How the Moon affects our oceans
We all know that tides are influenced by the Moon, but how does that connection work and how can we predict the tides more than a year in advance? They are just two of many questions the Bureau of Meteorology…
Cruising
Dedicated to Cruising the world under sail including destinations, navigation, sailing tips, safety ideas, yacht & multihull reviews along with stories and insights for the sail cruising life in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Waterspout damages boats in Auckland Harbour marina
NZ Herald By: Vaimoana Tapaleao and Meghan Lawrence A tornado-like waterspout has ripped through central Auckland's waterfront, toppling at least one shipping container and wreaking havoc on yachts, ships and cars. Vehicles were swept into the ocean and a yacht…
Applications for the OCC Challenge Grant now open
Devon, UK, 12 August 2019 – The Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) has established a Challenge Grant to encourage ambitious expeditions for environmental conservation or challenging oceangoing adventures and is now accepting applications for the 2020 season. The OCC Challenge Grant…
Crowd watches as sailboat burns, sinks off Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
CTV News, Vancouver Island A crowd of people on a Salt Spring Island beach were helpless as they watched a vintage sailboat go up in flames Wednesday night. The 21-metre sailboat was anchored in Long Harbour when it caught fire…
British sailor died in Cannes boat crash 'caused by captain showing off'
The Daily Mail A British deckhand was killed in a super-yacht collision blamed on a captain said to be ‘showing off’ his boat. Jake Feldwhere was pulling up the anchor of the Minx when it was struck at three times…
Two yachties rescued off Niue
Earlier today, at 6.15 pm New Zealand time, the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) were alerted to a distress call from the vessel Gwendoline 50 nautical miles west of Niue. The yacht was taking on water and sinking after hitting…
Former soldier stole yacht to ‘show it some love’ using transcendental energy
From our weird and wonderful file comes this story by Basit Mamood of Metro in the UK: An ex-soldier has admitted taking a 27ft yacht on a bizarre nautical joyride. Richard Gould, 42, and his partner follow a shamanic existence…
Maritime Museum to open groundbreaking new Bligh exhibition – Hero or Villain?
The Australian National Maritime Museum will open their latest exhibition Bligh – Hero or Villain? this week – the first major exhibition the Museum has created after undergoing a dramatic and stunning brand refresh. The exhibition is a radical new…
Pirates of the Caribbean, a Disney fantasy or a real threat?
The Maritime Executive. By Alejandro Guzmán Woodroffe. Contrary to the version portrayed by Disney in its franchise Pirates of the Caribbean, piracy does not take place in a universe full of adventures and adrenaline. The…
Fast Facts: Why ships use “port” and “starboard”
The Maritime Executive Unlike left and right, “port” and “starboard” refer to fixed locations on a vessel. Since port and starboard never change, they are unambiguous references that are independent of a mariner’s orientation, and, thus, mariners use these nautical…
Trial of new marine digital speed indicator sign at Swansea Channel
Transport for NSW will carry out a trial of new electronic speed signage at Swansea Channel in Lake Macquarie starting next week. NSW Maritime Executive Director, Mark Hutchings said the trial will continue until the end of September and provide…
Superyacht strikes pier, destroys sailboat in Port of Leuca
The Maritime Executive On Tuesday evening, the superyacht Blue Magic lost control and struck a pier at the port of Santa Maria di Leuca, a popular tourist destination in southern Italy. A sailing yacht was crushed between the dock and…
A mango tree hull, some bamboo and a bed sheet – are you up for the Kraken Cup?
Modern yachts with all their fancy technology leave little room for the unknown. For a proper ocean vessel, you need to go back a few centuries. Dig a hull from a mango tree, strap on a bamboo yard, a sail and…
RNLI rescues two disabled yachts, averts grounding
Last weekend, volunteers with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rescued two disabled yachts in Bristol Channel, an area known for its strong tidal currents. Both vessels lost steering and needed a tow to return to port. At high tide…
Learn about the Great Barrier Reef
What is a Master Reef Guide and how do you become a Citizen of the Great Barrier Reef? These questions and many more will be answered at two Great Barrier Reef Festival workshops. Hosted by Lure in the Coral Sea…
Sailor slammed by VMR Western Australia after “needless” search
VMRs from Fremantle to Carnarvon were put on high alert on Monday due to a yacht that was reported overdue. It had departed Rottnest Island last Thursday en route to Exmouth via the Abrolhos Islands but had not been heard…
Man rescued after falling off yacht and treading water for 30 minutes
Windsor Star. By Dalson Chen. Safe practices while boating are being emphasized by Lakeshore OPP after a sailboat mishap last week that left a person treading water with no lifejacket for half an hour. On July 18 around 6:45 p.m.,…
Friends search for missing yacht headed for Trinidad
LoopTT The public is being asked for help in providing any information on a yacht which left Saint-Martin in June and was due to arrive in Trinidad but has not yet arrived. Facebook user Andrey Khokhlov shared a Facebook post…
Study: Corals are shifting to higher latitudes
The Maritime Executive According to a new study published July 4 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress, the distribution of living coral – the organisms responsible for reef formation – appears to be shifting to higher latitudes as temperatures rise…
False alarm over yachtsman, 84, feared missing by family
An elderly yachtsman who was feared missing after setting sail on the English Channel has turned up alive and well. Trevor Franklin, 84, set out to sea on Stardog, a 30-foot ketch, from Newhaven on July 1. He was last…
Special celebrations conclude 25th ARC Portugal
