Editorial note: Hi readers. Most of the time the team behind the scenes don’t comment on Randall’s posts. However home for us, and Randall when he returns, is very close to Gilroy, California. You may have read the news of the tragic shooting at their annual festival this past weekend. We knew this post was due to go live today and Randall and I had a long discussion on if we should post this update at all. But we decided that we’ve shared all the other preparations and you readers should know.
For everyone involved in this project, gun ownership ...
“Traditional depth sounders” by Bill Morris at Ocean Navigator
I enjoyed this Bill Morris article at OceanNavigator.com even though he pokes fun at skippers like me. For one thing, he does it gently and well, as in this smoothly written second paragraph:
However, sailors who depend on paper charts and minimal electronics — VHF radio, hand-held GPS and a stand-alone depth sounder — are still making successful ocean passages, blissfully innocent of the compulsion, or ability, to spend big bucks on more elaborate systems.
I also agree with Bill that a dedicated depth display is a key navigation tool, ...
First some deep background: the term “death cruise” was coined during the 1980s to describe a series of outings under sail enjoyed by the editorial staff of Offshore, a now defunct New England boating magazine. Said staff at the time consisted of three people: myself (managing editor), Michael Csenger (assistant editor), and Marc Thibodeau (proofreader). The first cruise was actually a delivery, undertaken for an advertiser, and involved a very unreliable engine (dirty fuel, mostly), hence the dark moniker. The last took place in May 1990. I remember I blew off my law school graduation to attend. (Obviously, by ...
It feels like a place perched at the edge of the earth. Here snow-capped mountains rise right from the water’s edge and granitic rock lines the port. Small fishing boats come and go as long as there is light–and at this time of year, there is always light–while the load of ship-sized trawlers is craned into the humming fish plant. From Mo’s cockpit, I am overwhelmed by the smells of fish and the tar used to keep the antique fleet afloat, all of which are suggestive of a frontier town.
Siren Marine, Boat Command, Nautic-On and BoatFix’s apps
If you’ve been reading Panbo, boating magazines, or spent any time at a boat show you’ve likely seen boat monitors, connected boat products and smart boat products. But, you may well not know what these things are or how they’re different from each other. Hopefully, I can help shed some clarity on this latest collection of buzzwords.
Many people get into boating as a way of relaxing, but, as most boaters find out sooner-or-later, when things break on your boat it can be anything but relaxing. Nothing will ruin a weekend faster ...
A cruise down the ICW is relatively easy to navigate. There are some sections which have historically been shallow and prone to shifting with constantly changing channels. This list covers many of the known problem stretches. With up to date Navionics charts and with Aqua Map Master cruisers have available better charts and better information than ever before. The following list covers includes some recently dredged areas which are already shoaling in. You can take time to mark your charts now so that you will have advanced notice of these areas when you plot your daily route this fall. If ...
Noon Position: 64 10N 51 44W (Nuuk, final approach)
Course(t)/Speed(kts): N 6
Wind(t/tws): N 15
Miles since departure: 32,845
Leg Newfoundland to NuukDay: 7
Miles: 1026
My timing wasn’t perfect.
By 11pm, we were just a few miles off shore, and while there was light enough to see, and would be the night through, the fog continued thick. My intended route into Nuuk, the Narssaq Lob, had two passes that appeared tight. I was tired. At ten miles out, I switched off the engine and hit the bunk. Mo drifted in undifferentiated gray.
Well, dang, I was steeled up to write an unusually negative entry about the AIS feature that Navionics recently added to its Boating app, but then I learned that they’re already planning virtually all the improvements that I intended to vigorously champion. So, if you too are having trouble making the WiFi connection work — or if you too are disappointed with the resulting target display — don’t worry; apparently, we just have to wait for future versions.
In the meantime, however, let’s discuss how boat data over WiFi can and should work, and ...
Briefly today the sun came out and warmed my back as I stood in the cockpit admiring my domain, which was otherwise gray and flat as a pancake. Fulmars bombed around the boat in threes and fives; occasionally a skua passed by at mast top; once we cut through a school of dolphins spread out over a quarter mile. Otherwise it’s been nothing but slate gray sky and a gray mirror for water.
At noon I pointed Mo NE toward Nuuk. We’ve climbed as much as ...
I’m just back from a cruise down the coast (of which more later) and during said cruise received the very sad news that yet another old sailing friend has passed on. I first met Mac when he was living with Nim Marsh in Middletown, Rhode Island, back in 1993. He was lying low back in those days, tinkering with a brilliant invention for removing grease from homemade soup as you cooked it. This being one of many hats he wore through a varied life. Others included yacht designer, boatwright, magazine editor, writer, and probably a few others I never knew ...
