Ocean Navigator - November/December 2023

Helicopter rescue in Ocean Globe Race

The 53-foot French yacht Triana, one of the 14 official entrants in the Ocean Globe Race 2023, was involved in an dramatic long range helicopter evacuation of a injured crewmember off the island of Maderia on September 19. The injury occurred at 1300 UTC, September 17 when crew member Stéphane Raguenes slipped on deck in heavy weather causing a severe laceration on the back of his leg behind the knee. Raguenes was taken below for immediate first aid to stop the blood flow. He was sedated and given morphine under supervision by MSOS 24hr Telemedicine organization. Triana’s captain, Jean d’Arthuys, contacted Ocean…

Two-time circumnavigator passes

One of Ocean Navigator’s longtime contributing editors, the extraordinarily experienced and thoroughly charming ocean sailor Eric Forsyth, died on August 22, at his home on Long Island, NY. He was 91 years old. A regular contributor to ON for many years, Forsyth wrote stories of his exploits sailing his Westsail 42, Fiona. Following his retirement from Brookhaven National Labs in 1995, Forsyth became a nearly full-time ocean voyager. Born in Bolton, England, in 1932, Forsyth became an RAF pilot and flew early jet fighters. He later emigrated to Canada with his fiancé Edith, an M.D. He earned a BS in…

Bill Pinkey: first to solo circumnavigate

Bill Pinkney solo circumnavigated the world via the three great capes in 1992. He wasn’t the fastest, and he didn’t do it non-stop, but Pinkney, who died in August, will be remembered as the first Black man to complete what is one of the most celebrated sailing feats. “I’d been dreaming about an adventure,” he said in an interview with The History Makers (thehistorymakers.org) and he chose sailing because that was his greatest love. His original plan was to upgrade slightly from the 28-foot Pearson Triton he kept on Lake Michigan, but after Sir Robin Knox-Johnston recommended that “I should…

ON photo contest sponsored by ICOM

Don’t forget the Ocean Navigator photo con- test sponsored by ICOM. The ON Photo Contest will be awarding an ICOM handheld radio to each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. We will announce the winners in the Jan/Feb ’24 issue. Send your photo (high res and one entry only please) and a brief description to tim@maritimepublishing.com. To be considered for the photo contest your email must have the subject line “ON photo contest.” Send us your best photo today!

Wavewalker: Breaking Free

Wavewalker: Breaking Free By Suzanne Heywood William Collins-399 pages-List $28.99 Suzanne Heywood tells an engrossing tale, yet only in part about the sea and seafaring. Wavewalker is a narrative of family dysfunction. As a seven-year-old, the author, her younger brother, her adventurous father and chronically seasick mother, along with two crew, put to sea on a passage ostensibly intended to replicate Captain Cook’s epic third voyage, of 1776-79. Though no relation, Heywood’s father — a British amateur sailor called Gordon Cook — was an ardent student of his namesake’s maritime legacy. Thus he decided to purchase a 70-foot wooden schooner,…

Quantum sensor to pin down the wandering needle

The Earth’s magnetic field is an unquiet beast. Not only does it refuse to line up with the globe’s geographic pole, it changes its relationship to it, as evidenced by the yearly movement of the magnetic pole, which now is sliding across the Arctic Ocean toward Siberia. While magnetic compass-based navigation is less important than in the past, there are many devices, from autopilot units to GPS antennas to smart phones to aircraft and satellites that have magnetic sensors for determining direction and attitude control. An effort by U.S. and British government called the MagQuest Challenge seeks to improve geomagnetic…

Built for long range

When voyager Michael Harrington was looking for a new power voyaging boat, he had a simple requirement: it had to have long range — really long range. “I’m a former sailing guy,” Harrington, a publishing business owner, said. “I wanted to do solo stuff and wanted to go long distances.” Harrington had in mind a crossing of the Atlantic via the middle route. Another item on Harrington’s checklist was an aluminum boat. “I wanted something sturdy and resilient, that doesn’t need maintenance.” His search led him to some smaller boatbuilders in Australia and the Netherlands. Ultimately he chose Deepwater Yachts…

Land versus water

If you own a power voyaging boat, you know that one of the hardest things to do is finding somewhere to keep it. If you’ve just bought a boat, or are thinking of buying one, you also know that finding a slip is ridiculously difficult. And if/when you do, be prepared to pay at least $25 per foot per month and probably more. Much more. I was recently quoted $1,900 a month for my 57-foot boat. I’ve been on the wait list at six different marinas for more than five years…and I’m still waiting. They all have the audacity to…

A changing live-aboard world

I’ve come to the conclusion that living a shipboard or cruising lifestyle has changed dramatically in the last five years. Some of the changes can be attributed to that small issue of a pandemic that you might remember from a couple of years ago. I believe that the other major change has come with lightning fast internet available anywhere in the world or in the middle of the ocean, thanks to Starlink! During the weirdness of the pandemic, we became resourceful in order to work from home, we realized that the internet was a great tool that allowed us to…

How robust is your rope?

Having taken us two and a half years to build, we had just launched our 36-foot carvel-planked cutter when the bad news hit: a hurricane had formed and was quickly heading our way, targeting the area where our boat was berthed. Since the marina would have little to no protection from the wind and storm surge, we had to get this engineless boat up river, anchor, and then, with no ands, ifs or buts about it, stay put. We had already purchased our storm anchor, a 70-pound Luke (fisherman-style) anchor, and our main bower, a 50-pound SuperMax anchor, as well…