Ocean Navigator - Ocean Navigator

21 Jan

Hands-On Training

Eric ColbyNavigation, Newsletter, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Safety, Offshore Sailing, Seamanship & Navigation, Voyaging Skills, Voyaging Skills, Voyaging Tips

Most teachers or people in a training/instructing position will tell you that one of the best ways to learn something is by doing it. But even instructors start somewhere. Marc Hughston founded Santana Sailing in 2003 in Long Beach, Calif., but he took his first sailing lesson at the age of 14 and has been on the water for most of his life. He is a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Master and an American National Standards Instructor/Assessor as well as a Mediterranean Sailing License and Credentials Instructor/Assessor. In 2007, he was working as an instructor and had a crew…

08 Jan

Cruising Club of America Awards Highest Honor

Eric ColbyNavigation, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Seamanship & Navigation, Voyaging Skills

The Cruising Club of America has named Leiv Poncet of the Falkland Islands, the recipient of the 2024 Blue Water Medal. This accolade was established to honor exceptional seamanship and adventure by amateur sailors. It recognizes Poncet for his many high-latitude voyages around the world that were taken without fanfare. First granted 101 years ago, the Blue Water Medal is the CCA’s highest honor. Poncet follows in the footsteps of legendary sailors including Bernard Moitessier, Eric and Susan Hiscock, Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson and Jean-Luc Van Den Heede. Poncet is the first to follow in the footsteps of his…

13 Dec

Cornell Announces High Latitude Challenge

Eric ColbyNavigation, Ocean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Seamanship & Navigation, Voyaging Skills, Voyaging Skills, Voyaging Tips

Offshore sailing legend Jimmy Cornell has announced a sailing flotilla around the American continents including voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic. It starts in 2026 and registration is open. Cornell founded the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers nearly 40 years ago and followed that up with other flotillas around the world. Greenland, the Northwest Passage, the North and South Pacific, Cape Horn and the Antarctic peninsula are all planned to be part of the High Latitude Challenge. “In recent years, high-latitude voyages have become increasingly popular with sailors interested in more remote destinations,” Cornell Sailing said in a press release. “The…

19 Nov

Imray to Phase out Chart Publishing

Eric ColbyElectronic charting, Navigation, Ocean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Seamanship & Navigation

On November 18, longtime British navigation chart publisher Imray announced that it is starting a gradual shutdown of chart publishing operations. The company said the decision reflects the growing shift toward digital nautical navigation. Imray will continue to serve the maritime community with pilot books, cruising guides and the “Explore with Imray” digital product. Chart production and support, including Imray Notices to Mariners, will continue through the 2025 season. Beyond that, new editions will cease. Imray says the lead time will provide an opportunity for captains to acquire paper charts while they are still available. The company is one of…

18 Nov

AEON School Named Official US Sailing Educator

Eric ColbyOffshore Sailing, Racing News, Sailboat Racing, Uncategorized, Voyaging Skills

US Sailing has named the AEON School its official school. The partnership will provide young sailors with an opportunity to pursue an academic education and follow their passion for the water. AEON School offers a digital learning platform designed to meet the needs of student-athletes, helping them balance schedules between sailing and an education. “AEON and US Sailing are committed to fostering the next generation of leaders, both on the water and in the classroom,” Eric Krasnoo, SVP of membership, partnerships and marketing at US Sailing, said in a statement. “This partnership ensures that sailors can continue that sailors can…

15 Nov

Vendée Globe Sailor Breaks Record

Eric ColbyOcean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Voyaging Skills

Nicolas Lunven, a French solo captain of the vessel Holcim-PRB, has had quite a start to his first Vendée Globe single-handed sailboat race. Between the second and third days of the solo race around the world, he set a new 24-hour distance record. According to the Vendée Globe website, Lunven chose a more westerly route than the rest of the fleet and benefitted from a stronger wind and a direct course. He covered 546.60 nautical miles in 24 hours, confirming the capability of Holcim-PRB. The boat holds the crewed 24-hour distance record of 640.48 miles on the fifth leg…

23 Oct

Preparing for Cold Weather Sailing

Eric ColbyNewsletter, Voyaging Skills, Voyaging Tips, Voyaging Tips Newsletter

As the temperatures drop, fair-weather boaters break out the shrinkwrap and put their vessels to sleep for the winter. The heartier among us know that there’s still some great sailing and boating to do, provided one prepares for the elements. Late October and early November are prime times for checking out the leaves on the Atlantic coasts of the U.S. and Canada and on the Great Lakes. The waters are also much less crowded than during a busy summer season. We checked in with Capt. Dasiel Molina of the South Portland Sailing Center in Maine and he gave us guidelines…

18 Oct

Vendée Globe Competitors to Deploy Scientific Testing Equipment

Eric ColbyOcean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Weather

Twenty-five sailors competing in the Vendée Globe 2024, the biggest solo around-the-world race, will be launching oceanographic research and weather forecasting equipment during the voyage. The equipment is provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, who will train the captains in the use of the instruments. Once deployed, the equipment will collect and distribute data to scientists in real time looking to expand global knowledge of climate and the ocean. The goal is to improve operational weather forecasting services in less-frequented areas of the globe like the Big South, a remote section of the Southern Ocean. The…

10 Oct

How to Weave a Barometer into Navigation

David BurchNavigation, Ocean Voyaging, Voyaging Skills, Weather

Even in the age of high-speed internet at sea, remarkable weather model forecasts, and satellite wind measurements, our knowledge of the correct atmospheric pressure, and how it changes with time, remains the key to safe, efficient routing decisions. Pressure data are also the most direct means of evaluating the model forecasts that we ultimately rely on for routing. Productive barometer use in navigation is a relatively new concept — it was actually used more effectively in the 1700s than in the 1900s. The Barometer Handbook explains its interesting history and its role in marine navigation. The major change came when accurate, affordable…

10 Oct

Real-Time Ocean Data Enhances Hurricane Forecasting Accuracy

Eric ColbyOcean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Seamanship & Navigation

Sofar Ocean, a maker of ocean-data capturing sensors, has partnered with the National Mesonet Program, KBR and Synoptic Data PBC to supply real-time ocean sensor data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center. The collaboration provides the NHC with ocean temperatures and atmospheric data, improving early warning systems for extreme weather events. Sofar’s spotter buoys are deployed around the world and deliver data on wave activity, wind sea surface temperature and atmospheric pressure. The buoys are airdropped into the paths of hurricanes 24 to 48 hours before they make landfall, giving forecasters more insight into the conditions…