Right from the beginning, ARC Portugal 2019 was going to be an extraordinary sail south; as well as being the 25th edition of World Cruising Club's multi-stage sailing rally, this year marks 25 years since the Marina de Lagos, sponsor…
Shoalwater Bay moorings to come under fire
A reader of Cruising Helmsman, and well-known contributor of excellent cruising stories, Cherylle Stone recently received the latest Notice to Mariners regarding military exercises in the popular Shoalwater Bay area. Due to live firing occurring the Army were to close…
Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning plan review
The Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning plan has been in force since 2009 and is now due for a 10-year review. In preparing for this the Queensland Government is undertaking a technical exercise to remake the current zoning plan which…
The Atlantic hurricane season – how to stay safe when sailing
The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season is almost upon us. Typically starting in June and ending at the end of November, the season usually encounters a sharp peak of activity in late August through September and affects the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean…
Queensland Beacon to Beacon Guides updated
Maritime Safety Queensland has released updates to its Beacon to Beacon Guides for Pumicestone Passage and the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers. There have been significant changes to channels and banks in the northern part of the Passage and Caloundra Bar. So,…
COSMIC-2 is a significant advance in the world's ability to forecast and monitor weather
A significant advance in the world's ability to forecast and monitor weather and climate is about to be launched into space and Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has booked its seat. COSMIC-2, a mission of six satellites designed to improve weather…
Volunteers wanted to spot stray marine creatures
James Cook University scientists are recruiting people to train to log sightings of misplaced sea creatures after receiving new funding. JCU’s Associate Professor Jan Strugnell runs the Queensland arm of the Range Extension Database and Mapping project (REDMAP). “What it…
Boeing 747 to be sunk for underwater theme park
The Maritime Executive Dive Bahrain is preparing to sink a 70-meter (230-foot) Boeing 747 to provide a diving attraction for an underwater theme park in the Persian Gulf. The plane, built in 1981, will be the largest aircraft ever to…
Fast Facts: What are the Horse Latitudes?
The Maritime Executive The horse latitudes are regions located at about 30 degrees north and south of the equator. These latitudes are characterized by calm winds and little precipitation. It is common in this region of the subtropics for winds…
Transiting the Panama Canal to cost more from 2020
The Maritime Executive The Panama Canal published a proposal to modify its current tolls structure on Friday. There will now be a 30-day formal consultation period for industry feedback, which will close on July 15, 2019. For the dry bulk…
Jon Sanders to circumnavigate the globe for the 11th time
The West Australian. By Kate Ryan. Stepping onto his yacht with the ease of a seasoned sailor, you’d never know sailing legend Jon Sanders is turning 80 this year. He knows where everything ison his second home, penned at Royal…
Abell Point Marina to eliminate single-use plastics
Abell Point Marina is continuing on its path towards ‘cleaner’ living with the most recent development being the signing of a pledge with the Marina Industries Association to fully eliminate single-use plastics from within the marina. The marina has already…
Mapped area of ocean floor doubles
The Maritime Executive Following the efforts of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, coverage of the world’s ocean floor has now increased from six percent to 15 percent. This is equivalent to around 32 million square kilometers of new bathymetric…
Dramatic ocean rescue: Watch as yacht's stricken crew rescued after four-day ordeal
NZ Herald. By: Chelsea Boyle. Dramatic video shows the moment a rescue helicopter crewman is winched into the ocean to save four stricken sailors drifting in a bright red life raft. After hitting the water, the rescuer swims to the life…
Newly restored 19th-century German tall ship sinks after collision
The Guardian A recently restored wooden sailing ship has sunk after colliding with a container vessel near Hamburg, northern Germany. Six adults and two children were injured when the gaff-rigged schooner Elbe No 5, originally built in 1883, collided with…
NOAA predicts near-normal 2019 Atlantic hurricane season
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting that a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season is most likely this year. The outlook forecasts a 40 percent chance of a near-normal season and a 30 percent chance of an above-normal season. The hurricane season…
The Tara Ocean Foundation's call: “Plastics at sea : The solutions are on land”
By Jean-François Ghiglione, CNRS, ecotoxicologist, at Banyuls Oceanography Laboratory and Romain Troublé, executive director of the Tara Ocean Foundation. Powerful images of marine animals choking on plastics; frightening statistics on the amount of trash found at sea; discovering that even the…
Police hunt for skipper of abandoned Berrow yacht
By Burnham-On-Sea.com Police are still trying to trace missing yacht skipper David Moore, whose abandoned boat was mysteriously washed up on Berrow Beach on Monday (June 3rd). Police say David used to live and work in Avonmouth near Bristol but…
Fast Facts: What is a Bight?
A bight is a long, gradual bend or recess in the shoreline that forms a large, open bay. Bights are shallow and may pose hazards to navigation, so their depths, in addition to any submerged features like sand bars and…
Twenty-fifth edition of ARC Portugal sets sail
Heading out into a cloudy Plymouth Sound on Sunday 2 June, seventeen boats began their three week adventure sailing to the sunny Algarve with World Cruising Club's annual sailing rally ARC Portugal. ARC Portugal has been taking boats south to…
