Circumnavigation

Vergennes, Vermont

Weather is important to all sailors. To circumnavigators however weather is not enough. Weather can be predicted up to 3 days in advance (if that). Circumnavigators though make plans and commit themselves for much longer periods in the future. It would be fair to say that their concern lies in the grey area between weather and climate. They have several aids to help them.

• There are books. Most noticeable is World Cruising Routes, by Jimmy Cornell.
  
• There are pilot charts.
  
• There is a neat software program called Visual Passage Planner that has knowledge of the pilot chart data and can use computer optimization methods. I've used that program since we started cruising, even though our short offshore passages don't really need it. It's just fun to play with.
  
• Now, there's a marvelous visual representation of historical hurricane paths that make it perfectly obvious which parts of the world to avoid during hurricane season. See below. Click on the picture to see it full size.
  

Image Credit & Copyright: John Nelson, IDV Solutions