OCC Information Systems
It can be difficult to know what information we can find where in the wealth of information systems available to OCC Members; and how to contribute to them. Of course, we all use our favourite platforms for whatever seems appropriate. This is my take on what information sits where!

Both the OCC Members’ Website and the OCC App provide windows onto the OCC’s store of information. They both provide access to a searchable archive of Flying Fish going back to the first volume in 1964, thanks to Anne Hammick, the OCC Archivist, who led the project to complete this mammoth task. The Archive can be browsed by cruising area as well as by date. The searchable database also contains Cruising Information contributed by members over the past 30 years and links to information in the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation.

The OCC App covers Cruising Information and the fleet map which in turn links to members' profiles and their contact details which are stored on the web. The App shows members cruising nearby on the Fleet Map, where members live on the map and displays the location and contact details of Port Officers. It is easy to contribute Cruising Information using the App. It provides access to much of the information on the OCC database.

The OCC Website has two sections, public and members only. The top right-hand corner menu on the members section covers both sections of the site. The Search tool on the OCC Website is by far the best way to find everything that the website has to offer. This search tool looks everywhere - Forum, Flying Fish, Newsletters, web pages, etc. It is our "one stop shop" for finding information on any topic you can think of. ‘Search OCC Website’ is shown on the site menu under ‘Cruising Information’. This menu is accessed by clicking on the ‘doughnut’ icon, top right of the Home Page. Although shown under Cruising Information, this search engine accesses all of the data on the OCC website. If you enter the words Chart Plotter in the search criteria box, the search will return all articles containing either the word Chart, the word Plotter, or the phrase Chart Plotter. If you only want to sea articles containing the complete phrase Chart Plotter you should enter Chart+Plotter into the search criteria box. So, if you want to find out about Palmerston Island, enter Palmerston+Island.

Please keep your Personal Information up-to-date on the members website at My Details, Personal Details. If a member wishes to share their Cruising Plans this can be done through the members site: My Other Details. These cruising plans will appear under the members’ fleet map profile on the website and on the App. Cruising Plans can also be posted on the Facebook or WhatsApp group for the region you are planning to visit (See below for Regional Facebook and WhatsApp groups).

It is easier and quicker to access and contribute Cruising Information using the OCC App. If you wish to contribute Cruising Information on the Website you can do this in the My Details Section of the Web under Submit Cruising Information.

The Forum is our "chat room". Members can pose questions here. The Forum is used for technical discussions and for club policy discussions. Information is preserved here in searchable format. The forum has been separated from the website. You will need to log on to this in order to post information.
1. Bring up the Forum: https://forum.oceancruisingclub.org/
2. Click on Login (top right corner of the screen).
3. Enter your OCC website username and password.
If you need help with the Forum, email forum@oceancruisingclub.org

Simon Currin is the Digital Content Editor for the Website. He manages the News feeds for the Home page of the Members site. He posts them all as ‘general news’ feeds. Once they have been live for a month they are recategorized under ‘Environmental’, ‘Challenge Grant’ etc. as appropriate. If someone wishes to Contribute to News, they should send it to Simon webeditor@oceancruisingclub.org.

When Simon posts a Newsfeed on the website it automatically goes to Facebook and BlueSky. Simon monitors our Facebook and BlueSky feeds for News for the Website as does Emily Winter for the Newsletter. You can receive notifications whenever something new is posted to the Website by either subscribing to our RSS Feed, or following our Facebook/ BlueSky feeds.

To submit content for the Newsletter email Emily Winter newsletter@oceancruisingclub.org.

To submit content for Flying Fish email Emily flying.fish@oceancruisingclub.org .

OCC Social Media feeds can be found on Instagram and Facebook, WhatsApp and BlueSky. Our "X" (formerly Twitter) account has been deactivated and BlueSky will be used for future news feeds. Details of OCC Social Media groups are here.

