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GENERAL NEWS

27 January 2012

Missing Canadian Cruiser: UPDATE

Reported By: WG Staff

The cruising community is helping to solve the mystery of John Batchelor on Joy B, whose boat was found anchored miles of the West End, Bahamas, with only his dog, Dingo, aboard.

John, 72, has spent many years cruising from Lake Ontario to the Bahamas as a single-hander. He typically crosses to the Bahamas from Lake Worth FL, checks in at Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, and would cruise the Abacos, Eleuthera, and Exumas to participate in the Cruisers Regatta in George Town, Exuma. I met him in 2010 in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera.

The Joy B is an Alberg 30 converted into a pilothouse (photo: 2002, Oriental, NC). The sailboat is reportedly in good mechanical order, and has been moved to the police dock at Grand Bahama. Reports of the boat being "ransacked" is a mischaracterization. There is no indication of foul play.

The Joy B may have been anchored near Memory Rock since at least Dec. 30. On Jan. 19, Old Bahama Bay's Manager, Nathan Moody, also a volunteer for Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA), investigated to find the boat properly anchored, pilothouse open, with a hard dinghy up on davits, and the swim ladder down (it is not unusual for a cruiser to be in the habit of lowering the swim ladder while anchored, even if he does not intend to go in the water).

Only her Canadian flag was flying...no quarantine or courtesy flag...and Customs says it has not found any record of entry this season. Dingo was rushed to the animal hospital suffering from severe dehydration, and is on the road to recovery under Moody's care.

People who know John say that he would never abandon his trusty and loving first mate, Dingo. A close cruising friend said that John was planning to anchor 23 nm further at Mangrove Cay after making the crossing. In the days before the New Year, winds were generally light and from the east, so he may have had to motor across the gulf stream, and the crossing may have taken much longer than anticipated due to currents, headwinds, or prop fouling. By every indication, John would have planned to anchor on the banks for only the night, and proceed early the next morning.

Special thanks to the cruising community for its help, as usual, and especially to Chris Parker for getting the word out on the SSB weather net. If anyone has had contact with John or the Joy B, especially this season, please email me.  See related story...

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26 January 2012

Lightsquared National 4G Network Plan Rejected

Reported By: WG Staff

The proposed national broadband network, planned by LightSquared, was rejected by a U.S. federal committee due to "harmful interference" to some GPS-based systems, and that there would be no further testing.

The proposed network was to be the basis of the U.S. National Broadband Plan, which was mandated by Congress in 2009 and directed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure every American has access to broadband capability, especially in rural and under-served areas.

On the LightSquared website, the company maintains that it can mitigate the issues, and that it has stayed within frequencies that it has licensed.  Read full TheTriton article...

NOAA Satellites Aid in the Rescue of 207 People in 2011

Reported By: WG Staff

In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.

Of the 207 saves last year, 122 people were rescued from the water, 14 from aviation incidents, and 71 in land situations where they used their PLBs. Read full NOAA Press Release...

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24 January 2012

Missing Cruiser's Sailboat Found at West End, Bahamas

Reported By: WG Staff

Ed. Note: I am adding this story to the General section in the hope that someone in the cruising community can help. I met John briefly in 2010 in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, and know him to be a cruiser. I believe his boat, the Joy B, is an Alberg 30.  His boat was reportedly anchored between Sandy Cay and Memory Rock, and found "ransacked" with a malnourished dog, the dinghy attached, and the swim ladder down (perhaps ransacked by a malnourished dog?).  The location may indicate that he had been en route from Florida to the Abacos, since this is not an appropriate anchorage area for more than a brief stop.  Lets all hope for the best, and if anyone can help with information, please email me or contact the Bahamas Police.

Police on the island of Grand Bahama are seeking the assistance of the public in locating JOHN WILLIAM BATCHELOR age 72 years of Canada. Batchelor is described as being 6' tall with blue eyes. On 19th January, 2012, a 30ft beige and red vessel, "Joy B" believed to be Batchelor's boat, was discovered off West End between Sandy Cay and Memory Rock with a Canadian flag.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts Batchelor is asked to call the Central Detective Unit at 350-3107/8 or 352-9774/5, Police Emergency at 911 or the West End Police Station at 346-6444.

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20 January 2012

Maryland Boater Develops Mooring System

Reported By: WG Staff

An Easton, MD cruising boater has developed a new mooring system that he hopes will put an end to nasty, slimy pendant lines.  Peter Bailey's "Clean-Moors" system adds a retracting reel protected in a nose-cone installed on conventional mooring bouys, keeping the pendant line clean and dry, rather than hanging in the water collecting sea life and prop scars.

Bailey has worked through every detail and has been awarded what he described as a "strong" U.S. Patent; however, the system will undergo extensive in-water tests this boating season before hopefully going to the market in 2013.  Read full article and see a photo in the Easton Star Democrat. 

