Judging by the numbers of reader responses I receive every week via e-mail, and the huge popularity of this paper's web site at starbulletin.com, it would appear that Internet access is no longer the exclusive realm of the pocket-protector-wearing computer geek.

The general public seems to have decided it is well worth putting up with the idiosyncrasies of computers when it allows them improved personal communication, unprecedented interaction with news sources, and access to the World Wide Web's wealth of information.

It should come as no wonder, then, that those involved in boating have quickly sailed into these uncharted waters, so to speak. Suddenly, there is a mind-numbing number of web sites that will appeal to these skippers.

Taking note of that fact, two boating publications in California - Sea Magazine and the San Diego Log - have recently published lists of some of the best boating-oriented web sites they have discovered for their West Coast readers. Here are few that might be of interest to boaters in Hawai`i as well:

· The Coast Guard's Local Notice to Mariners: www.navcen.uscg.mil/lnm/d14 .

· The Weather Channel's boating forecasts: www.weatherchannel.com.

· Tropical storm information and satellite images: http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/Tropical_Weather/tropical.shtml.

· National Ocean Service Tide Tables: www.opsd.nos.noaa.gov/tpred2.html

· National Safe Boating Council, giving online boating course, safety tips and links to Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety: www.safeboatingcouncil.org.

· Cruisers' Connection, giving weather, currency conversion and e-mail tips at sea: www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3519/index.html.

· Boater's World Marine on-line catalog: www.boatersworld.com.

· Crow's Nest Marine Ourfitters: www.crowsnest.com.

· Things Nautical Marine Accessories: www.thingsnautical.com.

· West Marine Products and calendar of events: www.westmarine.com.

· Do-It-Yourself Boating tips: www.diy-boat.com

· Worldwide Angler on fishing and fishing & boats: www.worldwideangler.com.

· WOW Women on the Water, a women's boating resource: www.boatingsafety.com/wow.

· Boatnet, products, boats & worldwide marine charters: www.boatnet.com.

· Sea and Go Boating on-line magazines: www.goboatingamerica.com

· Yachtworld, boating news, yellow pages and links to hundreds of boating businesses: www.yachtworld.com.

As for my personal favorite web sites, besides the Star-Bulletin's?

I must admit my browser is set for getting the latest from New Zealand on Hawaii's America's Cup challenger at www.abracadabra.org, and for race information in general, at www.americascup.org.

For ocean recreation news in Hawai`i, it's hard to beat www.holoholo.org, and for sport fishing in the Islands, www.sportfishhawaii.com is the place to look.

Hopefully, this short list of boating web sites will open up new horizons for your computer sailing into cyberspace.

Bon voyage.

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