Shipping forecast

sarabande said:
like your previous respondents, I did the whole business of decoding met forecasts onto a METMAP, and then drawing up a synoptic chart.

The MCA has a standard list of abbreviations

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home...ther/navtex.htm

as used in NAVTEX.

If you use these, or perhaps your own truncated versions, then you will have no difficulty in taking down the Met forecast. The BBC is very strict on the speaking rate - though it may not always seem like that.

The use of the "solidus" (sloping line, or slash, / \) can be used for showing "increasing" or "decreasing" wind strengths, and made steeper or flatter to indicate e.g quickly or slowly.

It's not easy to start with, but if you down load the shipping forecast areas , and the form (or make up one on larger paper for more writing space), by the time you have done it twenty times, it becomes automatic.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_forecast.html
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+1 - I do exactly the same
 
It is quite difficult to draw a synoptic chart, if all you are told is, "Low, German Bight losing its identity", and you are in NW Scotland.
 
snowleopard said:
A wise old skipper I once sailed with had a nasty trick. He recorded a really evil shipping forecast, all 9s and 10s, during the winter. When sailing with an inexperienced crew he played it back just before the forecast was due, waited for the crew to turn white, then said "I don't like the sound of that, let's see if we can get a better one" and turned on the radio.
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That would be perfect for my student crews! Does anyone out there have a suitable recording? Otherwise I'll have to find someone with a suitably plummy voice to record a fake one.
 
NormanS said:
It is quite difficult to draw a synoptic chart, if all you are told is, "Low, German Bight losing its identity", and you are in NW Scotland.
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To draw a chart you need to know some pressure values, wind direction and strength. The technique I wrote about all those years ago involved using the synopsis the actuals and the winds at the start of the forecast.

At that time, there were actuals after every shipping forecast. Now, thanks to the BBC, they are only twice a day. You have, of course got coastal actuals at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/observations/index.html updated hourly. Also, many “unofficial” reports at http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Home. There is also http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/.


It was all rather hairy, The intention was to help sailors interpret the shipping forecast to local areas. Since that time, we have had inshore forecasts on VHF. These have really made the whole idea redundant. In any case, if you are in port or not too far out at sea, you can always use the internet - http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Weather-Charts-On-The-Internet and http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Latest-Uk-Forecast-Charts-5-Days-Reduced-Size.
 
franksingleton said:
To draw a chart you need to know some pressure values, wind direction and strength. The technique I wrote about all those years ago involved using the synopsis the actuals and the winds at the start of the forecast.

At that time, there were actuals after every shipping forecast. Now, thanks to the BBC, they are only twice a day. You have, of course got coastal actuals at http://www.metofficet.gov.uk/weather/marine/observations/index.html updated hourly. Also, many “unofficial” reports at http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Home. There is also http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/.


It was all rather hairy, The intention was to help sailors interpret the shipping forecast to local areas. Since that time, we have had inshore forecasts on VHF. These have really made the whole idea redundant. In any case, if you are in port or not too far out at sea, you can always use the internet - http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Weather-Charts-On-The-Internet and http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Latest-Uk-Forecast-Charts-5-Days-Reduced-Size.
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Realistically, I don't use the Shipping Forecast very much. Sailing in NW Scotland, the Sea Areas are too big to be of much use. I use Navtex, or VHF via the CG for the Inshore Forecast, and on the occasions when we have a phone signal strong enough for Internet, use XC Weather to
get a longer outlook. For some reason, XC Weather downloads better than other sites, even with a poor signal.
 
NormanS said:
Realistically, I don't use the Shipping Forecast very much. Sailing in NW Scotland, the Sea Areas are too big to be of much use. I use Navtex, or VHF via the CG for the Inshore Forecast, and on the occasions when we have a phone signal strong enough for Internet, use XC Weather to
get a longer outlook. For some reason, XC Weather downloads better than other sites, even with a poor signal.
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Shipping forecasts are just that ie for shipping. They are and can be no more than headlines but they must include mention of hazards – strong winds, fog, thundery showers or just very gusty weather. For that reason alone, you should always keep an eye on them wherever you are.

Fairly obviously, inshore forecasts will be a little more specific but still cannot describe what you will experience in any detail. Again, their main purpose is as warnings.

Nothing wrong with XCWeather. It is just the US GFS, nothing more. I usually advise to use whichever you find easiest to get and read. XCWeather, Windguru,Passageweather, Magic Seaweed, Windfinder,. Ugrib, zyGrib, Saildocs, all the Apps provide the same data just looking different in the various presentations.

