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Since the beginning of time mankind has ventured forth upon the sea, to flee a homeland or discover new worlds, to find sustenance or seek fortune, to conduct commerce or wage war. From these early beginnings and into the 20th century, the mariner’s greatest hazard was not sea monsters, weather, pirates or enemy forces.
No, disaster at sea was usually running aground due to inadequacies in navigation and charting. And so on June 21, 1921 the International Hydrographic Bureau was founded, to make navigation safer and easier throughout the world – and it has.Thanks to the ardent support of Prince Albert 1er, one of the great yachtsmen (Princesse Alice II, l’Hirondelle) and oceanographers of his time, the IHB was established in Monaco, now the world centre of Nautical Charting. 85 years later, Prince Albert II led the celebration of the UN-sponsored World Hydrography Day, up on the magnificent roof terrace of the Bureau on Quai Antoine 1er, next door to Stars ‘n Bars; this will henceforth be celebrated every June 21.
Let all yacht navigators be thankful for the excellence of the nautical charts they carry, either paper or electronic. M.H.
From Riviera Reporter N° 116 - Aug/Sept 2006
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Yachting and Boating 
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