Weather Service

[Journeys End]

Weare planning heading down island, BVI to St Martin. need some recommendations on a reliable weather service to use for my passage. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[belizesailor]

Do you mean access to weather information or a weather routing service?

[Journeys End]

Not sure. I think I just need the weather service, I can route myself. Thanks

[belizesailor]

What electronics do you have aboard?

[Journeys End]

Garmin chart plotter and vhf

[belizesailor]

Neither of those will do you any good for getting weather data aboard while underway offshore (except for NOAA VHF broadcasts while in USA near coastal waters). However, if you just plan short runs of no more than a few days, then you can do your weather planning ashore with good internet before departure.

It reads to me like this might be a new subject area for you so here is a brief primer.

Weather data is mostly generated by complex computer models run by governments (because millions of $s are involved in their development and operation). One of the most well known of these models is GFS which is run by NOAA (USA). There are also a few private sector models like ECMWF.

These models, and entities that run them, provide various forms of output. A very common file format for this output is called GRIB. You can download and view GRIB data with GRIB viewer software (many versions, easily availble). There are also a number of services that collect this data and generate displays using it such as Passage Weather, Wind Guru, Predict Wind, and Windy (very cool interface).

Professional meterologists also use this data, and many other sources, to develop their forecasts. NOAA meterologists develop forecast charts (also called RadioFax or WeatherFax charts) which are available online at:

https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/gulf.shtml

Note that if the above is what you mean by a "service" then it is up to you to interpret all of this data.

Some private sector professional meterologists also provide "weather routing" services. They interpret all the above, and more, for you and then advise you regarding weather related decisions. A popular example is the Marine Weather Center run by Chris Parker. Link:

https://www.mwxc.com/


Which of the above fits your definition of a "service"?

[Ex-Calif]

@Belizesailor

Assuming an on-board sat-phone & laptop what would you recommend for enroute/off-shore updates while cruising the Caribbean?

I haven't hing out in the weather forums for a while and will do so as the boat purchase/refit date gets closer (probably 2023-ish) but was wondering what the latest thoughts were.

[maine50]

to orig op, i second chris parker, either subscribe or listen on SSB or SW receiver to his morning broadcast. See his site for times and freq. It's only 75 miles from Virgin Gorda to St Martin. A north component to the wind is highly desirable. I understand you may not have either. A radio receiver with SW receive
capabilities is about $150

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

@Belizesailor

Assuming an on-board sat-phone & laptop what would you recommend for enroute/off-shore updates while cruising the Caribbean?

I haven't hing out in the weather forums for a while and will do so as the boat purchase/refit date gets closer (probably 2023-ish) but was wondering what the latest thoughts were.

Oooh, there are whole threads here on that subject with many opinions! Predict Wind seems to be a popular option for that config. As is OCENS. Both are now favoring IridiumGo over satt phones.