in heavy weather. Miles and Beryl Smeeton lost their masts twice during an attempt to round Cape Horn from the Pacific in a 46-ft ketch, Tzu Hang. They made it back to Chile both times to effect repairs. The first…

13 Oct

Weather, October 2021

Ken McKinleyNewsletter, Weather

Sometimes we just need to laugh. Dealing with the global pandemic over the past year and a half has been tough on all of us. On top of this, the past two Atlantic hurricane seasons (this one is not quite over yet) have been extremely active and have resulted in significant property damage and destruction that has seriously impacted the lives of many people. Unfortunately, there have also been many injuries and fatalities associated with sone of these storms. The forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center have done a great job providing timely and accurate forecast information for the…

01 Sep

Voyaging Tips, August 2021

Ocean NavigatorNewsletter, Voyaging Tips, Voyaging Tips Newsletter

Good skippers don’t experiment with long-standing shipboard routines. They know how to delegate important duties to qualified people and then let them do their jobs without micromanaging them. Choose one cook to be in charge and one assistant cook to occasionally help out. Don’t make the cook stand watches and swab the decks too. Meals take time to prepare, cook, serve, and clean up. Multiply that by three meals per day, and that’s enough work right there for anyone. Don’t forget to give your cook some days off by using that assistant cook as an occasional relief. No one wants…

19 Aug

Ken McKinleyNewsletter, Weather

We are now well into the 2021 hurricane season and are watching the evolution of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the past I have used these newsletters to present some information about particularly memorable hurricanes, but this time let’s take a look at a system that, while impactful for some, has not been a historic system by any measure. This system was very slow to develop despite traveling over some rather warm ocean waters at times during the first part of its history. I will examine this system through a series of satellite images with comments…

29 Jul

Harry HungateNewsletter, Seamanship & Navigation

Being seen is critical to being rescued. Even if you are equipped with a modern EPIRB that can get rescuers very close to your position, the rescuers still must see you to pick you up. This can be challenging when weather conditions are extreme, it’s nighttime, or if a rescue aircraft or ship has limited on-scene loiter time. A person overboard faces a rescue dilemma similar to that of a crew of a sinking boat, even if it occurs from a slow-moving vessel. At six knots a boat covers 200 yards, or 600 feet, every minute. If it takes a…

14 Jul

Ocean NavigatorMarine Technology, Newsletter

The possibility of someone stealing our floating palace or some high-end piece of onboard electronic equipment is a frightening thought. Fortunately, there are efficient, affordable digital tracking devices available to assuage our fears and keep our thoughts focused on our cruising aspirations. The SPOT Trace Theft-Alert Tracking Device offers a broad set of features to keep you in touch with its location at all times via your cellular device or home computer. What’s more, it is the only, or one of the only, tracking devices offering coverage in virtually all of North America, Mexico, Europe and Australia, plus limited coverage…