Constant Bearing, Constant Danger
What does “constant bearing, constant danger” mean? And why does it sometimes lead to a very dangerous problem? This expression is a neat abbreviation of…
Tag: sailing
Navigating by Sea Swells off Foula, Shetland
Here is a lovely nod to sailors navigating by sea swells off the Shetland Isles – it is rare to find reference to this swell…
Fish Frenzy at Water Surface – Predator Sign
Early this morning I saw an interesting sign in the water, a clue that fish were trying to defy a predator. At about 6am, I…
What is a Katabatic Wind?
Heavier gases sink, lighter gases rise. That is how a hot air balloon works: the warm air expands making it lighter than the surrounding air…
When clouds appear like rocks and towers…
… the Earth’s refreshed by frequent showers. It is so rewarding when weather lore helps us remember a clue. It is doubly satisfying when this…
Full Moons Mean Big and Fast Tides
It’s a full moon today. Full moons mean unusually big, fast and powerful tides over the next few days. You might also enjoy: How to…
The Colour and Shape of Navigation Marks
Most navigators, even inexperienced ones, learn that colours are important when trying to identify navigation marks at sea. And most people also know that there…
The Fish Cliff Clue
When John Pahl and I were sailing around Iceland, we noticed that you could use the puffins to indicate the direction of land very reliably,…
The Secret World of Weather
How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop The weather changes as we walk around a tree or turn…
Clues Above Brighton Pier
Have a good look at the picture above. I took it during a night walk along the Brighton seafront. If I was planning to set…
Transit Lines
My favourite signs always combine simplicity, elegance and practicality. They are often so effective that technology can’t improve on them. Cats’ Paws, the ruffled patterns…
Wayfinding with the Polynesian Voyaging Society
Something a little different today – a guest blog. I am very grateful to Hye Jung Kim and all the team at Project Wayfinder for…
What is a Slick Line?
Slick lines form on water when a very thin layer of oil spreads out across the water. The oil dampens ripples creating calmer patches. Over…
A Brief Guide to Overfalls
Whenever the tide turns, water heads from one area to another. This sets up a flow known as tidal currents. Tidal currents moving over a…
The Future of Celestial Navigation
A morning glance at a moody and cloudy twilight led me to laying down some of my thoughts about the key challenges facing celestial navigation…
What is Fetch?
The definition of the word ‘fetch’ is simple: The distance that wind travels over open water. But why do we need to know that? Spend…
Joshua Slocum and the Birds
My thanks to Pertti Pesonen for reminding me of these passages in Joshua Slocum’s classic, ‘Sailing Alone Around the World’: On the 12th, some hundred…
The Colour of the Sea as a Map
For thousands of years, sailors have used the colour of the sea to help them make sense of the waters they travelled through. In many…
Where the Rocks Aren’t
I spent a very enjoyable Friday evening at the Hornet Services Sailing Club in Gosport. I was there to listen to a talk being jointly…
Nature’s Radar
Nature’s Radar, my academic paper on natural navigation observations during a small boat voyage in the North Atlantic has just been published by the Journal…
The Shape of the Land
The week is already feeling full with the task of collating and writing up observations from the sail north. At the end of the month…