Navtex - still relevant?

[Billjratt]

We have Navtex and wouldn't be without it. There are many holes in the VHF coverage on the west coast.

 

[franksingleton]

Unnecessary I think for coastal sailing, but if you're going to be out of range of CG met rebroadcasts for more than a few hours, worth having. Although if you have long wave reception and can get BBC shipping forecasts, that may suffice.

Clearly it depends on the sailing that you do. For someone never going more than a few miles out and making short passages around the UK, NAVTEX has little value. Once you go further afield then NAVTEX increases in relevance although less so now for weather than in the past because of the nearly ubiquitous Internet.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend NAVTEX because it is not just about weather. Coming up the French coast last year towards Ile d’Oléron, there is no other way that we would have known about a wreck, just below the surface and very close to our track. A few years ago, returning to the UK we got a NAV warning saying that the characteristics of a prominent UK lighthouse had been changed. It only needs one or two such examples to remind you that NAVTEX really is a must for many cruising sailors.

 

[Boathook]

Like others, I would not bother with it for coastal waters due to the internet and VHF. Further afield (and beyond internet at a sensible price), it has its value in giving the forecast and warnings in English as others have mentioned.