The folks from “Rite in the Rain” were at the Pacific Marine Expo, and I picked up a brochure, an all-weather pen, and another pocket-sized spiral notebook…thanks guys!
See, I use these products every day. Into my pockets each morning go my keys, wallet, coin purse, cell phone, and my little Weems & Plath-branded Rite in the Rain 3″ x 5″ all-weather spiral notebook.
I have been using these products for many years in fairly harsh environments aboard ship and highly recommend them for use on deck.
For the full list of gCaptain’s incident photos, CLICK HERE
For most, the notion of a bad time on a luxurious vacation aboard a cruise ship would be eating some bad shellfish at a local port. For the unlucky passengers aboard the British cruise ship Balmoral, their 10 days of basking in the lap of luxury went awry when the ship encountered 50 ft. seas and 60 mph gale force nine winds. The Balmoral encountered the rough seas when attempting to transit the Bay of Biscay during a storm. According to reports, two passengers had to be taken to a hospital in Spain with broken bones.
We found this interesting YouTube video of ships battling heavy seas and rogue waves. These photos have been provided by SplashVision.com. Here at gCaptain.com we would love to see your interesting photos of ships struggling in heavy seas and/or rogue waves. To submit you photos drop us an email at Tips@gCaptain.com. Thanks..
If you like this post you might also like to take a look at some of these other posts.
Looking at the piracy chart for 2008 got me reminiscing about recommending routes through the eastern Arabian Sea , Somalia coast, and Gulf of Aden.
Our directive was to work with the Captain to assure a safe voyage. However, like the Captain, we had no way of knowing whether a pirate attack would occur during a voyage. The coast of Somalia has been a high risk area for piracy as long as I can remember. So, even without a weather-related reason, we often would acknowledge a Master’s intended route which remained well off the coast and added sometimes hundreds of miles. Many times, these routes would travel east and north of the island of Socotra.
There was an exception — the summer months and the Southwest Monsoon. During projected gale and storm sw-lies in the western and central Arabian Sea, recommended routes going westbound from the Indian Ocean toward the Suez Canal would remain south of the monsoon core and the highest waves in the central Arabian Sea. However, this route presents a navigational issue (mostly piracy-related) once the route nears the coast of Somalia.
Captain’s choice during the summer: Do I want to avoid the coast of Somalia (potential pirates) and face more rolling on a more northern route? Another problem… If the vessel passes east of Socotra, will the Captain be able to safely steer the vessel west-bound into the Gulf of Aden during a monsoon event?
In this case, strange as it may sound, heavy weather might be working in the Captain’s favor. Are the pirates desparate enough to try and board a moving merchant vessel during gale or storm conditions?
Many Captains chose the improved weather to the south during the summer, passed near the eastern coast of Somalia, then adjusting heading to sail well off the nothern coast of Somalia after passing Cape Guadafui.
Have any gCaptain readers out there has faced similar choices?
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This Post was written by Brad Snook, Meteorologist. Brad spent 13 years recommending routes and forecasting seas and swells for merchant ships around the world. He know lives with his family near gCaptain Headquarters in Morro Bay California. You can read his previous articles HERE.
It is obvious that NOAA has some of the most comprehensive and accurate information for predicting weather available to the public. NOAA’s National Weather Service, among its various other organizations, aims to provide people with vital information needed to make educated decisions in order to protect themselves and their property. NOAA also plays a significant to role in protecting the U.S. economy and supporting marine commerce. It is estimated that NOAA’s products and services affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product.
With the 2008 Hurricane currently in full swing, I am sure NOAA and its National Hurricane Center have been extremely busy trying to provide the best information so people can stay safe, especially along the coast. With that in mind, NOAA reminds us of another weapon in their arsenal to help prepare for these dangerous storms and that is their Historical Hurricane Tracks website. NOAA’s Coastal Services Center tells us:
“When you know the history of hurricane landfalls in your community, you are better prepared to protect yourself from these potentially devastating storms,” says Margaret Davidson, the director of NOAA’s Coastal Services Center. “Historical Hurricane Tracks is part of a suite of products developed by the Center to help coastal residents, planners, and emergency managers prepare for — and reduce — the impacts of coastal storms.”
The Web site enables users to generate customized maps showing the path of storms that have made landfall in the United States in years past. Users can search by U.S. ZIP code, state or county, latitude and longitude, or a storm’s name or year. Searches can be narrowed to specific storm categories.
Developed by NOAA’s Coastal Services Center in partnership with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, the site contains more than 150 years of Atlantic hurricane data and nearly 60 years of Eastern North Pacific Ocean data, which may be downloaded for use in geographic information system applications. The site also links to detailed reports on the life history and effects of U.S. tropical cyclones since 1958.
NOAA aims to provide everyone with the most reliable information, both forecasted and historical, in order to make the best decisions for protecting property and enhancing public safety. By utilizing all the products and services that NOAA has to offer, communities in harms way can make the most educated decisions in reducing risk from these dangerous coastal storms.
