Oceanography, Naval Interests, Merchant Marine Interests, Sailing:
A FREE VOYAGE PLANNING TOOL AND GUIDE CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR OUR VISITORS Links Checked 2/23/2015
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
One of the American Admiralty Informational Services members who helped originate this blog is an actively sailing officer aboard a scientific research ship. He recently submitted this voyage planning guide and tool from sea where he was actively using it in conjunction with his navigational duties. We hope this is simply the first in a series of blogs of real navigational utility. In this blog "Cap'n Ben" describes and hyper- links you to the best sources for weather information, sunrise and sun set calculation ( the first step in computing "star time": if you are navigating celestially), he then introduces the reader to Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) and hyperlinks you to a helpful site. "Cap'n Ben" then takes you to a remarkable site via hyperlink that may be used to integrate your lap top into your voyage planning / navigational routine with elements like electronic chart overlays, eventually radar overlays, and AIS integration, all free and not difficult to use. "Capn' Ben" originally sent this with actual pictures from the hyper-linked sites. The pictures didn't copy to this format. But we think this tool is so useful that we intend to not just leave it here as a blog but to put the whole thing hopefully with illustrations in the Oceanography section, Navigation section, or eventually in a special page titled "Ben's tech spot" with cross references to other sections with navigational interests where "Cap'n Ben" can update and improve the tools he creates for you as time and technology change with the tides. While you're collecting "Cap'n Ben" laptop navigational tools, drop into the Oceanography section and look for "The Exclusive economic Zone (EEZ) and the Rights of Innocent Passage" There you will learn of some of the political complications involved in voyage planning when your ship must cross a coastal nations Exclusive economic zone (EEZ). You will also be able to use another "Cap,n Ben contribution a hyperlink to a site where you can see in navigational chart form the World's EEZs and disputed zones.
If you have any problem with the hyperlinks please let us know via the Comments section, the editor on duty today is an old gnarled and grizzled Boatswains mate known for fat fingered and ham handed key stroking. If the links didn't come through we'll sober up the regular guy and get him on it by Monday, but we really wanted our actively navigating visitors to see this ASAP. Welcome to:
Ben's Tech Spot
OpenCPN
American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies EU VISITORS WARNING POSSIBLE COOKIES AHEAD
One of the American Admiralty Informational Services members who helped originate this blog is an actively sailing officer aboard a scientific research ship. He recently submitted this voyage planning guide and tool from sea where he was actively using it in conjunction with his navigational duties. We hope this is simply the first in a series of blogs of real navigational utility. In this blog "Cap'n Ben" describes and hyper- links you to the best sources for weather information, sunrise and sun set calculation ( the first step in computing "star time": if you are navigating celestially), he then introduces the reader to Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) and hyperlinks you to a helpful site. "Cap'n Ben" then takes you to a remarkable site via hyperlink that may be used to integrate your lap top into your voyage planning / navigational routine with elements like electronic chart overlays, eventually radar overlays, and AIS integration, all free and not difficult to use. "Capn' Ben" originally sent this with actual pictures from the hyper-linked sites. The pictures didn't copy to this format. But we think this tool is so useful that we intend to not just leave it here as a blog but to put the whole thing hopefully with illustrations in the Oceanography section, Navigation section, or eventually in a special page titled "Ben's tech spot" with cross references to other sections with navigational interests where "Cap'n Ben" can update and improve the tools he creates for you as time and technology change with the tides. While you're collecting "Cap'n Ben" laptop navigational tools, drop into the Oceanography section and look for "The Exclusive economic Zone (EEZ) and the Rights of Innocent Passage" There you will learn of some of the political complications involved in voyage planning when your ship must cross a coastal nations Exclusive economic zone (EEZ). You will also be able to use another "Cap,n Ben contribution a hyperlink to a site where you can see in navigational chart form the World's EEZs and disputed zones.
If you have any problem with the hyperlinks please let us know via the Comments section, the editor on duty today is an old gnarled and grizzled Boatswains mate known for fat fingered and ham handed key stroking. If the links didn't come through we'll sober up the regular guy and get him on it by Monday, but we really wanted our actively navigating visitors to see this ASAP. Welcome to:
Ben's Tech Spot
Ever notice how some things in the
Maritime Technology world advance at a lightening pace while others
are locked in a time capsule? A perfect example is some Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) equipment
still runs on DOS based software. DOS is a software system from the
80s! Remember having to type commands in command windows before the
time of point and clicking with a mouse! While some aspects of
Maritime Technology have been locked in time or are released years
after the shore side equivalents are released to the public, there
are some cool new tech tools that every mariner can take advantage
of.
Internet at sea is becoming more and
more available for both day sailors and the professional mariner
alike. Internet at sea brings with it a whole slew of new and
exciting tools that can help with planning, safety, navigation,
weather, and communication. Many near coastal sailors are now able to
simply tether their smart phone to a laptop and get real time weather
updates, check vessel traffic, and even broadcast their AIS or
positional information to free traffic servers so shore side family
and friends can keep track of them along their voyage.Many links in today's blog are my short
list of new cool technology and resources as well as some tried and
true links that every mariner should know. Even if you aren't able to
surf the web at sea, many of these links are great planning tools and
software that can be used underway regardless of web access or not.
