Ocean Navigator - November - December 2020

In this issue

In this issue we have a special section on batteries: Storing electrical power is a major issue for voyaging boats. From installing a replacement set of batteries to a survey of active voyagers about the battery setups - fascinating talks with liveaboards.
In the power voyaging column expert Jeff Merrill reviews the reasons that VHF radio is still the most valuable communications tool on the water. Our ocean voyaging story focuses on an Arctic voyage in the Denmark Strait. A group of young back country skiers join up with Arctic-based sailors to cross from Iceland to Greenland. In our celestial navigation series: part 15, we look at the arcane but still viable technique of using lunar distances to determine GMT and longitude. Voyaging life: The Voyager's Guide to Fishing for Tuna. Voyaging strategy: The unusual voyaging summer of 2020. A power voyager discusses how the opening and closing of European ports due to COVID19. Voyaging tips: Dealing with boat alarms. Plus, the nav problem and more.

Solo rower breaks ocean record

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

1 min

Instrumentless circumnavigator passes

MARVIN CREAMER, A sailor who PerforMed a seemingly miraculous circumnavigation in the mid-1980s, has crossed the bar for the last time.

2 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

During a pandemic, flexibility is key

The wheelhouse was scattered with guidebooks extolling the virtues and sites to behold in and around the Baltic — fjords in Sweden and Norway, Danish in Denmark, history-laden Poland, and enough lager to sink a barge in Germany.

4 mins

Into the Denmark Strait

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

10 mins

Battery survey

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

10+ mins

Upgrading batteries

Treating batteries as a system works best

10 mins

Alarms, getting to know them better

Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared in the Ocean Cruising Club’s monthly bulletin (oceancruisingclub.org).

1 min

Tuna 101: A Primer for Voyaging Sailors

Catching, cleaning and eating tuna at sea

7 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

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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.