Beam Reach

This is a cool new feature we’ve just implemented. On the Gato Verde we’ve got a transponder that sends a signal every 10 minutes or so and it is logged in a database so that we know where the boat is. The company that makes this transponder is called SPOT and they created […]

It’s cold in that water.
All of our students have to complete the swim test before they can sail on the Gato Verde.  It almost always makes the students nervous.  Of course it happens just days before they sail (many of them for the first time), so it gets wrapped up in the mind with “what […]

On Monday of this week the Spring 08 Beam Reach program set sail on the Gato Verde. They’ve been all over the west side of the San Juan Islands including False Bay and Snug Harbor. I’ve gotten several emails and as of Tuesday they hadn’t seen the whales. I hope they are […]

We now have another state of the art tool for our students. In a pilot project with Biosonics — a fisheries research equipment manufacturer in Seattle — Beam Reach students will be using a 200kHz hydroacoustic instrument to track salmon (the food of choice for the killer whales).
This will allow students to investigate the […]

Well the Beam Reach students are about to figure that out. It’s amazing to me how quickly students learn in this hands on program. The instructors provide them with an introduction, show them how things work and why, and then help the students in the field. Some of the students know almost […]

I got out of the office last week (yeah!) and got to meet the Fall 2007 students. It was fantastic.
I spend the majority of my working time telling students about this program and helping them through the application process. So I “get to know” most of our students before they arrive. Mostly […]

I think a tradition was born last Friday, July 28. Sailing, learning, and fun were had by all at our “open boat” event. Captain Todd Shuster gave tours and sails on his recently re-powered catamaran. Now the west coast’s only biodiesel-electric charter sailing vessel. We listened to an underwater hydrophone (wow, […]

I think a tradition was born last Friday, July 28. Sailing, learning, and fun were had by all at our “open boat” event. Captain Todd Shuster gave tours and sails on his recently re-powered catamaran. Now the west coast’s only biodiesel-electric charter sailing vessel. We listened to an underwater hydrophone (wow, it can be loud […]