Weather
Most Mariners are familiar with NOAAs
weather forecasts available on most marine radios or many go to
www.weather.gov to get NOAAs near shore and off shore forecasts. NOAA
has some other great links that aren't as well know.
National Data Bouy
Center's Interactive Buoy Map
NDBC has an interactive Google Earth
Map that has real-time information from a world wide array of
meteorological buoys. Simply find a buoy, click on it, and get
real-time info about wave height, wind speed and direction, sea and
air temp etc. It's a great tool to compare what the forecasters
predicted and what is really happening along your route or at your
destination.
NOAA Current Forecasts
For worldwide current forecasts point
your browser to the above address. This is another great tool for
voyage planning. Want to take advantage of the loop current or avoid
it, simply take a look at the current models for the region you will
be sailing in.
Just as we should never rely on any one
form of navigation alone, never put all weather forecasting faith in
any one group or forecaster. Here are some other great weather
forecasting sites to use and compare.
Weather Underground
A great site that is good to use for
their Sever Weather section. During hurricane season, check out the
"Compiled Model". Usually a hurricane forecast is the
average of a bunch of different models that forecasters have
developed over the years. They usually will average these or pick the
route that most of the models seem to follow to use in their
hurricane track forecast. Wunderground's compiled model lets you do
the averaging by showing you all the major models prediction of the
storm path.
Storm Surf
A forecasting site that was originally
designed and used by surfers. In some parts of the world these
forecasts have proven to be more accurate than local models. Easily
find wind, surf, and sea forecasts for select regions of the world. A
must have site for any surfers out there.
SailWX
SailWX is a great little site that has
real-time meteorological observations from ships all over the world.
Any ship that is a member of the Voluntarily Observing Ship (VOS)
program is listed on the site. While the interactive map isn't as
user friendly as some of the other sites it is still fairly easy to
navigate. Simply click on a ship on the map to get real time
observations for any meteorological readings the ship is reporting.
The site is a great little "Ship Tracker" site that has a
very high number of ships participating. Chances are if you're on a
cruise ship, oceanographic ship, tall ship, or container/cargo ship,
you're on the map. The site also has tide and current predictions.
Sunrise/Sunset
Calculator
Google Map page that provides Sunrise
Sunset calculations for any point on earth. Simply click on a spot on
the map and get your calculations.
XM Weather
For anyone wanting real-time weather
information and forecasts but don't have a weather fax or internet at
sea, SiriusXM has the product for you. XM WX Marine Weather is a
program that uses the XM Sirius Satellite system to broadcast weather
products to your laptop. Coverage is for the majority of US waters.
I'll provide a more detailed review of the Master Mariner version of
the program later.
Automatic
Identification System (AIS)
AIS is a technology that has propelled
the bridge of ship's light years ahead. AIS is an automatic tracking
system used by ships and vessel traffic systems for reporting a
vessels identification and basic navigational information. It's a
standard used throughout the world on vessels 300 GT and greater.
Many smaller vessels have been equipped with AIS transceivers as
well due to its benefits. The cost of AIS has come down considerably.
As anyone who sails with AIS know it makes instantaneous
identification of other vessels a breeze. Simple turn on your AIS
overlay on your basic navigation software and you instantly see all
reporting vessels around you. You can quickly get their name,
navigation status, position, course, speed, as well as basic voyage
information. Most navigation programs are able to overlay AIS
contacts directly on the chart.
Since AIS information is free and can
be received by anyone with a receiver there has been a push to unify
and establish an online AIS system available to all for free. A few
sites have tried to do this. One that seems to be way out front is
http://www.marinetraffic.com
This website uses a Google Earth map to display a large world wide
database of real-time AIS information. Basically anyone with an
internet connection and an AIS receiver can submit their data to a
central server that Marine Traffic then uses. Marine Traffic has by
far the largest network of receivers all over the world. It's nothing
for the site to be tracking over 50,000 AIS contacts at one time
throughout the entire world! The site does a great job of displaying
them and making them interactive.
You can simply click on a ship on the
map and get its most current information as well as see pictures of
the vessel. Marine Traffic has one of the largest collections of ship
photos I have seen. Most appear to have been uploaded by the general
public.
Marine Traffic also lets you embed
their AIS map directly into your webpage, has mobile apps for both
iPhone and Android, as well as a really nice Google Earth overlay
kml. Anyone with that wants to set up a base station can follow the
directions on their site and begin adding to the overall coverage.
There are even instructions on how to build an AIS receiver using a
old marine radio!
OpenCPN
Is a great free open source navigation
program that is by far the best on the market today. A quick google
of "Free navigational program" quickly shows you the lack
of programs out there that are really free. Most of the free ones out
there are old and outdated as well as fairly buggy. OpenCPN has a
great following and its open source code allows for others to develop
addons. So the feature possibilities are fairly limitless. It already
has AIS integration and can even accept a networked GPS feed. It can
display both Raster and ENC Vector charts, is light weight, quick,
and clean. Developers are currently working on a radar overlay
function as well. Why spend hundreds on the name brand software
packages when OpenCPN does almost everything they can for free.
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