Canibul,
For sailing the Bahamas (SW N. Atlantic), as well as the Caribbean, N. Atl. etc.....there is a great deal of accurate weather info/forecasts available for FREE, from the US NWS/NOAA.....
These weather forecasts are broadcast by the USCG, on
HF Radio (SSB), in Voice braodcasts, Text (SITOR) broadcasts, and Fax (WeFax) broadcasts, from transmitters in
New Orleans, Chesapeake, VA and Boston, MA.....
Almost all of what I'm
posting here is written about here...
National Weather Service Marine Forecasts
And, the great thing is that not only are all of this weather data and forecasts the most accurate, but they are FREE.....
Yes, they are larger scale forecasts, but they accurate and up-to-date.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Canibul
I greatly appreciate the info. We are in the planning stages and looking for any and all options and suggestions.
This will be quite a step for a couple old fogeys who just took the ASA courses: Buy a boat we don't know, and have never seen before, and sail it from Florida ( or wherever) across the Gulf Stream, and then down the entire length of the Bahamas.
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For your application (not having the boat yet, nor what
equipment would be installed on whatever boat you may be looking at...nor what
equipment would be working/operational....nor whether you'd have the knowledge/experience to use any of it....), there is one simple,
cheap solution that will
work......
1) Use of an inexpensive (~ $100) portable HF receiver, such as a Sagean or Sony (what I have as my back-up), with a short (~ 20' - 30') length of wire strung up on a flag
halyard, etc. as an external
antenna, will allow you to listen to the Voice broadcasts from the USCG (both NMN in Virginia and NMG in New Orleans) 8 times a day (4 times from each station)....
This will give you accurate and up-to-date weather info and forecasts for the entire area.....
(And NWS/NOAA is going to
experiment with more detailed and localized forecasts for this area as well...)
You do NOT need a computer,
software, special antennas, etc.....
Here's some details...
USCG HF Voice
Here's the text from today's broadcast.....
Quote:
SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.
AMZ088-200330-
SYNOPSIS FOR THE SW N ATLC INCLUDING THE BAHAMAS
430 PM EST FRI FEB 19 2010
.SYNOPSIS...A SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING NE FLORIDA TO HISPANIOLA
WILL SHIFT E TO A POSITION FROM BERMUDA TO SE FLORIDA LATE MON.
THE NEXT COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE NW WATERS MON NIGHT
REACHING A POSITION FROM 31N70W TO WINDWARD PASSAGE LATE TUE...
AND FROM BERMUDA TO HISPANIOLA WED NIGHT. A STRONGER COLD FRONT
WILL MOVE INTO THE NW WATERS WED NIGHT.
SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.
AMZ080-200330-
SW N ATLANTIC S OF 31N W OF 65W INCLUDING BAHAMAS
430 PM EST FRI FEB 19 2010
TONIGHT
N OF 27N W OF 72W W TO NW WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. SEAS 4 TO
6 FT EXCEPT 1 TO 3 FT W OF 76W. N OF 27N E OF 72W NW WINDS 10 TO
15 KT. SEAS 7 TO 12 FT PRIMARILY IN NW SWELL. S OF 27N W OF
BAHAMAS N TO NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT. S OF 27N E OF
BAHAMAS N TO NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9FT PRIMARILY IN NW
SWELL. SCATTERED SHOWERS S OF 23N.
SAT AND SAT NIGHT
N OF 27N W OF 72W VARIABLE WINDS 5 TO 10
KT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT IN NW SWELL. N OF 27N E OF 72W NW TO N WINDS
10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 4 TO 9 FT IN NW SWELL HIGHEST SEAS S OF
BERMUDA. S OF 27N W OF BAHAMAS NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 1
TO 3 FT EXCEPT 4 TO 6 FT S OF 22N. S OF 27N E OF BAHAMAS N TO NE
WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT WATERS S OF 23N E OF
70W. SEAS 4 TO 8 FT PRIMARILY IN NW SWELL.
SUN AND SUN NIGHT
N OF 27N W OF 72W VARIABLE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT
BECOMING S 15 KT MON NIGHT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT IN NW SWELL. N OF 27N
E OF 72W NW TO N WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 4 TO 8 FT IN NW
SWELL...HIGHEST S OF BERMUDA. S OF 27N W OF BAHAMAS NE TO E
WINDS 10 KT. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT EXCEPT 3 TO 5 FT S 22N. S OF 27N E
OF BAHAMAS NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT EXCEPT 15 TO 20 KT FAR SE
WATERS. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT IN NW SWELL.
