Passage Planning: Text 1 (out of 3)
This first text of three shows a recipe to build a passage plan. Read it to understand and master the process of planning a safe navigation.
Pier du Sud est capitaine de voilier, marin et instructeur de voile. Il rédige des textes sur la voile, la navigation et les voyages en mer.
Automated Routing: Basic Principles
Read this if you wish to understand how onboard computers find time minimizing routes.
Professional Skipper: 8 Lessons Learned
I thought I would be in the Caribbean for a week. I stayed there four months as a skipper. Here are eight lessons learned from the experience.
Casio Pro Trek Watch: A Review
The Casio Pro Trek will appeal to those who want navigational features and do not want to worry about longevity. It is a mid-priced watch well worth its price.
Identifying the Course to Steer Algebraically
Tired of the graphical addition of vectors? Learn algebra and remember those trigonometric identities thaught by your high-school teacher
A Software For Drawing Navigation Symbols
This software is for instructors and professors of navigation. It draws navigation vectors as per the International Maritime Organization drawing convention.
Making an Electricity Budget on A Sailboat
Is your energy production sufficient to meet your electrical needs? Read this text to understand how to assess the electrical balance sheet of your boat.
How Nautical Charts Represent the World
It is not a conspiracy, nor a computer bug. It is a fact established mathematical fact in 1837: every rectangular map of the world is a lie.
Forecasting Tides With 37 Numbers
Tides are special. Almost all aspects of the weather are the outcome of complex interactions: cloud formation, winds, or rain patterns. For any of these dimensions, advanced numerical modeling is required in order to produce reliable forecasts, often limited to a window of four days. These models rely on large...
Diesel Engines: First Principles
A diesel engine relies on a controlled explosion in four stages: intake, compression, explosion and output. Unlike gas, diesel ignites on compression alone in the cylinder: no spark plug is needed.