Best way to get weather updates “near offshore”

[In The Mood]

We are coastal cruisers who wish to spend more time at the Channel Islands off SoCal. Most trips are a week or so in duration. Depending upon anchorage we are 20-50 miles offshore. When on the back side there is no cell coverage and vhf only occasional for weather updates. We have looked at Iridium Go and PredictWind but this is very expensive. I am interested in hearing other suggestions and reactions. Hardware suggestions are appreciated.

[Zanshin]

Weatherfax is broadcast on VHF frequencies and can be received by relatively inexpensive hardware.

See https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/pacsch.php for the current Pacific faxes you can receive at the moment - I like these charts more than getting GRIBs.

If you have a SSB with a modem you can get these right now, otherwise just google "weatherfax receiver" to see what is available on the market. This technology is "ancient" and rock-solid.

[Chotu]

My input is you don't need it.

Even at 6 knots you're talking about a less than 6 hour passage from 50 miles offshore.

There's nothing that will happen weather wise in 6 hours aside from a thunderstorm popping up and before you leave you'll know the chances of that. Same day marine forecasts are generally decent (use weather.gov). Keep in mind the weather quoted is for the worst conditions you'll see that day on a NOAA marine forecast.

As to thunderstorms, the weather before you leave will tell you the chance as can your eyeballs.

EDIT:. The VHF reports are the same as weather.gov. Those are all you need

[Snore]

Originally Posted by In The Mood

We are coastal cruisers who wish to spend more time at the Channel Islands off SoCal. Most trips are a week or so in duration. Depending upon anchorage we are 20-50 miles offshore. When on the back side there is no cell coverage and vhf only occasional for weather updates. We have looked at Iridium Go and PredictWind but this is very expensive. I am interested in hearing other suggestions and reactions. Hardware suggestions are appreciated.

If you are coastal and can get cell service, basic Luck Grib.com can meet your needs. A step up from that is weather through Garmin inReach. As a licensed delivery skipper, I went for a GO with Predict Wind Pro. But that is way overkill for what you are doing.

Getting weather is a real case of the more you spend the better it gets. For example only PW has the full euro model - hence the fee.

[Ded reckoner]

There are many NOAA weather sites with which you should familiarize yourself. As mentioned, GRIB files are good for weather forecasts of wind and waves. Besides what was already mentioned, https://opengribs.org/en/ is another source. Of course, forecasts past about three days or so are problematic. As mentioned, Iridium GO is a satellite phone that can download GRIB data files for your GRIB viewer and get other weather forecasts. Less expensive than GO, Garmin inReach can provide tracking, texting (to which you can have a lubber friend text you forecasts), and basic weather. An amateur radio with a Pactor modem can download GRIB files.

[bobmcd625]

I've never used it but Sirius XM weather forecasts via satellite should do the job. Can others comment please?

[Scubaseas]

SiriusXM marine weather might work for you. No idea on current hardware cost but I believe Raymarine has integrated some of their equipment for it. I bought my antenna/receiver years ago for under $200 and use a laptop. Side benefit of having a huge selection of tunes. Check coverage map before buying but for coastal/near coastal has worked fine for me on the East Coast. You can buy monthly subscriptions and turn it on/off as needed.

[Mahayana]

Try...
https://www.amazon.com/weBoost-47502...p_ob_title_wld

Won't give you uninterrupted coverage but may add some availability you don't have today. There are cellular boosters that will give you 20 miles from shore but cost more than an Iridium GO based solution.

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by Chotu

My input is you don't need it.

Even at 6 knots you're talking about a less than 6 hour passage from 50 miles offshore.

There's nothing that will happen weather wise in 6 hours aside from a thunderstorm popping up and before you leave you'll know the chances of that. Same day marine forecasts are generally decent (use weather.gov). Keep in mind the weather quoted is for the worst conditions you'll see that day on a NOAA marine forecast.

As to thunderstorms, the weather before you leave will tell you the chance as can your eyeballs.

EDIT:. The VHF reports are the same as weather.gov. Those are all you need

I agree with this. Weather predictions have due to ever more intelligent modelling become much more accurate. The UK Met office has been quoted as saying their three day or was it four, forecasts are now as accurate as their one day forecast thirty years ago.

We have Iridium Go with Predict wind but that is because we make multi day passages well offshore. On a recent passage from Cuba to Guatemala I was amazed at how accurate multi day predictions were. And if they were wrong it was often in the timing after multi days and not in what weather was in store for us.

