Herb Hilgenberg (born 1937) is a Canadian amateur meteorologist and sailing enthusiast who provided a daily ship-routing/weather forecasting service for vessels at sea. Between 1987 and 2013, Hilgenberg provided this service free of charge via marine HF/SSB on a frequency of 12359.0 kHz starting at 2000 UTC.[1][2]
Hilgenberg has assisted the Coast Guard during multiple search and rescue cases and is credited with saving several lives.[3]
History
editHilgenberg holds BASc and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto.[4]
In 1982, Hilgenberg personally experienced bad weather at sea while sailing from New York to the Virgin Islands with his family.[5] In response to the lack of information about weather on the ocean, Hilgenberg started to contact boats on the ocean and update them with weather forecasts and routing suggestions. He provided his service to approximately 50 vessels a day, seven days a week, operating first from his home in Bermuda, and then from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1994.[5]
In 2013, after 25 years of operation, 76-year old Hilgenberg retired and subsequently closed his forecasting service.[5][6][7]
Awards
editHilgenberg was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.[8][9][10] In 2013, he received the Meritorious Public Service Award from the United States Coast Guard.[5][11]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ Reed, Lajoux (12 January 2009). Reed's Nautical Almanac East Coast 2009. REED's Nautical Almanac. pp. 807–. ISBN 978-1-884666-95-7.
- ^ Michael J. Tougias; Casey Sherman (29 December 2015). The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue. Simon and Schuster. pp. 327–. ISBN 978-1-5011-2717-5.
- ^ Johnston-Barnes, Owain (2011-05-04). "Couple relieved to be safe after leaking yacht drama". www.royalgazette.com. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ "Maritime Men". University of Toronto. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ a b c d Galloway, Gloria. "Canadian weather watcher's life-saving work wins kudos from U.S. Coast Guard". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ Tom Cunliffe (14 April 2016). The Complete Ocean Skipper: Deep-water Voyaging, Navigation and Yacht Management. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-1-4729-1814-7.
- ^ Hayes q, Christine. "Herb Hilgenberg's Forecast and Routing Service Is Off the Air after a Quarter-Century". Sail Magazine. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ Canada. Parliament. House of Commons (2 December 2002). House of Commons Debates.
- ^ Torsney, Paddy. "Queen's Jubilee Medal Statements by Members". Open Parliament. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ "The Golden Jubilee Medal". The Governor General of Canada.
- ^ "Burlington legend of the airwaves honoured by U.S. Coast Guard". Metro News. Retrieved 22 November 2016.