My personal choice is zyGrib which is a very fast download as you are not downloading a webpage with all the surrounding html, – especially when there are adverts. You are only downloading a data file and you can tailor that to your needs – area and elements.

Alternatively, I often use email via Saildocs to get GRIBs. see http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Saildocs-Free-Grib-Files. This is the most efficient way if you do not have free WiFi or a 3G service.

If you really are short of bandwidth email is good for texts of forecasts. See http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Grib-Saildocs-News#web-page-request. Send an email to query@saildocs.com with message
send html://whatever page you want. That email costs about 1 or 2 kb. The reply for an inshore forecast will come within a minute and be an email of around 2 kb. Even roaming that is peanuts.
 
I have crossed the Channel since aged 18 - usually Needles / Studland to Guernsey - a mere 24 times, all but the last couple without Decca let alone GPS.

I'd suggest one goes by the weather actually happening, + the Radio 4 shipping forecast actuals at the Channel Light Vessel & forecast, aids from the ' net are spiffing but it's not that long a crossing to become an academic exercise and one is not launching a space shuttle, just trying to nip across in decent weather, and in the case of somewhere like Alderney, have weather in the right direction for a day or two once there.

I get the impression some people might be deterred from sailing if they couldn't get an internet signal, which would be a shame...one can get a Roberts compact radio / cassette from Force 4 which can be set to record the forecast in case one misses or wishes to refer to it; luxury !
 
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I probably have done fewer cross Channels than some of you but I do have well over 40,000 miles under my keel.

Shipping/offshore and inshore waters forecasts will rarely be a good description of what you actually experience. Do a cross Channel or other passage of around 12 hours, then try to write a description of what you experienced but within the wording constraints of a shipping forecast – total words 330 for the whole broadcast – or an inshore forecast as heard on VHF. You will then appreciate the problem of having to cover a 24 hour forecast, with its inherent uncertainties, within those constraints.

That is why I usually say that these forecasts are little more than headlines and have to include warnings when bad weather is possible – not certain.

I base my go or no go decisions partly on the basis of GRIBs. Will I be sailing or motoring? Will I be beating or not? Might I have to motor-sail to get to my destination at the right time. I then check against the shipping or inshore forecast to see that it is on the same general lines bearing in mind the constraints of the worded forecast. More importantly, are strong winds, fog or thunderstorms expected. If so, how strong and what direction. Ought I to rig the storm jib? Will I need the third reef etc. If fog is expected then am I confident in my radar and AIS? Or is an area that will be with heavy traffic?

I know that we have all planned without GRIBs and had to make decisions on the basis of the shipping forecast. The use of the MetMap was to inform those decisions. Nowadays, with GRIBs and the availability of synoptic charts that is really in the past. The value of the shipping and inshore forecasts from whatever country is still real..
 
Frank,

I appreciate what you say and am dragging my sailing self into the 21st century via tablet with keyboard, but I have to say I've found nowadays when listening to what's happening in the sea area West of me - in my case Portland - I get a pretty good idea, coupled with the reports from Royal Sovereign, CLV & Jersey.

Re. internet, whether I poke my nose out at all depends on Chimet ! :)
 
Seajet said:
Frank,

I appreciate what you say and am dragging my sailing self into the 21st century via tablet with keyboard, but I have to say I've found nowadays when listening to what's happening in the sea area West of me - in my case Portland - I get a pretty good idea, coupled with the reports from Royal Sovereign, CLV & Jersey.

Re. internet, whether I poke my nose out at all depends on Chimet ! :)
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I am glad that you use the shipping and/inshore forecasts. Remember that Chimet, Channel LV and Greenwich LV (does Royal Sovereign still report?), etc tell you what is happeneing now, not what will happen in 6, 12, 18 …. hours ahead.

I suspect that we are looking at it from rather different perspectives. We cruise for several months a year. With advancing age, probably no further south than Ile d’Oléron. I am having to think several days ahead. GRIBs are great for that. For today, I am looking at Meteo France forecasts on VHF but also available on-line. I read these alongside GRIBs. I place great store by the human input. But, I use both.

The actuals down in France are few and far between unless I get deep into the Intermit - which I can and would do if really necessary. For the most part, I get enough from the VHF texts plus GRIBs.

Day sailing around the south coast, I would be doing much the same. The main inputs would be the GMDSS texts, GRIBs plus a fair amount of experience and common sense. In Reeds Weather Handbook I stress the need for all three.
 
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