Pacific Ocean current data

[djs]

Looking at the passage out of the bay of Panama routing north of the Galapagos. I’ve compared the windy current info (website) which I understand is theoretically what’s there now rather than a forecast. It’s using a model from NESDIS, which I understand to be a NOAA product.

In comparing this to the current forecast as a grib file downloaded from saildocs. Using the query RTOFS:05S,10N,76W,89W|0.25,0.3|0,12...72|CUR. The source of the rtofs is the national weather service so presumably using the same data sources.

But for the period now to immediate future they are completely at odds. Having models contradict each other is fine. I’m used to that with wind forecasts and you get to know which ones you lean towards trusting, especially if you follow them for a number of days.

But I’ve never looked at currents in detail before and on this passage with potential light winds, reading the currents could make the difference of days.

So, what do people use / trust for current modelling?
What do I need to know about these models to use them effectively?

Thanks
Dave

[Captn_Black]

zyGrib (free desktop app) has upto date ocean current info, and more, but you need to select for it in the options before making the download.