Mike Slinn
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Jul
4
NOAA has a useful service called Dial A Buoy. Unfortunately, the only phone number listed is 888-701-8992; if anyone knows of a non-800 number, please let me know.
Please, no bad puns about San Francisco and “Dial a Boy”. This is a high class blog.
May
15
Robotic Sailboats to cross the Atlantic
Filed Under NMEA0183, Uncategorized, navigation, weather | Leave a Comment
The Microtransat Challenge will feature seven robotic craft, without crew, competing in a race across the Atlantic Ocean.
This historic transatlantic race will run between September 29 and October 5, 2008 and start at Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The finishing line lies between the Northern tip of St. Lucia and the Southern tip of Martinique [...]
Sep
9
Two months of 24/7 testing
Filed Under Practical Sailor, weather | Leave a Comment
I’ve just returned home after 8 weeks on board my sailboat. Half of that time was spent preparing for a trip from Vancouver to the north end of Vancouver Island; the other half was spent en route. I spent quite a bit of time testing products for various upcoming Practical Sailor reviews. [...]
Feb
24
Seattle NOAA Facility Visit
Filed Under weather | Leave a Comment
NOAA generates weather forecasts and provides them in text format, via VHF, weatherfax and GRIB data. The coastal forecasts are created by regional supercomputers running weather forecast models, and the resulting forecasts are adjusted by experienced meteorological staff. Mariners who are planning long passages should learn to interpret the weather forecasts themselves, particularly if [...]
Jan
25
Animated weather forecast
Filed Under navigation, software, weather | 1 Comment
This is my favorite feature of all the products I reviewed for the navigation software survey I wrote for Practical Sailor Magazine and Power Boat Reports.
GRIB weather data is provided free of charge by NOAA. Newer navigation products can display GRIB weather data such as pressure isobars and temperature, as well as sea state. Coastal [...]