Facebook: The Club’s Facebook Page is visible to Members and non-members and is linked to the OCC website News & Events, having up-to-date news about cruising related matters.
WhatsApp: Under the OCC WhatsApp community we run a number of groups, intended to provide a place for members based or visiting an area to connect and share advice and plans.
Instagram: Instagram allows Members to post and feature photos from their mobile devices. If Members would like photos to be featured, please email a brief description of the photo, or message it to the OCC through the OCC Instagram account.
BlueSky: The OCC on BlueSky propagates news and events posts from the website and is also fed by relevant responses, along with appropriate feeds to follow (members, influential blue water sailors, ocean sailing organisations and OCC partners) the chief focus on BlueSky is to expand our reach to blue water sailors who may be interested in joining the OCC.

Facebook and WhatsApp groups are an excellent way to keep in touch with others in a specific area. At present active members in Facebook groups significantly outnumber WhatsApp members. WhatsApp regional groups are restricted to OCC Members; Regional Facebook Groups are open to non-members. My suggestion is to use OCC Facebook because this has a larger number of participants and is used for the more formal information like entry regulations, environmental messages and security situations; OCC WhatsApp is more appropriate to be managed locally for cruises in company and for social events.

To join an OCC Facebook Group Contact: facebook@oceancruisingclub.org

Facebook Groups (8)
OCC Caribbean Cruising
OCC North Atlantic Crossing 2023: East to West
OCC Atlantic Crossing 2023: West to East
OCC Pacific Crossing
OCC Members Group - Members Only
OCC Indian Ocean Crossing
OCC Treasure Chest - Members Only
OCC South Atlantic Crossing 2023

To request to join an OCC WhatsApp Group, email Emily Winters adminsupport@oceancruisingclub.org. Membership of the OCC WhatsApp Groups is restricted to OCC Members,

WhatsApp Groups (12)
Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) (only Admins may post on this)
OCC Atlantic
OCC Caribbean
OCC Panama Transit
OCC Pacific Crossing
OCC Indian Ocean
OCC Southern Ocean
OCC Mediterranean Cruising
OCC Scandinavia: Baltic Sea, Norway and North
OCC Iceland/Greenland/NE Canada
OCC Western Europe (UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Atlantic France, Atlantic Spain & Portugal
OCC Caribbean - West and North

Club Dates, Deadlines and Contacts
EBulletin    Monthly    20th of each month    ebulletin@oceancruisisngclub.org
Newsletter    Quarterly    20th Jan, Apr, Jul, Dec    newsletter@oceancruisisngclub.org
Flying Fish    Annually    1 Sep    flying.fish@oceancruisisngclub.org
AGM Papers    Annually    28 days prior to AGM    secretary@oceancruisisngclub.org
Club Awards    Annually    31 Dec    awards@oceancruisisngclub.org
Membership renewal    Annually    1 Feb    secretary@oceancruisisngclub.org


Compiled by:
George Curtis
17h January 2025

OCC Index Page…. Or smaller Cruising Resources map chunks…. Slow Internet access can be an issue…



Thanks George,

I am an OCC fan and I do use a lot of OCC resources.

Would it be possible to have an index page or smaller chunks of the cruising resources map? I feel your email above would be a great format for such an index. For example, to use the world map of cruising resources takes up a lot of internet data.

Currently I’m having my boat batteries replaced and cannot access shorepower. So unable to use my Starlink, it is virtually impossible to access the OCC cruising resources World map.

For example, currently I need to find the contact details for our Martinique Port Officer. However when clicking on the OCC cruising resources world map, it just freezes.


Having failed to access our app or website information due to the slowness of my current WiFi, it would be useful to go direct to an OCC index to access this cruising resources information. Even a download-able list of Worldwide port officers would be useful.

Can you help, or would such an index or smaller cruising resources map chunks be too much ?

Kind Regards & Fair winds,



Sonia
Yacht Salacia

+x

 

Sonia Johal - 17 Jan 2025

OCC Index Page…. Or smaller Cruising Resources map chunks…. Slow Internet access can be an issue…



Thanks George,

I am an OCC fan and I do use a lot of OCC resources.

Would it be possible to have an index page or smaller chunks of the cruising resources map? I feel your email above would be a great format for such an index. For example, to use the world map of cruising resources takes up a lot of internet data.

Currently I’m having my boat batteries replaced and cannot access shorepower. So unable to use my Starlink, it is virtually impossible to access the OCC cruising resources World map.

For example, currently I need to find the contact details for our Martinique Port Officer. However when clicking on the OCC cruising resources world map, it just freezes.


