Ohlin Karcher
N/A
A very educational thread, for me at least..if anyone hasn't seen it, there is a current thread on the Jesters section about the same subject.
Atlantic Circuit: Cheapest way to get weather at sea?
- Thread starter Ohlin Karcher
- Start date
t21
Well-Known Member
Yes, I do feel you haven't been unlucky with transat weather, and i think I'm the same. But I know a few others who have seen stuff ... and whereas westbound I would go south and west in a (very large) bouncy castle, the return gig is more serious. My wimpy gig has been to dodge towards the rhumb line and stick the motors on. But a couple of guys I know have seen a "freight train" on the way and circled for a few days to let it go past - and Iridium with software (Maxsea? whatever... ) gave them the week-ahead forecast which yeah, not accurate but showed the warning in advance.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Well, had some bumpy stuff, but generally from aft of the beam......on the good side of the low. Various vessels from 74 foot catamaran with all the bells, whistles and ice cream through to my Moody 33 (twice) with barometer and no seaweed.
Best one was simply by leaving Antigua in June. Still too early really for TRS and had the engine exhaust not blown out (Warrior 40) it would have been a quick trip.
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
We could get marine forecasts on SSB and Inmarsat C but we also updated a log with heading, distance sailed, engine hours if any, and the barometer reading every hour, if it was falling we reefed, no need for a forecast. On two occasions we had gales that were not in a forecast 35 knots gusting 50 over Biscay and a secondary low in the English Channel 50 knots gusting 80. Again barometer.
geem
Well-Known Member
I recently weather routed a friend sailing from Panama to Easter Island, to Marquesas, to Hawaii to Vancouver. He has a Garmin Inreach. I enjoyed the routing. The costs are fixed at £75/ month for unlimited texts and tracking. You can turn it off for months at a time or activate for just one month. We use ours for ocean crossings on the £75/ month tariff and we use the £35/month tariff for a 3 night passage. We get 40texts for this, tracking and an emergency button if we need help.
I also routed a friend from St Martin to Portugal earlier this year. He was using a satphone. It cost him a lot more than the Inreach to get weather from me twice a day and keep in touch with his wife.
I also routed a friend from St Martin to Portugal earlier this year. He was using a satphone. It cost him a lot more than the Inreach to get weather from me twice a day and keep in touch with his wife.
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Very interesting thanks
May I ask, are you a meteorologist, or just an interested and well informed yachtsman, to be passing on forecasts, did you do any interpretation of the data or just pass it to him to work out what was expected re wind and waves?
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mattonthesea
Well-Known Member
+1
GHA
Well-Known Member
A few miles can make a big difference though, don't forget in the golden globe there were a few boats down there with weather forecasts not too far from golden globe boats that got in big trouble, far enough away to make a difference though. Wfax lows 4/5 days out won't be too far wrong , enough time to dodge south a bit if a nasty one is coming plus the 500mB charts available to give an idea of where the lows will track.
Roberto
Well-Known Member
In my opinion, the question should rather be "what type of weather information I am comfortable with", rate them from best worst, and how much is the cost for each one of them, then decide.
If you feel happy with nothing, leave with nothing, it has been done and of course can be done, plus very cheap. If you believe in minimalism bring a barometer, it has been and can be done. etc etc.
Do you feel happy with someone else providing you with the info or do you like to make your own decisions/take risks? Do you want "all the available info"? If not, what exactly do you need?
There is no "right or wrong", as shown by all the contributions there are many available alternatives, all tested in many different cases; do you feel comfortable in long range sailing with gribs, with fax charts, with a simple barometer, with an indestructible boat that whispers in your ear "who cares about the weather"?
If you feel happy with nothing, leave with nothing, it has been done and of course can be done, plus very cheap. If you believe in minimalism bring a barometer, it has been and can be done. etc etc.
Do you feel happy with someone else providing you with the info or do you like to make your own decisions/take risks? Do you want "all the available info"? If not, what exactly do you need?
There is no "right or wrong", as shown by all the contributions there are many available alternatives, all tested in many different cases; do you feel comfortable in long range sailing with gribs, with fax charts, with a simple barometer, with an indestructible boat that whispers in your ear "who cares about the weather"?
t21
Well-Known Member
In my opinion, the question should rather be "what type of weather information I am comfortable with", rate them from best worst, and how much is the cost for each one of them, then decide.
If you feel happy with nothing, leave with nothing, it has been done and of course can be done, plus very cheap. If you believe in minimalism bring a barometer, it has been and can be done. etc etc.
Do you feel happy with someone else providing you with the info or do you like to make your own decisions/take risks? Do you want "all the available info"? If not, what exactly do you need?
There is no "right or wrong", as shown by all the contributions there are many available alternatives, all tested in many different cases; do you feel comfortable in long range sailing with gribs, with fax charts, with a simple barometer, with an indestructible boat that whispers in your ear "who cares about the weather"?
Ummm.... the above "free choice" options would be fine for solo/family passages ....but I wonder ... these days a skipper might be seen as less than suitably prepared if they couldn't download a GRIB file during a transat passage.
siwhi
Well-Known Member
Cheapest is an old short wave receiver tuned to the weather fax and hold an iPad or phone with the app to the speaker. HF fax / black cat systems is the app you need.