MON
N OF 27N W OF 72W S TO SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT SHIFTING TO
NW BEHIND FRONT MON NIGHT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT BUILDING TO 6 TO 8 FT
LATE. N OF 27N E OF 72W VARIABLE WINDS 10 KT BECOMING S TO SE
WINDS 15 KT MON NIGHT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT IN NW SWELL. S OF 27N W OF
BAHAMAS SE TO S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING SW 20 KT MON NIGHT.
SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. S OF 27N E OF BAHAMAS E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT
BECOMING SE TO S 15 TO 20 KT MON NIGHT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT.
TUE
N OF 27N W OF FRONT NW TO N WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 4 TO
6 FT. N OF 27N E OF FRONT S TO SW WINDS 20 KT. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT. S
OF 27N W OF BAHAMAS SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT SHIFTING TO NW 10 TO 15
KT BEHIND FRONT SEAS 2TO 4 FT. S OF 27N E OF BAHAMAS SE TO S
WINDS 15 TO 20 KT SHIFTING TO NW 15 KT BEHIND FRONT. SEAS 4 TO 6
FT.
WED
N OF 27N W OF 73W VARIABLE WINDS 10 KT BECOMING S 15 TO
20 KT SHIFTING TO NW 20 TO 25 KT WED NIGHT BEHIND STRONG COLD
FRONT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT BUILDING 6 TO 9 FT LATE WED NIGHT.
N OF 27N E OF 73W NW WINDS 15 KT W OF FRONT AND SW 15 KT E OF
FRONT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT. S OF 27N W OF BAHAMAS SE TO S WINDS 15 TO
20 KT SHIFTING TO NW BEHIND FRONT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT. S OF 27N E OF
BAHAMAS S WINDS 15 TO 20 KT SHIFTING TO NW 15 KT BRIEFLY BEHIND
FIRST FRONT SHIFTING TO S 15 TO 20 KT LATE WED NIGHT. SEAS 4 TO
6 FT.
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2) If you wish to read this exact forecast, rather than just listen to it on the
radio, you can use the JVComm
software and your
laptop to decode this text forecast, from the SITOR broadcasts of the USCG, which your same little portable receiver will allow you to receive......
Here's the destails on the NWS/NOAA text forecasts broadcast by the USCG.....
USCG HF SITOR
And, if you want to read the forecasts on-line, go here, and click on the area of interest...
NWS Marine Offshore Marine Forecasts by Zone
3) For graphical weather data and forecasts (weather
charts and
satellite photographs), you can also use the same receiver and JVComm software and your
laptop, to receive "wefax" (weather facsimilie)
charts.....
Here's some details...
NWS Radiofax
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/hfgulf.txt
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/hfmarsh.txt
Marine Radiofax charts
4) VHF-Marine NOAA Weather
Radio (162mhz) in South Florida broadcasts NWS / NOAA
marine coastal forecasts, covering areas out to 60nm offshore the Florida coast (including
Bimini, Andros, etc.)
5)
VHF Marine radio will also be of some help here, since in many areas of the Bahamas you'll hear a daily "Cruiser's Net" (ch. 68), where you'll be able to get daily weather info.....(although, this puts you a bit outside of my goal of self-sufficiency, most cruisers will give you the staright scoop.....)
6) ZNS-Radio Bahamas, main station in (ZNS-1 AM)
Nassau (1540 khz) along with ZNS-2 AM, ZNS-FM, and ZNS-3 (in Freeport), air daily weather reports and forecasts......
As well as some South Florida AM radio stations giving accurate weather info and forecasts (limited to only near-shore coastal forecasts, but even this along with the "continental" South Florida weather is useful...)
ALL of the above weather data / forecasts are FREE and most are the "gold standard" for accuracy and
reliability.....
7) Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Sirius Marine weather.....it is useful and accurate......{Sirius' weather provider (WSI) uses NWS/NOAA Marine weather data and forecasts, as their primary marine weather source.....}
I have friends currently sailing the Pacific coast of
Mexico and others in Central/Southern Bahamas, who are all using Sirius Marine Weather.....and they love it!!!
(and another friend, currently sailing in/near St. Martean, who has Sirius Satellite Radio, and considered adding a Sirius Marine Weather receiver, but realized it wouldn't give him anything he didn't already have....and cost him $800 plus a monthly fee.....so he's decided to just continue to use his SSB and wefax software.....)
BUT, since you don't have a boat yet....and since the likelihood of whatever boat you do buy, would have a modern "Sirius Marine Weather-capable"
chartplotter (such as a
Raymarine E-Series, etc.) is very low, I'd think the likelihood of you considering Sirius Marine Weather is NILL....
I do hope this helps...
John
Linear Mode
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