New USCG Light Lists PDFs Now Available

Reported By: WG Staff

The 2012 Light List Books for each of the U.S. districts are available now for free download in PDF format.

These publications contain a list of lights, sound signals, buoys, daybeacons, and other aids to navigation, corrected to January, 2012. They are each approximately 4 MB in size.

A printed version of each will be available from the Government Printing Office Bookstore ($30-$60).

New Product Promises to Waterproof Your Smartphone

Reported By: WG Staff

Liquipel is a process that applies a "nano" coating to the inside and outside of your phone, supposedly making it impervious to moisture.  It might not save it from a SCUBA dive, but should protect it from the sea spray, cocktail spill, or unceremoneous dunk in the toilet.

The cost is $59, and you must send your phone to the company to have the process applied.  The web site has a list of "approved" phones, including the some models of the iPhone, HTC, Samsung and Motorola Droid.  iPads and other tablets may be next.

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19 January 2012

Solar Costs May Plummet This Year

Reported By: WG Staff

Ready to beef up your solar?  This year, module prices may fall below 70 cents per watt, according to a new, bottom-up analysis of the polysilicon industry by GTM Research.  The study supports the consensus that polysilicon prices will continue to set record lows as overcapacity continues.  Read full PV-Tech article...

Complete Civil War Submarine Unveiled

Reported By: WG Staff

From a Reuters Article

Confederate Civil War vessel H.L. Hunley, the world's first successful combat submarine when it sank a Union ship in 1864, was unveiled in full and unobstructed for the first time on Jan. 12, capping a decade of careful preservation.

"No one alive has ever seen the Hunley complete. We're going to see it today," said engineer John King as a crane at a Charleston conservation laboratory slowly lifted a massive steel truss covering the top of the submarine.

Engineers and scientists applauded as they caught the first glimpse of the intact 42-foot-long narrow iron cylinder, which was raised from the ocean floor near Charleston more than a decade ago. The public will see the same view but in a water tank to keep it from rusting.

The narrow, top-secret "torpedo fish," built in Mobile, Alabama by Horace Hunley from cast iron and wrought iron with a hand-cranked propeller, arrived in Charleston in 1863 while the city was under siege by Union troops and ships.  Considered the Confederacy's stealth weapon, the Hunley sank the Union warship Housatonic in winter 1864, and then disappeared with all eight Confederate sailors inside.

In the ensuing few months, it sank twice after sea trial accidents, killing 13 crew members including Horace Hunley, who was steering.  Read full article...

Tomorrow (Jan. 20) at 10AM EST, Brian Hicks of Charleston's Post & Courier newspaper will talk about the Hunley on AGLCA Blog Talk Radio. Go to www.greatloop.org to listen live or later, or for instructions on how you can call in to the show. 

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18 January 2012

Northeast: 51 Boating Deaths for 2011

Reported By: WG Staff

For the last 3 years, about 50 people died per year from boating activities in the Northeast US, and a little more than half from motorized craft, according to the Coast Guard.  Of the 51 boaters who died last year, 44 were not wearing life jackets.

LightSquared Satellite Service Interferes with GPS in New Test

Reported By: WG Staff

An Associated Press report outline the latest, and perhaps last, episode of the fight between federal regulators and the mobile internet service, LightSquared. The latest tests show that the satellite network would still interfere with some of the more technical and sensitive GPS systems, and that there might be no way to fix it.

This is of dual interest to cruisers - mobile internet available everywhere vs. GPS interference issues, although the company claims, and the recent reporting suggests, that recent fixes may have mitigated any issues with typical GPS systems.  Read full article...

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13 January 2012

Water-Resistant Tablet and Smart Phones Introduced at CES

Reported By: WG Staff

Every year at CES, it seems some company has some electronic product that you can safely dunk in water. This year, it's Fujitsu, which Sunday night showed off water resistant smart phones and a tablet computer.

According to a company spec sheet, the Android tablet is called "Arrows" and can be controlled with hand gestures without touching the 10.1-inch screen.  The products are not yet available in the US. Read San Francisco Chronicle article...

KVH & Iridum Sign Broadband Service Deal

Reported By: WG Staff

Iridium Communications and KVH Industries announced an agreement to offer a fully global, seamless broadband satellite communications service for the maritime market.

Under the agreement, KVH will offer an integrated service package that combines its mini-VSAT Broadband service and the Iridium OpenPort broadband service. 

The integrated maritime service will be fully supported by Iridium's next-generation satellite constellation, which is scheduled to be deployed in early 2015.  Read full TradeOnlyToday.com article...

