The OCC has prepared a review of climate change for distance cruisers

by Ocean Cruising Club 11 May 2023 04:44 UTC

For some time, OCC members - among the most experienced and adventurous sailors in the world - have been observing and commenting on social media about the climate changes that are affecting decisions about passage making, storm avoidance, and seasonal boat storage. Such changes are now accepted as being exacerbated by humanity's effects on earth's ecosystems and may be accelerating.

The members of OCC's recently formed Environmental Team, in a proactive move to assist cruisers, contacted prominent meteorologists and weather routers and asked for their input on what they are seeing as they track traditional cruising routes.

What ensued is a review of Climate Change and Ocean Cruising (the impact on Passage Planning, Weather Forecasting and Weather Routing, etc) - with contributions from:

• Jimmy Cornell
• Frank Singleton
• Fred Pickhardt, Ocean Weather Services
• Sebastian Wache, WetterWelt GmbH
• Jeremy Davis, Weather Routing Inc
• Bob McDavitt

Not surprisingly, the views differ in some respects. It is our aim to present the differing points of view while informing distance sailors of the changing patterns that may affect safety at sea and on land. Included are considerations for shortened passage-making seasons, tolerable temperature ranges, expected changes in atmospheric and ocean currents, storm-free zones, weather extremes and much more.

The collective knowledge and experience of OCC members in ocean cruising constitutes a powerful source of advice and information for OCC Members and other ocean cruisers. Over the past few years, members have posted topics of interest to distance sailors on the OCC Forum and then collected and collated the input of their fellow members. The result is a series of white papers and guides to leading practices in seamanship and cruising. They provide practical steps, tried and tested techniques, and practices that have been developed and refined over time with input from subject matter experts and experienced cruisers. The practices now have been incorporated into guides published on the OCC website.

Vice Commodore Phil Heaton, OCC lead on this project, said, "The aim is to make the guides readily accessible to OCC Members and other cruisers, and more will follow. Climate Change and Ocean Cruising is the latest of these guides and we envision that it will be periodically updated."

These guides are available as downloadable pdfs for sailors as well as global media representatives from the OCC website. Please reference the Ocean Cruising Club when citing the reports. High resolution cover art is available upon request.

Please note, that any advice provided is that of the individual contributors and does not constitute the opinion of the Members or Officers of the Ocean Cruising Club.