I would get a multi day forecast and if only going for an overnight or two of coastal sailing would stop fussing about it, assuming I had a good window, and enjoy the sail.

Jim sv Gaia

[BugzyCan]

I have used Garmin Inreach SE on motorcycle trips. The information presented is pretty basic, but it works. Uses satelite so works everywhere, and you can set it to marine. Costs $1 USD per weather forecast. Also lets you text land lubbers, and has tracking.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...Qm3tRZQVvZReV6

[sailjumanji]

I have a Garmin InReach as well. Have used it from Texas to Bahamas and back, twice! We subscribe to OCENS wind AND waves forecast. I think its either $10 or $12 per month. We use OCENS weather service a lot when cruising, so the $1 per forecast option thru Garmin is not cost effective. Oh and you can get 72 hour forecast in six hour increments for your current location, or any lat long you input. Really important for planning crossings.

[Gaia]

I could have added to my previous re the lack of need near shore on coastal hops that models do not do near shore very well. So near shore is both good and bad from a forecasting point of view. The bad part is the above. It is difficult to be precise near shore. The good part is near shore effects are very predictable on a local knowledge basis. Once in the area one quickly gets to grips with sea and land breezes and their timing. Also on how they are affected by the overall weather picture.

Recently around Cuba it was windy off shore a bit but inshore without fail it was almost always calm, often dead still some time after sunset.

The other near shore effect is thunderstorms. You might think you want the forecast for that but if they occur where you sail the likely forecast is the same every day, isolated showers and thunder storms. Not much good for you. In that case it is your eyes that will provide you with what you need to know. And thunderstorms are most likely to occur very near shore and not fifty miles out. But having said that if thunderstorms are forecasted as part of a general weather system moving in then watch out. Thunderstorm conditions then are very unpredictable and possibly unpleasant.

So again, get a good forecast before heading out, Windy.com will give you it from three different models with the European model having the best reputation recently. And then trust your eyes.

It should also be pointed out perhaps that forecasted winds are averages over a certain period of time. They may not agree very well with the wild gyrations sailing boat anemometers often provide which make better bar room boasts then real data.

Jim sv Gaia

[MrMatt]

The Garmin Inreach product worked well for me, Down the West Coast of the United States And sailing to the Hawaiian islands it generally matched up quite well with the weather files from the side band radio And the land based weather forecasting guru we were in contact with by satellite phone the same is true with a nine week Journey down the British Columbia coast the forecast seem timely and accurate and corresponded with other weather information we were receiving from multiple sources doing all this while tracking my movements and sending information back to family and friends to keep track of me. And has an SOS feature that connects you with rescue professionals, worth looking into I am very satisfied with that product myself.

[wingssail]

If we disregard the commenter who proposed that weather forecasts are not needed when only 50 miles from the coast of California, to which I disagree, and since OP states that cell service is not reliable nor VHF in the back side of the channel islands, there are some options other than satellite phones.

One can buy an inexpensive HF radio receiver and listen to SSB or Ham cruiser nets. The frequencies and times are published by a variety of sources such as docksideradio.com. They often have weather discussions.

WEFAX pictures can be obtained using the same radio receiver and an application on your PC such as SeaTTY, just put a microphone up close to the radio speaker and docksideradio also publishes the NOAA Wefax schedule.

Grib files need email to request and you should request one for several days in the future when you get access to email. HRRR grib files is one of the best and most accurate and here is an example of how to request it (for free): send To: query@saildocs.com send HRRR:35N,31N,122W,116W|0.2,0.2|0,1..18|WIND. You will need a grib file viewer. OpenCPN has that. Saildocs.com has good instructions for requesting GRIB files. Remember that a seven day Grib file forecast will be stale and less accurate after four days.

Finally before resorting to satellite phones, the go-to solution for many ocean going vessels is SSB two-way radio and Pactor modem connected to the PC. Then you can look at and request both GRIB files and WEFAX and a lot of other valuable information, as well as using it for email. You need a shore based connection such as Sailmail or Airmail (if you are HAM licensed).

Then, of course there are the various satellite options advocated above.

Here is an example of an HRRR grib file display for the area discussed.

[CarinaPDX]

The USCG recently recommended shutting down our NAVTEX stations, which I think is a bit premature. I think they are transmitting brief weather alerts. I'll turn mine on and check. You don't need a dedicated receiver: any receiver capable of receiving MF signals will do, and the output can be fed into a computer's audio input and demodulated there with software.

Turning it on now...

Greg