NAVOPLAN's Insights for Safer Passages

Stories, strategies, and tools from NAVOPLAN to help dreamers and cruisers prepare for confident ocean passages.

Dwain Craddock at sea — How NAVOPLAN was born

For decades, I dreamed of owning a sailboat and exploring the world. I taught myself to sail, devoured books, took classes, watched videos, and spent as much time on the water as I could. Each month, I looked forward to Sail and Passagemaker magazines, pouring over every article as if they were roadmaps to a life I hadn’t yet begun.

My first boat was a humble Catalina 22 on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia — a boat I purchased from Buena Vista Pictures (Disney) after it appeared in the film What About Bob? with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.

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Choosing the right bluewater cruising boat

The 5 Critical Factors

  • Crew Adaptation Factor – Stability, comfort ratio, and motion tolerance for your crew.
  • Range Under Power – Measured in nautical miles before refueling. 600nm may be enough for coastal, 3,500+nm for ocean crossings.
  • Sleep Size – Berth capacity compared with crew numbers. Rest and privacy matter at sea.
  • Water Underway – Storage and/or watermaker capacity to sustain the crew between ports.
  • Skill & Purpose – Matching vessel complexity and mission to your experience and goals.

These factors can be quantified. NAVOPLAN uses your profile and vessel data to generate fit scores that highlight the most suitable boats.

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Why every cruiser needs a digital float plan

Traditional float plans are almost always out of date the moment they’re printed. Routes change, weather shifts, and delays happen. Paper or buried email plans can’t keep up. In a real SAR, the search area can be vast—NAVOPLAN’s Active Tracking records your progress and raises concern when movement stops.

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