In this issue

Weather
Year in and year out, the number one subject for most voyagers is weather — getting valuable data and applying it to your local situation to take advantage of good wind and avoid storms. We’ll look at what new options are available in products and services for voyagers to handle this all-important task.

Stay Connected

Satellite phones have evolved a full ecosystem of gear and services

9 mins

Respecting Paradise

Thoughts on voyaging responsibly

6 mins

Yankee sails on

The steel ketch Yankee in the Connecticut River.

3 mins

TRANSPAC RACE PREP

How a group of determined mostly military veterans built a race team

7 mins

NOAA upgrades its global weather model

More data and a better global weather model should make for improved weather distributed to users, like this temperature gradient map.

3 mins

From North Sea fishing to Sea of Cortez voyaging

The former Dutch fishing vessel turned power voyaging yacht Varnebank in Mexican waters.

4 mins

Chatter Chartroom

IN 2019, MY HUSBAND, DOUG PASNIK, AND I RACED OUR first Transpac together with a team of 10 on our Andrews 70, Trader, comprised primarily of military veterans (see story on page 22). This year we are doing the race again and inviting four mentees from The Magenta Project to race with us.

7 mins

Doing it all with one screen

The steering station on this Gunboat cat is equipped with large-screen B&G Zeus MFDs.

8 mins

Don't scrimp when it comes to the crimp

Solid crimp connections make your power voyager’s electrical system more reliable.

5 mins

Chartroom Chatter

Maritime Publishing acquires Ocean Navigator

7 mins

The oral surgeon's masterpiece

Carastee was a L. Francis Herreshoff design similar to this Herreshoff ketch with its graceful sheer.

2 mins

Protecting your boat from overcharging

A properly set up system can prevent damage to electrical components possible with LiFePO4 batteries

8 mins

No. 18665 is the first to go

In the phase out of paper charts, the NOAA chart of Lake Tahoe will be the first to disappear.

3 mins

Two dismastings dodged

Mast and rigging problems bedevil a Pacific voyager in harbor and at sea

6 mins

Light in a pinch

In emergency lighting situations, more light is always better

10+ mins

Terra Nova and Scott of the Antarctic

The barque Terra Nova was specially reinforced for working in polar sea ice

2 mins

Snagged anchors and empty gas bottles

Mishaps on a mid-Med adventure

10+ mins

Reports of aggressive killer whales

Orcas have reportedly attacked sailboats recently off Spain and

3 mins

Prized pilothouse possessions

The pilothouse is the nerve center of a power voyagig vessel like this Selene 43 in the Bahamas.

5 mins

It's not easy being green

Dealing with the scourge of seasickness

6 mins

Fatal dive boat fire attributed to operator's oversight failures

The dive boat Conception on fire off Santa Cruz island in California.

3 mins

Drama in the Vendee Globe solo world race

Alex Thomson’s IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss at the start of the 2020 Vendee Globe Race.

2 mins

A circumnavigator's favorite ocean films

A still from the documentary Maiden, which tells the story of the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989-90.

5 mins

Upgrading batteries

Treating batteries as a system works best

10 mins

Jolie Brise rescues Adriana

Jolie Brise, which is roughly translated as “nice breeze,” is perhaps one of the most famous yachts of the 20th century; more than 100 years after her launch, the vessel is still plying the waters of the Atlantic.

2 mins

Tuna 101: A Primer for Voyaging Sailors

Catching, cleaning and eating tuna at sea

7 mins

Very Helpful Feature - VHF radio

With all of the savvy technology that exists on boats today, it is easy to overlook that the most reliable communication tool on your vessel is your VHF radio.

6 mins

Solo rower breaks ocean record

Power voyagers have engines, sailors have the wind and ocean rowers have … muscles.

1 min

Battery survey

We asked a group of voyagers about their vessel’s batteries and their future battery plans

10+ mins

Into the Denmark Strait

A bristlingly cold gale whipped across the silvery North Atlantic and up the narrow fjord.

10 mins

Read all stories from Ocean Navigator

Ocean Navigator Magazine Description:

Ocean Navigator magazine is for voyagers, both power and sail, who want to know more about their boats, their gear and the techniques to make them better voyagers. Whether you are crossing oceans or making coastwise passages, Ocean Navigator will help and inspire you.

Our editorial offices are located in Portland, Maine, but we cover voyaging topics for sailors and power voyagers from the Southern Ocean to the North Sea, from South Pacific atolls to rocky coasts and the Great Lakes.