Bill Johnson - Reeds Ocean Handbook

This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Thomas Reed

An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published 2015

Bill Johnson, 2015

Bill Johnson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

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ISBN: PB: 978-1-4729-1306-7

ePDF: 978-1-4729-2143-7

ePub: 978-1-4729-2142-0

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Ocean sailing is a truly liberating experience. There are few leisure pursuits that make whole areas of the world available to you and sailing is one of them. Once you have a capable yacht (and this doesnt have to be very large or new) you can go virtually anywhere. The only constraints are time, and your own knowledge and ability as a skipper.

Most of us learn to sail within waters close to home, and in conditions that become increasingly familiar to us as we build up experience (perhaps with the occasional foreign charter). In order to sail the world whether to blue water destinations, or to more adventurous higher latitudes skippers need to widen their knowledge so that they know what to expect, and what to prepare for.

Additionally, as we travel further, we can expect to be faced with longer passages and longer periods of time at sea. So we need to know how to prepare the yacht for this, and how you go about living at sea (in any conditions it may throw at you) for extended periods. We also need to be prepared for emergencies. In some respects, sailing across an ocean can be simpler than a coastal passage, but the challenges, the preparation and, indeed, the experience are rather different.

This book is a concise practical guide to ocean sailing. The theoretical information you need is clearly explained, and the book is organised so that it can be used as a quick reference:

World climate: the logical starting point, tells you what to expect as you go to different parts of the world

Route planning: how to plan a long-distance route and where to find detailed information

Navigation: the additional knowledge you need for long-distance navigation as opposed to coastal navigation

Astro navigation: how to work out an astro sight, step-by-step, as a fall-back if GPS fails

Yacht preparation: the important additions and modifications you may need to consider for your yacht before embarking on a long-distance voyage

Heavy weather: practical advice on preparing for heavy weather on passage, and survival tactics

Communication: the capabilities and limitations of radio and satellite communications technologies

Passage making: planning and preparation for a long passage, and how to organise and manage the yacht and crew on passage

Risks and emergencies: an overview of the risks and emergencies that you may need to deal with, and sensible precautions, including training and equipment

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with basic theory of navigation, weather etc up to Yachtmaster Offshore level, which may be found in the Reeds Skippers Handbook.

WORLD CLIMATE

World temperature

The world is heated by the sun.

In the tropics the direction of the sun is nearly perpendicular to the earths surface so the heating effect is greatest here.

Further towards the poles the surface is angled away from the direction of the sun; its energy is spread over a greater area so the heating effect is less.

This pattern varies with the seasons, because the sun is overhead further to the north or south of the equator.

The effect of this is uneven, because:

The surface of the land heats up and cools down more than the sea does.

Warm or cold winds blow from one part of the world to another.

Clouds shade the earths surface from the sun.