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02 January 2012

USPS Offers Sailboat Stamped Postcard

Reported By: WG Staff

The USPS is offering a postcard with this impressionist image of a moored sloop in its "stamp" area.  The artist is Burton Silverman, a well-known portraitist whose work appears on a dozen stamps previously issued by the U.S. Postal Service, including Igor Stravinsky (1981), Raoul Wallenberg (1997), and Arthur Fiedler (1998). Rock music fans may know Silverman best for his painting of an old man featured on the cover of Jethro Tull's Aqualung album. 

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23 December 2011

Italy Proposes Tax on Cruising Sailors

Reported By: WG Staff

Austerity plans will take a bite out of cruising boaters in Italy's 5000 miles of coastline if the new "Berthing Tax" is ratified.  After May 2012, boats over 10 meters (33 feet) would owe at least 5 euros per day ($6.50) whether docked or anchored in or out of a harbor, and as much as $919/day for a supermegayacht.  Want to spend the summer cruising the Italian coast in your 40-footer?  Those 3-months will run you almost an extra $1000.

Touted by Prime Minister Mario Monti as part of the "Save Italy" law, this tax may cause a migration of yachts across the Adriatic to the Balkan coast, and Med sailors may leave a wide berth to the "boot."

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15 December 2011

Fuel Pricing Reports - Updated weekly

Each week fuel price reports for over 300 marinas are updated.

Inside our fuel pricing reports you will find gas and diesel prices, taxes and any applicable discounts (volume, cash, BoatUS, Waterway Guide Cruising Club, etc.). The reports are sorted by region, and then by mile marker or alphabetically for easy searching.

Click here for the latest fuel price reports.

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14 December 2011

New Annapolis Sailboat Show Set for Spring

Reported By: WG Staff

From Trade Only Today article.

United States Yacht Shows, producers of the United States Sailboat Show and the United States Powerboat Show, announced it will produce a spring boat show called the Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show, featuring Cruisers University.

The new event will be held April 26-29 at the Annapolis City Dock, Ego Alley, surrounding city lots, the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel, the Annapolis Recreation Center and Susan Campbell Park. It will include more than 2,000 feet of floating docks, accommodating about 80 sailboats, both monohull and multihull.

For those attending Cruisers University, a separate tuition schedule will cover all classes, meals, demos, on-board instruction and social activities. Additionally, a special Cruising Destinations Series will be available to all show attendees on Saturday (April 28) and Sunday (April 29).

Read Full Article... 

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12 December 2011

Cruising World Best Sailboat Picks

Reported By: WG Staff

Cruising World magazine announced today the winners of its 19th annual Boat of the Year awards. Topping this year's list of winners were the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379 and the Leopard 44.  For more information on the winners and other nominees, visit Cruising World's website. 

Boat Trader Launches Free iPad App

Reported By: WG Staff

Boat Trader launched a free iPad app, following on to its iPhone and iPod apps available at iTunes.  The applications provides a GPS enabled boat search and puts more than 100,000 new and used boats, yachts, sailboats and personal watercraft at your fingertips.

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11 December 2011

Skipper Bob remembered

Reported By: WG Staff

5 years ago this morning I had to tell my children that their dad had died. It seems like yesterday but still like forever ago. 5 years ago today I lost the best friend I ever had.

Elaine Reib

Exactly five years ago today, I got out of bed and checked my email and saw
there was one from Skipper Bob. The evening before, I had sent him my
latest batch of updates for the New York Canals book. The email was a
short thank you note from Bob, time-stamped exactly 8 AM that morning. I
could picture Bob sitting at his desk, probably looking forward to doing
some editing on the books that morning.

It turned out sending me that email was the last thing Bob did ... and then
he slumped to the floor and died. The email remained on his screen
afterwards.

Bob is a great guy. He wrote the Skipper Bob books to asist the long
distance cruisers, and with the help of his wife Elaine Reib, he did a
mighty fine job.

I first saw a copy of the New York Canals book, on my first visit up here
in 2003. I was amazed how it contained absolutely everything I needed to
know for my cruise, and I got my own copy the first chance I had. Kathy
and I spend many days planning our future trips with the Skipper Bob book
open as the ultimate reference. It wasn't very wordy, but it was concise
and to the point, the perfect cruiser's helm reference. I loved the book,
so I contacted Bob and started helping with it.

Since about 2004, I had been sending Bob all kinds of updates and
corrections, so that the book might be correct and complete and benefit
future boaters, as it had done for me. The books are now continued by Ted
Stehle, who continues Bob's excellent work, and I continue to send Ted
updates for it. Bob is often in my mind as I gather info for the next
updates.

When Bob died, he left a big gap, but I always talk about Bob in the
present tense as he will always be around. He will live on in the memory
of those who knew him, those who worked with him, and his family. Skipper
Bob is out there on the canals and waterways somewhere even now. You may
not see him on your cruises, but he's out there with you.

Skipper Bob, December 11th, 2006. May he cruise with us forever.

Fred Wehner
Tug 44