Best swell app/service for Med

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sj8070

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Hi guys
Looking for a reliable app or website that shows wave height & length for the Med
Particularly Barcelona and Balearic area
I'm sure has been discussed before but couldn't find
Thanks
Seb
 
for wind, I use wind finder PRO app has "superfarecast"

for waves: passageweather, no app, but a simplified website version for smartphone use
 
I use a mixture of www.passageweather.com and Grib files.
For Grib files on the PC - Zygrib works well.
For Grib files on the Android I use Pocket Grib.

Both www.passageweather.com and Gribs give an overall picture of wave height and direction.
Passageweather is very easy to use and has other info in the same place - eg rain etc.

I also use www.windguru.cz - paid up Pro membership.
AFAIK Windguru doesn't show wave heights.

We are currently in Ibiza - hiding from bad weather.
Last night we had very heavy extreme rain which was the most important element to predict - 30 knot localised winds.
We are anchored and tied back in Roig - the only safe anchorage on Ibiza at the moment.
All predicted using the above tools..
 
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+1 for MagicSeaweed.

It's what the surfers use, so is geared towards swell, wave height etc.
Haven't checked coverage of your area specifically but they do cover worldwide
 
Have a look at Wind&Sea.

It's an Italian app with enough English to make it easy to use.

Everything you require is there with much more available and you can set the system to give rolling predictions on varying time intervals.

Best part is you can scroll forward to give a rollin prediction for the next 3 days which is constantly updated.

I believe it is still free.

Windguru is very good but it only predicts for selected areas as it's really for windsurfers.

Wind&Sea shows say, the full map of Mallorca so you can see how the weather and sea state is developing across all sides of the Island, very important in Mallorca.
 
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There are wave models specifically for the Med and available using various apps. I am never really sure if they are particularly useful. With its surrounding coasts and many islands the effects on sea state must be extraordinary complex. I have no advice to offer despite having spent 10 years in the Med. My recollection is that the sea slopped around rather like water in a large bowl when shaken. That is what Galileo observed and one of his reasons for deducing that the earth rotated in a solar orbit. . Listen to what is said in GMDSS texts, use "local" GRIB wave models but do not put much reliance on any.
 
Hurricane said:
We are currently in Ibiza - hiding from bad weather.
Last night we had very heavy extreme rain which was the most important element to predict - 30 knot localised winds.
We are anchored and tied back in Roig - the only safe anchorage on Ibiza at the moment.
All predicted using the above tools..
Click to expand...

Like Hurricane, I am also in Ibiza currently and hiding from the severe weather. Actually, I'm in the next bay (es torrent) after a howler of a storm last night. Hurricane, if that's you anchored on the left as you enter from the west, I actually commented to my partner that you'd bagged a fantastic spot to weather the storm - fair play !

I use Predict Wind and Windfinder Pro - both are easy to use, as accurate as I have found and Predict Wind presents forecast data from 4 different sources side by side for comparison and, I suppose, so that you can go with the 'general consensus' once you have looked at the varying information. Like other apps, PW also gives tons of data in table form or you can view a map of your area showing wind direction etc.
 
terranova said:
Like Hurricane, I am also in Ibiza currently and hiding from the severe weather. Actually, I'm in the next bay (es torrent) after a howler of a storm last night. Hurricane, if that's you anchored on the left as you enter from the west, I actually commented to my partner that you'd bagged a fantastic spot to weather the storm - fair play !

I use Predict Wind and Windfinder Pro - both are easy to use, as accurate as I have found and Predict Wind presents forecast data from 4 different sources side by side for comparison and, I suppose, so that you can go with the 'general consensus' once you have looked at the varying information. Like other apps, PW also gives tons of data in table form or you can view a map of your area showing wind direction etc.
Click to expand...

Yep - thats us.
We had the added complication of getting visitors ashore to get filghts home.
We did get lucky and a great spot but a lot of credit must go to MYAG for his training!!
I will post a separare tgread sometime of this particular experience.

