- Currents Bluewater Cruising - https://currents.bluewatercruising.org -

Vancouver Fleet Report: March 2018

The March  meeting of the Vancouver Fleet was held on March 27 at the Scottish Cultural Centre.

Show and Tell feature included a do-it-yourself crotch strap to supplement a life jacket, and historic charts – Fiji and Strait of Georgia.

Cameron shared with the fleet that Malcolm MacPhail of Good as Gold has volunteered to give us a course on making accurate charts from Google Maps. Cameron explained the necessity of these charts by showing us a photo of Good as Gold’s chart plotter showing a 200m error on a Mexican chart. He showed us a chart of Vanua Baluva that Malcolm had made. These charts are used on computer programs like OpenCPN and work just like commercial ones on the boat’s chart plotter.

The fleet program began with a presentation on windvanes, exploring the various types and how they work led by Sarah and Will Curry, owners of Hydrovane [1]. They  followed this presentation by sharing their own cruising tips and traps, based on their cruising experiences in Mexico.

This program was webcast by Rosario Passos and viewed by some members of the Vancouver Island Fleet. We may be doing this again with future presentations.

There will be a special fleet meeting at the Maritime Museum on April 18 at 1800h. Malcolm MacPhail will be leading a presentation about Charts from Google Maps using ChartAid.

The next regular meeting on April 24 will cover Medical Emergencies at Sea by Fleet member, Janet McKeown. There will also be information from Dolphin Insurance.