In this issue

In this issue's special section on Voyaging Boats we look at offshore vessel design. There are many options and choices — monohull, multihull, light displacement, heavy displacement, etc — and most voyagers have an opinion about what works best. In the first story on voyaging boats we'll hear from a selection of live aboard voyagers about why they chose the type of vessel they sail. Our second story is a testament from a circumnavigator on why a pilothouse-equipped sailboat was the best choice for him on his voyage around the world. In our power voyaging column trawler expert Jeff Merrill writes about how to teach your boat to talk to you – how to do vessel monitoring when you are away from the vessel. In our Ocean Voyaging section we have a story on the worst breakdowns - In the second part of a series on the biggest challenges a voyaging couple faced in their 50,000 miles, Ellen Massey Leonard describes two of the worst breakdowns they suffered she and her husband experienced on their voyages. A broken transmission between Australia and the Keeling Island in the Indian Ocean and an engine off its mounts in the Panama Canal, where no sailing is allowed. In a story on the voyaging life, a live aboard voyager describes the difficulties of doing the laundry while full time voyaging. In part nine of our celestial navigation series, we provide a step-by-step set of instructional articles on the hows and whys of navigating by celestial bodies. In this installment we look at star sights. Plus, the nav problem and much more.

Sailing America

Sailing America by Onne van der Wal Introduction by Gary Jobson Rizzoli New York, 2019

1 min

Cortex Combines VHF, AIS And Vessel Monitoring

Marine VHF radio has long been a communications device that just works.

3 mins

Enabling Your Boat To Talk

A concerned seller who could not attend the survey and sea trial of his trawler called me, his voice laden with concern: “Jeff, I keep getting text messages that the bilge pump is going off. Are you guys sinking?”

6 mins

Worst Gear Breakdowns

Adrift in the Indian Ocean and stuck in the Panama Canal

10+ mins

Benefits Of A Pilothouse Boat

A Very good choice for multiyear circumnavigation

10+ mins

Schooner Roseway

Although it fished on the Grand Banks, still holding the record of catching 74 swordfish in one day — with harpoon — the schooner Roseway wasn’t built as a commercial vessel.

2 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.