Weather Routing services

[TabbyCat]

I checked around for a thread on weather routing services, but didn't find one. If there is one, feel free to re-direct me. If there isn't one, I'd be interested in hearing from those of your have used weather routing services. Our itinerary is to leave the Chesapeake Bay in early November, head to Bermuda, hang out there & wait for the next weather window, then sail south to the BVIs. We'll have Buoyweather e-mails and Grib files via the SSB, but I'd like information on how we're doing with regard to the Gulfstream eddies, and advice on any unexpected weather patterns that develop.

Thanks,

[Chuck Baier]

Some info here

Weather call | Articles & Archives | Ocean Navigator: The magazine for long-distance offshore sailing and power voyaging
Voyaging weather communications | Articles & Archives | Ocean Navigator: The magazine for long-distance offshore sailing and power voyaging
Weather data sources | Articles & Archives | Ocean Navigator: The magazine for long-distance offshore sailing and power voyaging

In my opinion the best guy for your route is Herb Hilgenberg at Southbound II. Herb is a bit crusty and can at times be abrasive, but he is free and we have used him for decades. His site is

South Bound II VAX498

[Hud3]

Hi, Susan.

The Caribbean 1500 used Commander's Weather for both weather and Gulf Stream analysis each of the two times I did that trip on my own boat (2004 & 2005). The key features were predicting a weather window for departure from Hampton, VA, which allowed us to get across the Gulf Stream in settled conditions, daily update forecasts of developing weather features and windspeeds and direction, and the locations of the main stem of the Gulf Stream and the cold eddies to the south of it. They did a credible job.

I also used them to provide me with an initial individual weather forecast with subsequent daily updates by email (Sailmail via SSB) for a passage from the Abacos, around Cape Hatteras, and into the Chesapeake Bay in May, 2006. Again, I was very satisfied. My experience was that they tend to be a bit conservative, in that conditions didn't turn out to be quite as bad as forecasted--probably a good thing.