Herb Hilgenberg
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Herb Hilgenberg is a Canadian sailing enthusiast who provided a daily ship-routing/weather forecasting service for vessels at sea between 1987 and 2013. Hilgenberg provided his service free of charge via marine HF/SSB on a frequency of 12359.0 kHz starting at 2000 UTC.[1]
Hilgenberg personally experienced bad weather at sea while sailing with his family. 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, 7 days a week, operating from his home in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Hilgenberg has assisted the Coast Guard during multiple search and rescue cases and is credited with saving several lives.
In 2013, after 25 years of operation, Hilgenberg closed his forecasting service.[2]
Awards
Hilgenberg was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.[3] In 2013, he was awarded the United States Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award.[2]
External links
References
- ^ Reed, Lajoux (12 January 2009). Reed's Nautical Almanac East Coast 2009. REED's Nautical Almanac. pp. 807–. ISBN 978-1-884666-95-7.
- ^ a b Galloway, Gloria. "Canadian weather watcher's life-saving work wins kudos from U.S. Coast Guard". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ Canada. Parliament. House of Commons (2 December 2002). House of Commons Debates.