The Law of Averages

Averages are an incredible mathematical phenomenon, but they can also play into social experiments as well. If you ask a large enough sample size an obscure question and average the answers, the average answer will be correct! Now, the correct answer comes out of a series that is mostly composed of incorrect answers, and yet the average lies somewhere in the middle where the truth also lurks!

This wonder of averages is important to remember when ocean crossing. There will be fast times and slow times. Some days, you will sail farther than 100 miles in a 24 hour period! Other days, you might not even make 20 miles.

If you focus on the minute details, you will be focusing on the incorrect information. Instead, you should look at the averages.

In a day, you will have times when you sail fast and times when you sail slow. If you are pleased by the fast times, you will be disappointed when things slow down. Or, you could look at how many miles you sailed that day and be pleasant.

Now, looking at each day is also rather nit-picky. Some days you will sail farther than others, but over the course of the journey, you will find that you will sail on average 100 miles per day. Your boat might be faster and average a higher number, or your boat might be slower and you average a smaller number, but it will be in the neighborhood of 100 miles per day.

To sail 100 miles in 24 hours, you need to maintain a speed of around 4.5 knots (4.16 knots to be exact). But instead of worrying about how fast you are going at each and every moment, simply turn off your instruments and relax. Whether you trim your sails for maximum performance or you sit back and relax as you lazily scoot along, you will still get there, and it all averages out in the end.

Celestial Navigation for Dummies (in the Western Hemisphere)

Celestial Navigation is an utmost skill needed for any ocean voyager. Compasses can lie, electronic equipment can fail, but the stars will always be there! Yes, a cloudy day or night will obscure your view of the stars, but at some point, something will become visible in the sky and if you know how to use it, you can get a bearing on where you are.

The easiest way to find your position is to take a Noonsite. This will give you your latitude and your longitude with the least amount of math. All you need to get your noon site is a sextant and a clock (which is set at UTC time).

A noon site requires you to know how to use a sextant, which is really easy to learn. All you are doing is measuring the angle between the sun and the horizo.

When you take your noon site, you will receive two pieces of information that you will later translate into coordinates on a map. First you will have your time, which gives you your longitude. Second, you will have your sextant measurement, which will give you your latitude. 

Longitude

Longitude is a factor of time on Earth. To make this explanation simpler, we need to use an Earthcentric view of the universe.  

Remember that the Sun revolves around the Earth once every 24 hours. The Earth can be divided into 360 degrees of longitude, and in 24 hours, 360 degrees will pass by. 

360 degrees / 24 hours = 15 degrees per hour. 

At noon over Greenwich (where UTC is the time zone) the sun is directly overhead (their local noon).
In one hour, the sun will be directly over 15 degrees W.  
In two hours, the sun will be directly over 30 degrees W.
n three hours, the sun will be directly over 45 degrees W, and so on.

This means that the time of your noon site is going to b a cryptic form of your longitude, and with really simple math, can be converted into your East or West coorditantes.

When you take your noon site, look at the time (it is helpful to set a 24 hour clock to UTC so that you don't make any errors in calculation here, as each hour is 15 degrees!). Then you will simply subtract your time by 12, as this will give you the difference in time from Greenwich to your local noon.

Now take your time difference and separate it into two columns, hours and minutes. The hours will be multiplied by 15 and the minutes by 0.25; the answer will then be added to give you your coordinates.

Decimals are easy to convert into minutes by simply multiplying the decimal by 60.

So, for example, say its 4:55 PM UTC when the sun is directly overhead and you take your noon site. The math will be as follows:

   16  :  55
 -12. :  00

    4  :  55
x15   x0.2

   60  +  13.7     (0.75 degrees x 60 = 45 minutes)
  60* +  13*45'
  73*45'W

Just that simple, you now know that your latitude is 73 degrees and 45 minutes West.

Another example would be local noon (when the sun is directly overhead) at 2:38 PM UTC.

The math would be as follows:

  14  :  3
-12  :  00
   2  :  38
x15  x0.25
  30  +  9.5     (0.5 x 60 = 30 minutes)
 30* +  9*30'

  39*30'

Thats all there is too it! Longitude has nothing to do with the actual number that is displayed on your sextant but everything to do with "when" you measured the sun at its highest point in the sky.

Latitude

Ok, latitude is the North & South value of your coordinates and really weighs heavily on the reading you record with your sextant. To properly calculate your latitude using the sun (by day, obviously), you will need to use the tables in the Nautcal Almanac. These tables can seem long and complicated, and very confusing, but they are not all that bad once you learn what to look for. f you don't want to use a book, you can always download the latest Nautical Almanac for free! A simple Google Search will pull up a few options, and you will certainly be able to download your own copy.

I personally use a print version from 2017 (I bought it in late 2016 and have not updated my copy as of late 2018) as the angle of the sun over the horizon doesn't change all that much from one year to the next. Yes, your reading will not be as accurate as possible, but at the same time, you are measuring the sun on a pitching and rolling deck of a boat out in the ocean! There are going to be errors in your measurement, so a few tiny errors in your calculations will only compound into a slight bit of error in your final coordinates.

