Tag: navigation

NOAA/British Geological Survey Release 2025 World Magnetic Model Report

12/14/2025 - By nesdis.noaa.gov, Published in nesdis.noaa.gov. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and the British Geological Survey have released their joint Technical Report for the 2025 World Magnetic Model (WMM 2025), the standard navigation model for the U.S. Department of Defense and the global public which provides critical global data for navigation systems… SEE MORE

New Data for Improved Navigation in the Upper Hudson River

1/30/2025 - By oceanservice.noaa.gov. Real-time data on coastal conditions will support improved maritime navigation in New York. Navigating New York waterways just got a bit easier. NOAA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the establishment of the Hudson River Estuary Physical Oceanographic Real-time System (PORTS®). The system delivers real-time… SEE MORE

Weather Forecasting Is Deadly for Marine Wildlife

10/31/2024 - By Danielle Beurteaux. Latex balloons designed to collect high-altitude data become a threat to marine animals after they burst—though the scale of their impact remains unknown. On a fall day in 2023, a juvenile Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross was lying listless in southeastern Brazil’s Santos Basin. Beach monitors found the young bird in… SEE MORE

Sailing in Alaska? Watch Out for Tsunamis

6/8/2024 - By Christian Elliott. Tour boat operators and cruise ship captains face a growing hazard: tsunamis generated by collapsing cliffs. If disaster strikes, what should they do? In 2015, 76 million cubic meters of rock crashed from the rugged cliffs above a southeastern Alaska fjord and into the water below. The landslide… SEE MORE

Image credit: Volnyanskyy / iStock via Getty Images

Decoding Barometers: The Importance of Understanding Pressure Changes

5/18/2024 - By inavx.com. If you just look at a barometer once, it’s pretty much as satirist Ambrose Bierce described. The needle on the front of that old school brass barometer points to “Fair,” and when you look outside, sure enough, it’s not a bad day. When it says “Rain,” often enough,… SEE MORE

Cargo Ship (generic image from Canva.com)

Ship Tracking Websites and Apps Help Avoid Major Collisions

11/17/2022 - By OceanGrafix. Thanks to the continued refinement of technology that began in the 1990s, mariners can keep an eye on shipping vessels to avoid collisions or to track a certain craft. Ships are tracked in real time by a special radar system called Automated Identification System (AIS). The system identifies… SEE MORE

https://www.boatsafe.com/international-code-signaling-flags/

Decoding International Signal Flags

8/13/2022 - By Boat Safe. Although you may never see them displayed except at fleet parades, around naval installations, and areas with heavy international shipping traffic, International code flags are used to signal between two ships or between ship and shore. Also called signaling flags, they are a set of ship flags… SEE MORE

The Best Harbor in the US for 2022 is Padanaram, MA

2022 “Best Harbors in the U.S.” Announced

6/7/2022 - Popular Vote Determines Winners of the 2022 "Best Harbor in the US" Contest Rockland, ME — After 6 weeks of online voting the 4th annual “Best Harbor in the U.S.” contest has been decided! Over 2,500 people voted for their favorite harbors, and by popular vote the following harbors claimed this year's… SEE MORE

Boating 101: How to Learn Marine Navigation

9/3/2021 - By Shawn Buckles. Fundamentals: How Marine Navigation Works You first have to understand the fundamentals of marine navigation. Marine navigation consists of three very simple steps: Locate your position Determine a course Monitor the course If you say it like that, it doesn't seem so difficult after all, right? There… SEE MORE

Confused About NOAA’s Printed Chart Messaging?

12/8/2020 - NOAA charts ARE still being printed, in spite of the confusing messaging you might have heard. There is an important reason they will never stop being printed: electronics are not perfect and anyone on a boat should have a back-up on board in case they fail. Plus may people who… SEE MORE