Weather Information

When you head out for more than just a weekend of sailing what do you use for your weather information? I would think most folks get it from more than one source so in the poll above just list your primary source but write in and list by priority (most to least) down below.

We use our SSB and listen to CHRIS PARKER at 0630 on 4045 and we receive his weather emails twice a day. We also use www.PassageWeather.com which we find one of the best. We also use NOAA www.noaa.gov/ and for Florida, we use
www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/south/stheastmz.htm
www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm


Hayden, anchored off Eleuthera and been working weather since 0630 and now it is 0800!

Here in the Chesapeake Bay we've always used TV and VHS weather reports for our longer trips. Also used visual but never had a good understanding of clouds other than "Oh my God, it's headed this way!".

In June 2013 we teamed up with another boat for a trip to Bermuda. We hired Dane and Jennifer Clark as weather routers at a cost of $500 for three weeks. We didn't have SSB on our boat and our sat phone was completely useless so we relied on the other boat (they had SSB) for weather info once we got started. As it turned out we got separated by 24 hours and had to rely on a 5 day forecast for our solo trip over.

Our experience made me realize that:
1) I didn't want to pay for a service that we would eventually need year round.
2) We couldn't rely on anyone else but ourselves
3) We needed an SSB radio.

We recently took a 32 hour course on weather forecasting ( www.chesneaumarineweather.com/ ) and will use all resources available via the SSB radio from NOAA and others.

Tom + Cheri Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce

Tom and Cheri

What SSB tools do you use for grib files and other data?
We use airmail on the ssb.

Hayden

Hayden - The SSB radio is our next major purchase. We'll be getting the Icom M802 with P4 Pactor modem through Dockside Radio ( docksideradio.com ). We'll be using the KISS ground ( www.kiss-ssb.com ) and our already installed back stay antenna. We plan to use Sailmail and Wefax. Will need to get Parallels program to run Windows 8.1 on our Mac for the Sailmail.

With our upcoming retirement (December 2014) we're trying to keep expenses down to a minimum so for us the $250/year Sailmail fee is a good deal and we'll be doing our own weather routing using NOAA surface weather and 500 mB charts from the Ocean Prediction Center ( www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov ). Also plan to use the GRIB files and wave charts.

Tom

Tom,

You could save the $250 per year cost for Sail Mail by passing the second level of the Ham exams. The first level is called Technician and the second is called General. With a General license, you may use Winlink.org for free e-mail services via SSB. Only one person on board needs this license. We used HamTestOnline.com to help us learn about Ham and to prepare for the test. It is excellent. Exams are administered in person at local monthly Ham Radio club meetings and only cost $15.

Radeen