We have just got back from another expensive lunch at the Es Xarcu restaurant.
The rumour there is that 6 boats had problems last night.
 
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franksingleton said:
There are wave models specifically for the Med and available using various apps. I am never really sure if they are particularly useful. With its surrounding coasts and many islands the effects on sea state must be extraordinary complex. I have no advice to offer despite having spent 10 years in the Med. My recollection is that the sea slopped around rather like water in a large bowl when shaken. That is what Galileo observed and one of his reasons for deducing that the earth rotated in a solar orbit. . Listen to what is said in GMDSS texts, use "local" GRIB wave models but do not put much reliance on any.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting on this forum.
I have spent a long time in the past reading your website.
I think that the biggest message you got across to me was to read the weather carefully but to take more attention to local features and localised weather.
Usually, that means asking locals so it was really great to anchor beside some friendly local Spanish boaters yesterday before the two storms came in.
And, even tge locals were "taken aback" by the intensity of the storms/rain.

I urge others to read your web pages.
 
Hurricane said:
Thanks for posting on this forum.
I have spent a long time in the past reading your website.
I think that the biggest message you got across to me was to read the weather carefully but to take more attention to local features and localised weather.
Usually, that means asking locals so it was really great to anchor beside some friendly local Spanish boaters yesterday before the two storms came in.
And, even tge locals were "taken aback" by the intensity of the storms/rain.

I urge others to read your web pages.
Click to expand...

Many thanks. I had better fo and polish my halo!

I do try to respond to any YBW forum when I think I may have something to add. Often this is to try to correct misunderstandings about forecasts that may look different but are, in fact, the same.I do agree that local input - including your own experience, is often best for local effects. Sea breeze effects are an example. Hpwever, my main message really is of the value of using forecasts for planning ahead - often but not always possible. My own philosophy is that it is better to be in port wishing you were at sea rather than at sea wishing you were in port. And, rather more clumsily, I want to avoid being in a place that I do not want to be out in, in weather that I do not want to go ot in. GRIBs or GRIB derived servics are the best tools for these purposes.
 
Just to add to Frank's comments.
Three days ago, we were faced with having to find somewhere safe in Ibiza.
All the Ibiza town marinas were full.
San Antonio was being particularly unhelpful.
They set buoys during the summer and stop boats anchoring.
They, out of the blue, one day last week, they decided that motorboats could not go on the buoys.
Even after clearing it with them a couple of days before, they insisted that only sailboats could use the buous an that there is no anchoring.
To top it all, their marina was full so there was no alternative.

We didn't know what to do.
But, keeping Frank's information in my mind, we left the relative safety of Espalmador for somewhere safer.
All the forecasts were showing heavy rain and my experience of rain in the Med brings VERY strong localised winds.
The obvious place for us to go was Roig or the surrounding calas.
We were very lucky.
We found a spot next to a really nice Spanish motorboat about the same size.
Rather than shout at us, as is often the case, they offered constfuctive advice.
So, we tied back to the rocks along their side.
About 6 hours later, the rain came - and as usual so did the strong wind.
We had 2 stern lines out to the rocks which went "bar tight" during the two separate storms.
The following day, only one of the three local restaurants wss open.
One of them was completely wsshed away - JCBs in there this morning clearing up the carnage.

Anyway, back to the point.
The rain was forecast on Grib based weather forecasts.
After reading Frank's website a few years ago and having experienced rain storms in the Med before, I was able yo make the correct decision - and in time before the bad weather hit.

I think it will be back home to Sant Carles on Sunday - the Grib based forecasts seem to indicate a smooth crossing.
Ibiza is great but, unlike Mallorca, there are very few places to run away from bad weather.

EDIT
I've found time to add some pics

This was the AIS view of the safe haven that we found.
Note that we weren't the only ones seeking safety before the storms.
Others had predicted the same.

serve.php


And this was taken before it REALLY started to rain.

serve.php


And a video clip



http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=lyGs2Y0OZd0
 
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