HYDRO ’96 in Rotterdam marked the birth of the idea to launch a magazine for the hydrographic survey industry. Less than four months later, the first issue of Hydro International appeared, in February 1997. The magazine was well received and grew, thanks to the efforts of all involved, into a flourishing publication the frequency of which this year rises to twelve times a year. The concept and layout of the magazine remained unchanged for ten years: proof good design. But now, for various reasons such as the decision to discontinue the ‘As it Was’ feature, we have made some carefully considered changes. ‘As it Is’ has been renamed and is now open to organisations other than just national hydrographic offices: in this issue IMCA comes under the spotlight. Another change is that our continuing efforts to provide optimum information has led us to launch a new column ‘Hydro International and Science’, specifically focusing on news from scientific publications.

This anniversary issue would have been a highlight for the two remaining founding editors still on the editorial board, but sadly both recently passed away, Cor Don in August 2006 and, very suddenly, Rob Berlijn in January 2007.

The shortage of hydrographic personnel and initiatives to address the situation are the subject of two articles: the Classroom@Sea-project and The Alchemy of the Sea. The latter article relates to the article ‘Probably, Possibly, Maybe…’ on promoting our profession, published in July 2004 (to view this article see our website www.hydro-international.com and use the Archives search option).

Andrew Leysack was elected new chair of FIG Commission IV at FIG2006 conference in Munich, Germany. We congratulate him and are happy to welcome him to our Editorial Advisory Board. Andrew Leysack is a Canada Lands Surveyor currently serving as acting Hydrographer-in-Charge of Eastern Arctic Surveys, Canadian Hydrographic Service, Central and Arctic Region. He holds honours diplomas in Land and Hydrographic Surveying from Humber College, Toronto, and brings to the Board more than seventeen years experience in cadastral and hydrographic surveying. He is outgoing president of the Canadian Hydrographic Association and a member of the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors Offshore Issues Committee.
A new chair means the former incumbent has stepped down: we thank Adam Greenland for his contribution to our magazine during his Board membership and hope he will now and then continue to contact us with his opinion.
Our Editorial Advisory Board Members serve on a rotational basis, which means that occasionally we have to say goodbye and thank you very much to one of our members. This time it is Iain Sinclair, whose contribution is very greatly appreciated. Iain, a former manager of special projects at Shell International, is a typical example of retired hydrographic surveyors, a breed that cannot sit still. He has begun a new project (see www.lecoqdunord.com for details).

Enjoy reading,

Leeke van der Poel, leeke.van.der.poel@reedbusiness.nl