With Hurricane Gustav now a Category 4 and gaining strength, the 2008 season is really starting to peak in strength. So gCaptain has put together a list of the best hurricane tracking website to help keep you informed and stay safe. Below are links and graphs we are using to track Gustav
IBISeye.com tracks any active tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane with accompanying news and any watches or warnings. Click on the map to interact.
Weather Underground provides forecasts for the US and the world with a fast, easy to use interface. The site is full weather maps, graphics and radar images, including a great tropical weather section with satellite maps, sea surface temperatures and hurricane advisories.
Of course NOAA has some of the most extensive, accurate and up to minute information to help track storms and provides official US weather, marine, fire and aviation forecasts, warnings, meteorological products, climate forecasts and information about meteorology. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center will provide you with everything you need to know to stay safe and knowledgable.
The US Navy NOGAPS Weather Forecast is another great resource for tracking storms with information provided by the US Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System.
Of the countless sites out there to help track weather, these are just a few of our favorites, so hopefully this will help everyone with their hurricane tracking needs. After all the best way to stay safe is to stay informed so if anyone out there knows any other great resources you prefer, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
NOAA has launched a one-stop Southeast Marine Weather Internet portal offering marine weather forecasts and real-time coastal wind and water condition information for the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
The portal is the result of a two-year, $579,546 NOAA-funded project implemented within the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, through the University of North Carolina/Wilmington. The portal is an experimental product developed in cooperation with NOAA’s National Weather Service and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
“The goal is to supply people with everything they might need to know to make the smartest decisions,” said Zdenka Willis, NOAA IOOS Program director. “Easier access to timely and useful water, weather and climate information will save lives, property and resources.”
The portal is part of IOOS, a tool for tracking, predicting, managing and adapting to changes in the marine environment. IOOS delivers data and information needed to increase understanding of the nation’s waters to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.
”The Southeast Marine Weather Portal has been developed with the end user - the mariner, sailor, surfer, beachgoer - in mind,” said Jennifer Dorton, program coordinator with the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNC Wilmington. “The portal provides the information they need to make safe and informed decisions before going out on the water or to the beach.”
For more real time weather charts and forecasts, check out gCaptain’s weather portal in our Tools page HERE.
NOAA has increased its confidence for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in an updated outlook for the 2008 season released today. NOAA is now projecting an 85% probability of an above-normal season, up from just the 65% probability of the May outlook.
Included in these numbers are the 5 named storms already formed this season. In May, NOAA forecast just 12-16 named storms with 6-9 developing into hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and on average produces 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.
Forecasters attribute this adjustment to atmospheric and oceanic conditions across the Atlantic Basin that favor storm development - combined with the strong early season activity including a very active July, the third most active since 1886.
A NOAA forecaster states:
“Leading indicators for an above-normal season during 2008 include the continuing multi-decadal signal – atmospheric and oceanic conditions that have spawned increased hurricane activity since 1995 – and the lingering effects of La Niña,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Some of these conditions include reduced wind shear, weaker trade winds, an active West African monsoon system, the winds coming off of Africa and warmer-than-average water in the Atlantic Ocean.”
CNN sends news of a tragic ferry capsize in the Phillipines. They write:
Rescuers have found at least 33 survivors and at least six dead among the nearly 750 aboard a ferry that capsized in Typhoon Fengshen that battered the southern Philippines, a Red Cross official said Monday.
A U.S. Navy ship equipped with helicopters will soon join the search and rescue effort, said Richard Gordon, the head of the Philippines Red Cross and a member of the country’s Senate.
Fishermen found 30 survivors from the ferry Princess of Stars, which rolled over early Saturday morning, Gordon said. One person died after being picked up, and another was lost during rescue efforts, he said, but the remaining 28 have been delivered to police.
Filipino troops have found five more survivors and five dead, Gordon said, bringing the known toll from the accident to six.
“There’s quite a few people out there that are still missing,” he said. “We are trying our best to find them, and I hope we could get some help.” Read More…
June 24 (Bloomberg) — Philippine divers found “many bodies” after entering a ferry that capsized in a typhoon three days ago with at least 849 passengers and crew on board, the Navy said today.
Divers can’t tell how many bodies are in the vessel because “it’s dark and they don’t have search lights,” said Coast Guard Commodore Luis Tuason, adding the chances of rescuers finding survivors are “slim.’
Only the tip of the bow of the 24,000-ton MV Princess of the Stars is above water off the central island of Sibuyan, where it sank June 21 in what may be the country’s worst ferry disaster in two decades.
Authorities have identified 48 survivors who made it to various islands, a revision from the figure of 57 reported earlier today, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Rogelio Villanueva told reporters at a briefing in Manila. The additional survivors were from separate sea and land incidents, he said.
The number of dead climbed to 70 after 55 bodies were reported in Claveria, a seaside town east of Sibuyan, he said. The dead include three bodies taken by divers from the ship.
There may have been as many as 862 passengers and crew on board, Salvacion Buaron, vice president of ship owner Sulpicio Lines Inc., said at the briefing. Continue Reading…
Rescuers have found at least 33 survivors and at least six dead among the nearly 750 aboard a ferry that capsized in 
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