It is important to keep something in perspective here, the goal of basic celestial navigation is to ind land, not to find your exact position on the earth. Advanced celestial navigation will allow you to pinpoint your exact position by using three distinct celestial bodies and finding their intersected lines of position. That is very accurate and also a lot of work to do, which is why basic celestial navigation is just fine for ocean cruising.

The goal is to be less than 25nm off from your actual position. A GPS will tell you your true position, and you can then do some simple math to figure out how far off you are. It is good to practice that way you can get your error way down to less than 25nm. I personally tend to get us within 4nm of our true position with simple math and an outdated Nautical Almanac, meaning it can be done and it's not difficult to do. A 25nm error or less will allow you to find land, and once you reach land, you can then use visual navigation to get yourself in to port. By constantly practicing, you will know how good you are at celestial navigation should your electronic navigation equipment fail, forcing you to rely solely on your basic celestial navigation skills.

On the other hand, if you do not have a Nautical Almanac, you can also just measure the angle from the horizon to Polaris, the North Star, and that is your latitude; no math involved!

An important factor that your Nautical Almanac will tell you is a value called Declination. This is the angle of the sun relative to the horizon. You know how shadows are taller in the winter and shorter in the summer, this is because the sun is further overhead in the summer and lower on the horizon in the winter.

The Nautical Almanac is nothing more than an overfilled calendar. On the top corner of the page is the date range of that page, so simply leaf until you find today's page. Then look on the left side of the page for today's date. Then in the box of today, look for the hour you took your noon site. Don't worry too hard about the (time) minutes that you took your sight, simply round up or down to the nearest whole hour. Now, the declination will be displayed to you as Degrees, Minutes, and Decimal of Minutes.

Simply write this number down and begin to do your simple math!

You will take your sextant reading and substract it from 90 degrees, as the sun is directly overhead when you took your noon site. Then you will add or substract your declination to this number. The answer will be your coordinates for latitude.

You might be wondering what I mean when I say add or substract; which one is it? Well, it depends. If the sun is between you and the equator, you will add. If you are between the sun and the equator, you will substract. To keep the math and theory here simple, since this is just "Basic Celelstial Navigation" let's suggest that you do both and see which one is closer to where you actually are.

For example, you are sailing through the Bahamas, meaning that your latitude is somewhere between 27N and 22N. You get your sextant reading and you find today in the Nautical Almanac. It says your declination is 23*24.7' That is a pretty accurate value presented to you, but should you add or substract it from your recording? Well do both and see which one fits your assumed position best! One will be close to where you actually are and the other will be wrong by almost 24 degrees! Now you know for your present location that you should either add or substract next time.

This may sound really confusing, but I guarantee you that it is very simple to carry out this calculation. Lets do an example:

Declination is 23*24.7'
extant recording is 87*04'

We start by subtracting our reading from 90. Since each degree is 60 minutes, it makes the math easier if you just write out 90* as 89*60'

  89* 60'
-87* 04'

   2* 56'

Now, we aren't sure if we should add or substract, so lets do both!

     2*     56'
 -23*     24.7'

-21*      31.3'  A negative value would indicate that you are south of the equator, and thus in the Southern Hemisphere as you sail through the Bahamas. 

21*31.3'S

    2*   56'
  +23*  24.7'

25*    80.7'     (80.7' - 60' = 20.7') Each degree is 60', so to turn a number like 80 into degrees and minutes, simply substract 60 from it. The remaining number is minutes, and the 60 you took off becomes 1 degree.
25*    1* 20.7'    Now add the values together and that will be a possible N value for you as you sail through the Bahamas.

26*20.7'N

Being how you are in the Bahamas, the value of 26*20.7'N seems more plausible than 21*31.3S, so you know for the time being that you need to be adding your declination to the value, instead of subtracting it.

 

Finding Your Coordinates

It is important to know where you are before you leave, that way you have a rough idea of what the answer should be while you are doing your calculations. If you find that you are way off, you know you made some clerical error and can figure out how to make adjustments to erase this error in tomorrows noon site. 

Remember, Longitude is a factor of time, Latitude is a factor of the sun at noon with some minor addition or subtraction. 

With this, you can figure out where you are in the ocean using only a sextant and a clock! 

The Truth about Ocean Crossing

Yes, crossing an ocean is a long endevour. It takes time to prepare your yacht for the journey, as well as time to prepare yourself mentally for what is to come. You are ready to eat all of your food, read all your books, and repair everything that breaks along the way! But, are you ready for what your boat will look like when you finally make landfall?

When you coastal sail, you will heel over as your sails fill and you move along, then you reach a destination and the yacht will come to rest in an upright position. The topsides remain out of the water and the bottom paint in the water. 

When you are blue water sailing, you will be heeled over for days. Not only will you be sailing the whole way, but you will probably be on the same tack for most of the journey! When we left Bermuda, we were on starboard tack for the first 12 days. This meant that our topsides with no antifouling paint was submerged for almost two weeks straight. 