But the best way by far is the Iridium Go. You can get grib files to your PC easily. Load them onto Open CPN or weather4d.
Navtex is frustrating, you don't get to see the system properly, ie on a chart, just some text.
But the best way by far is the Iridium Go. You can get grib files to your PC easily. Load them onto Open CPN or weather4d.
Navtex is frustrating, you don't get to see the system properly, ie on a chart, just some text.
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
We used both an Inreach and Iridium Go on a transat. The Inreach gives you a forecast based on a last/long position that you select in the request message. We found that, whilst limited to the area selected, was accurate and relatively cheap. We were sent forecasts via email on a daily basis via the Iridium Go, linked to an iPad: again limited because they only covered where we were going to be in the next few days.
I’ve sent weather messages to mates doing a Pacific crossing via Inreach. I used the PocketGrib app for the forecast, plotted their position, course and expected speed on a daily basis, using that to generate wind speed and direction, general weather and wave height forecast. Reduced to the bare essentials, that can fit into a single text message for a three day forecast.
My forecasts were reported to be optimistic as far as wind strength was concerned (they’d hoped for more wind...) but spot on for direction, general weather and waves. When it looked like there was potential for a storm system developing, I’d send a second message giving current location, pressure and heading for the storm centre, so they could make course decisions if needed. That worked well, as the tariff their Inreach was on allowed unlimited incoming messages.
I’ve sent weather messages to mates doing a Pacific crossing via Inreach. I used the PocketGrib app for the forecast, plotted their position, course and expected speed on a daily basis, using that to generate wind speed and direction, general weather and wave height forecast. Reduced to the bare essentials, that can fit into a single text message for a three day forecast.
My forecasts were reported to be optimistic as far as wind strength was concerned (they’d hoped for more wind...) but spot on for direction, general weather and waves. When it looked like there was potential for a storm system developing, I’d send a second message giving current location, pressure and heading for the storm centre, so they could make course decisions if needed. That worked well, as the tariff their Inreach was on allowed unlimited incoming messages.
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Very helpful info, mucho appreciado
geem
Well-Known Member
I am just a yachtsman who's done a bit. Its pretty easy to give wind, wave and current info and a course to steer with the vast amount of information available on the internet. My favourite is Windy. Turn on the lat/long in settings. Use the current, wave and wind charts. Three weather models to compare.
My pal sailing in the Pacific was single handed or double handed depending which leg of the route he was on. He has enough to do without worrying about weather. Just getting enough sleep and not having to try and interpret the info was useful to him. He really appreciated the advice. I have a group of active sailor friends so if one of us is doing a trip and wants weather info there is always somebody skilled enough to send weather info to me and vis a versa.
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Thanks
franksingleton
Well-Known Member
Much depends on what you want to spend. Stan Honey would echo #5. Plan your crossings using climatology, then take what comes. The minimum must be to get high seas forecasts over a HF/SSB receiver. Usually but not always available. That will give you GMDSS texts, essentially a warning system to give you time to prepare for a blow. After that, it depends on your personal radio skills. My highly analytical, Silicon Valley whizz kid grandson has opted for Radiofax as the cheapest, most reliable way of seeing the large scale pattern.
To do much better really means being able to get GRIB files. Cheapest is probably to use the SailMail system to send/receive emails via HF/SSB radio. Alternatively, the HAM route and Winlink. If you have the cash, my sponsor would gladly advise you on satellite telephones as a medium to receive GRIB files. These can be as large or small as you wish. By getting the data on a coarse grid and at, say, 12 hour time step intervals, you can minimse costs to suit your budget. Email using Saildocs is about as cheap as you can get down that route.
My site has some tips on minimising GRIB file costs.
To do much better really means being able to get GRIB files. Cheapest is probably to use the SailMail system to send/receive emails via HF/SSB radio. Alternatively, the HAM route and Winlink. If you have the cash, my sponsor would gladly advise you on satellite telephones as a medium to receive GRIB files. These can be as large or small as you wish. By getting the data on a coarse grid and at, say, 12 hour time step intervals, you can minimse costs to suit your budget. Email using Saildocs is about as cheap as you can get down that route.
My site has some tips on minimising GRIB file costs.
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Thanks Frank for the advice from the horse's mouth, I will read and digest.
Heckler
Well-Known Member
I have an original Delorme Inreach, used to get from uk to algarve, a knowledgeable friend on a land based computer can see where you are from your breadcrums and can use passage weather or the like to give a twice a day update. Another friend on here, I sent him daily updates as he crossed the atlantic and caribbean. Worked fine for us
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Thanks, if you have time, could you detail how your knowledgeable friend formatted the twice daily uodates into a txt message? Was it sent in a pre-arranged code?
t21
Well-Known Member
Not true. The big Atlantic weather systems are fairly accurately forecast and a GRIB file will show up to a week ahead. Yeah they might vary a bit in time and force, but once established they will turn up. A friend circled for five days west of Azores while a "freight train" went ahead of him.