Having failed to access our app or website information due to the slowness of my current WiFi, it would be useful to go direct to an OCC index to access this cruising resources information. Even a download-able list of Worldwide port officers would be useful.

Can you help, or would such an index or smaller cruising resources map chunks be too much ?

Kind Regards & Fair winds,



Sonia
Yacht Salacia

+x

 

Sonia Johal - 17 Jan 2025

OCC Index Page…. Or smaller Cruising Resources map chunks…. Slow Internet access can be an issue…



Thanks George,

I am an OCC fan and I do use a lot of OCC resources.

Would it be possible to have an index page or smaller chunks of the cruising resources map? I feel your email above would be a great format for such an index. For example, to use the world map of cruising resources takes up a lot of internet data.

Currently I’m having my boat batteries replaced and cannot access shorepower. So unable to use my Starlink, it is virtually impossible to access the OCC cruising resources World map.

For example, currently I need to find the contact details for our Martinique Port Officer. However when clicking on the OCC cruising resources world map, it just freezes.


Having failed to access our app or website information due to the slowness of my current WiFi, it would be useful to go direct to an OCC index to access this cruising resources information. Even a download-able list of Worldwide port officers would be useful.

Can you help, or would such an index or smaller cruising resources map chunks be too much ?

Kind Regards & Fair winds,



Sonia
Yacht Salacia

Thanks Sonia,
I have passed you suggestoin on to Bill Weigel who manages our upgrades to the web.
Fair Winds,
George

+x

 

George.Curtis - 17 Jan 2025

+x

 

Sonia Johal - 17 Jan 2025

OCC Index Page…. Or smaller Cruising Resources map chunks…. Slow Internet access can be an issue…



Thanks George,

I am an OCC fan and I do use a lot of OCC resources.

Would it be possible to have an index page or smaller chunks of the cruising resources map? I feel your email above would be a great format for such an index. For example, to use the world map of cruising resources takes up a lot of internet data.

Currently I’m having my boat batteries replaced and cannot access shorepower. So unable to use my Starlink, it is virtually impossible to access the OCC cruising resources World map.

For example, currently I need to find the contact details for our Martinique Port Officer. However when clicking on the OCC cruising resources world map, it just freezes.


Having failed to access our app or website information due to the slowness of my current WiFi, it would be useful to go direct to an OCC index to access this cruising resources information. Even a download-able list of Worldwide port officers would be useful.

Can you help, or would such an index or smaller cruising resources map chunks be too much ?

Kind Regards & Fair winds,



Sonia
Yacht Salacia

Thanks Sonia,
I have passed you suggestoin on to Bill Weigel who manages our upgrades to the web.
Fair Winds,
George

Hello Sonia,

I am glad to hear that you find the various OCC information resources useful.  We are always looking for the best ways to access this information with improvements in website navigation as well as tools like the OCC mobile APP that allows certain resources to be available offline.  Here are a few comments that will hopefully address your questions.  We have a few different map tools on the website but I believe your reference to "Cruising Resources" map is the map tool accessed as follows:   Members Area - Membership Benefits - Interactive Map (link):  Members Resource Map

All of the items in this resource map are available under individual menu items in the Membership Benefits menu.  For example, there is a menu item specifically for a Port Officer index here:  Membership Benefits - Port Officers.  Other items such as Events, Dockage, Affiliated Clubs and Discounts are also represented as an index with this Members Benefits Menu.

You also mentioned that it would be useful to have a version of the port officer listing available offline.  This document can also be accessed from the Port Officer page by clicking on the BLUE link labeled "Complete Port Officers List".  That link brings you here: Membership Benefits - Port Officers - Complete Port Officer List.  You may download the PDF document and store it on your computer. 

Finally, many members are finding the OCC mobile APP quite useful when cruising with limited WIFI or only weak cellular data connectivity. The OCC mobile APP may be downloaded on either the Apple Store or the Google Playstore.  Once a user installs and initially logs into the mobile APP a small database is downloaded to the user device.  This data is available offline.  Offline data includes  such items as the Membership Directory, Port Officer listing, and a variety of items on the interactive map page. 

Hopefully you will find these comments helpful.  Let me know if you have additional questions.

Thanks - Bill Weigel