The fouling growth formed on the old topsides paint, staining the white a hideous dark smear.  

The stern overhang really grew some lovely slime, as this area of the boat was perpetually bathed by the stern wave. 

Between being heeled over an average of 10 degrees for the entire trip, the constant following seas we had the whole way across, or surfing down our stern wave indefinitely; our stern definitely grew the most life on our voyage. It is interesting to note how well the antifouling worked, as the blue bottom paint is completely clear while the white topside paint above it is covered in layers of slime and growth. 

When we hauled out in the Azores, we did not have the boat power washed, as we were going to be sanding the paint away shortly in preparation for the next project. The growth that is visible is untouched and undisturbed in its locations and intensity.

When you make it to the other side of the ocean, don't expect your topsides to look as pretty as you feel. You will have some scrubbing to do when you get there! 

Ocean Sailing Personalities

Everyone has heard of Type A, and Type B personalities. Type A people are high strung go-getters who live their lives by a rigid schedule and everything must be kept at its highest level of performance.

Type B people are laid back and relaxed. If something needs to get done, they will get it done eventually, but it probably won't happen by the deadline. Schedules, to them, are those things that some people talk about, but they don't really know much about them.

A seldom known third type of personality, known as Type C, also exists. Type C people are those that can switch between being Type A and Type B. These people are the true leaders in ocean sailing.

Ocean sailing requires you to earn enough money to buy or build a boat capable of crossing the ocean. This means that you need to get stuff done to hold down a job that will pay enough to do such a feat. Type A people excel at this, as their dream is to work in the fast paced and competitive world of business. They will earn their money and work hard towards getting to their dream. Type B people may dream of sailing across an ocean, but they can never seem to get their act together. This financial roadblock keeps most of them from ever getting the opportunity to go out to sea.

The sad truth is, the best personality to have when out at sea is Type B. Ocean sailing is slow and boring. When there is no wind, there is no forward movement! You simply sit there bobbing around as you wait for winds to come. A Type B person will use this time to relax and enjoy the view, while a Type A person will go absolutely stir crazy! They will see the slow speed and factor it out for the duration of the journey and calculate that they will never make it in time! They set out to sea with a mental arrival date because they need a schedule, and seeing that this calm and relaxing day will lead them to be late; a term that is unacceptable to be used to describe them.

The best personality type for such a crossing is going to be a Type C person. This person can be Type A in the professional world, achieving great accolades and earning enough to purchase a bluewater boat, and then switch to Type B so that they can enjoy the ocean crossing.

Speed While Crossing an Ocean

We picked up a third crew member to cross the Atlantic with us. This is his first ocean crossing and something that he has always wanted to do. He is a very competent sailor who knows his stuff (a huge improvement over the previous crew member). His background is in racing, meaning that he can trim and squeak out every last knot available. When he is approaching hull speed, he will imagine that there is still more power available and continue to trim. He obsesses over every tenth of a knot, making the boat sail as fast as possible.

This makes for fun and spirited sails over short distances, but this philosophy is very different from ocean crossing.

In ocean crossing, the goal is to get to the other side of the ocean with everything still working and as comfortably as possible. This means sitting back and relaxing as the sails and wind carry you from Point A to Point B. You are not going to be moving as fast as possible, but you are moving comfortably. This comfortable moving is what ocean cruising is all about. The trip is going to be several weeks, and if we wear ourselves out in the first day, we will be dead from exhaustion by the time we make our distant landfall. Instead, sailing comfortably is our goal, that way we arrive at the next destination rested and ready to explore!

This difference in philosophy came up when I saw a storm system forming. A massive thunderhead had been billowing up behind us with massive clouds climbing high into the sky. At this point, the system was only developing but I knew to keep my eye on it as it could start to come our way with devastating consequences.

All of a sudden, the massive cloud formation turned into an anvil cloud with the horn extending right over our boat. The cloud became so thick that it blocked out the sun! Instantly, I knew it was time to reef down. We were full sail with our Main, Staysail, and Jib flying; soon we would be only the staysail and trysail.

The concept of putting up the trysail in light airs perplexed our racing friend. "The winds are light, we can just switch the sail when the winds get here." I responded with, when the winds hit, no one wants to go up to the mast and wrestle with sails. The day was drawing to an end and the sun would be setting soon. Changing from full-sail to storm-sails is one thing, but doing it in the dark on a moonless night is completely different! To be safe, we simply set the storm sails and waited for the weather to reach us.

Our speed went from 5 knots to 4 knots. This meant that for every hour that we waited as the storm approached, we would theoretically lose 1 nautical mile of travel. That may sound like a significant loss in distance made good in a short course, but we are traveling 2800+ miles! 1 mile is 0.000357% of the journey, so not a significant issue to me, who is a comfortable cruiser and not a racer.

Late that night, the winds finally came, and we may have lost a theoretical 5 or so miles, but who cares! When the winds hit late at night, we were ready and relaxed. There was no drama caused by the boat pitching and rolling, instead the off-watch crew didn't even know it occurred.