Henk de Velde's Never Ending Voyage : a journey to the edges of this earth

Henk has set out for a truly different expedition; and he's not coming back

Nomad of the sea on a Never Ending Voyage, sailed 6 times around the world
The Ancient Greeks used to divide men into three categories: the living, the dead, and those who are at sea… (From Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

From Explorersweb

Why do we explore?
Some write poems about it, others refuse to discuss it.

“If you have to ask why, you’ll never understand” said an old K2 poster. Others again live the answer. Who knew why Henk De Velde set out for an expedition that would never end. Not that it mattered. Because when it did end, it was after yet another enigmatic voyage.”

Juniper getting back to her roots in Puluwat

We were sailors in the old times, now we walk around with a multimeter,” he’d grumble.
When failure is obvious to everyone, Henk still charges on.
He’s that kind of an explorer, the one who’d leave Earth to never return.
About the meaning of exploration, “when we are born we discover life,” Henk de Velde said. “When we get older we discover knowledge; later wisdom. We will discover till the end of life.”

Links :

• Smalltridesign : Henk de Velde interview
• ChrisWhiteDesign : Henk de Velde and Juniper
  
• Hen de Velde website
  

Happy New Year 2012

It's been an amazing year with 10 nautical charts layers displayed in the Marine GeoGarage : USA, NZ, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Argentina, UK, Germany, Netherlands and Bahamas (about 8,000 charts and sub-charts).

So thank you for being more and more present supporting us and trusting the GeoGarage platform to help you in your different marine activities.



We're committed to providing the best nautical map tools to all the people who use our web and mobile mapping applications.

In the upcoming year, we plan to boost our project in order to roll out new features adding some more nautical charts layers.

picture Roger Androletti

Our goal is to provide the best possible geographical coverage with the larger catalogue of regularly updated nautical charts from international Hydrographic Offices.

We always welcome your feedback.

One more thing, don't forget to care for the oceans :

New island rises in the Red Sea

Caption: A plume rises from a new island in the Red Sea on Dec. 23, 2011.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory.

From OurAmazingPlanet

The Red Sea has a new inhabitant: a smoking island.

The island was created by a wild eruption that occurred in the Red Sea earlier this month.
It is made of loose volcanic debris from the eruption, so it may not stick around long.

The Zubair Island, where the new island emerged, on Oct. 24, 2007.

According to news reports, fishermen witnessed lava fountains reaching up to 90 feet (30 meters) tall on Dec. 19, which is probably the day the eruption began, said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

Ash plumes were seen emanating from the spot Dec. 20 and Dec. 22 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.
The Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite detected elevated levels of sulfur dioxide, further indicating an eruption.
By Dec. 23, what looked like a new island had appeared in the Red Sea off the west coast of Yemen.

"I am surprised about how quickly the island has grown," Klemetti, who writes Wired's Eruptions Blog, told OurAmazingPlanet.

The volcanic activity occurred along the Zubair Group, a collection of small islands that run in a roughly northwest-southeast line.
The islands rise from a shield volcano (a kind of volcano built from fluid lava flows) and poke above the sea surface.

Scientists will keep a close eye on the new island to see if it has staying power.

"Many times the islands are ephemeral as they are usually made of loose volcanic debris, so they get destroyed by wave action quite quickly," Klemetti said.
But the volcanic activity could outpace the erosion due to the wave action.

Newly emerging islands aren't unheard of.
Other newly emerged islands include Surtsey off of Iceland, Anak Krakatau in the caldera of Krakatoa in Indonesia, and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha`apai in Tonga in the South Pacific.

Links :

• Wired : Vulcan’s View 6: Eruption News and Volcanoes From Space for December 23, 2011
• Global Volcanism Program : Zubair
• Google Earth : kml file
  

Sydney-Hobart 2011 : Investec Loyal's against-the-odds victory closest in 28 years

Investec Loyal crossed the finishing line minutes ahead of Wild Oats XI

From TheGuardian

The Australian supermaxi Investec Loyal's victory in the Sydney-Hobart was upheld on Thursday when a protest claiming its crew asked a media helicopter pilot to spy on a rival was dismissed.

Investec Loyal

A relieved Investec Loyal skipper Anthony Bell said a three-hour international yacht racing committee hearing had cleared his boat of any wrongdoing.

Wild Oats XI

Investec Loyal's win on Wednesday was the closest in 28 years, crossing the line in the 680 nautical mile race only minutes ahead of the supermaxi Wild Oats XI.

"The full committee has dismissed the protest and announced us the win," Bell said in Hobart after the hearing.
"It's an against-the-odds victory for us. We felt when we left the dock on Boxing Day that we were going to do good this year."

The protest claimed that an Investec Loyal crew member asked the helicopter pilot whether Wild Oats XI was using a tri-sail as the two boats sailed down the Australian east coast on Tuesday morning.
Under yacht racing rules such a request could be viewed as outside assistance.
The committee ruled that the crewman's question was not aimed at gaining a racing advantage but was linked to his business as he had sold the sail to Wild Oats XI.

Wild Oats XI had led the race from the start on Monday, with Investec Loyal only gaining the lead in fickle winds in the later stages.
The two boats engaged in a nail-biting tacking duel to the finish line in Hobart.

"It was a great moment that got cut short," said Bell.
"But I'd prefer if there was a question mark on anything in the race that it was dealt with properly, rather than it overlooked. You won't want to hear about it in years to come.
"No matter what they say, 'we won on the water, don't worry about what happens in the room', what happens in the room does matter."

Investec Loyal took two days, six hours, 14 minutes and 18 seconds to finish the race, well outside the record of one day, 18 hours and 40 minutes.

A yacht, bottom right, sails towards a large storm cloud as it races towards Hobart during the Sydney To Hobart 2010 yacht race.
Picture: AP Photo/Rolex, Carlo Borlenghi

GLONASS fully functional

iPhone 4S v iPhone 4 GNSS (GPS+GLONASS) comparison
The iPhone 4S uses GPS and GLONASS from an MDM6610 for location purposes,
whereas the iPhone 4 uses GPS from BCM4750.

From TheVoiceofRussia

Russia has successfully developed its own analogue of the American GPS, named GLONASS

Recent launches from Baikonur have brought the satellite constellation of GLONASS to the planned 24, giving the system a global coverage.

Dr Andrei Ionin works for the operators of GLONASS.

He explains the geopolitical significance of this global navigation and positioning system: "Russia and its actual as well as potential allies are becoming independent of the American GPS, which may be turned off, globally or regionally, whenever the Americans want this. With GLONASS on, the world is becoming a safer place."

When the GLONASS constellation reached 18, precise navigation across Russia became possible.

With all 24 GLONASS satellites in orbit, your GLONASS receiver can pick signal from the quartette that is necessary for precise positioning anywhere in the world.

Dr Ionin again:"At long last, you are one hundred percent assured that in any corner of the world you can rely solely on GLONASS for your navigation and positioning needs."

He says the military in several countries including Russia and India are to receive satnav devices that use only GLONASS.

Civilian users around the world are to benefit from both GLONASS and the GPS:

"Many of the world’s consumer electronics makers are already developing or even marketing satnav devices with dual GLONASS and GPS enablement.

In mid-October, GLONASS-cum-GPS-enabled iPhones hit the market.

Dual enablement is particularly important in cities, where metre-scale precision and continuity are at a premium.

Taken alone, neither GLONASS nor the GPS possesses the minimum 50 satellites that are needed for this.