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18-05-2016, 07:30
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#16
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 152
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
You really must carry a recording barometer. You can get cheap ones from camping shops or the weather stations for the home. You need to know the trend of the pressure just by glancing at the graph every hour. The weather forecast is not always correct and you cannot rely on any local anomalies which might occur due to mountains or land masses.
With a good weather forecast upon sailing, I have returned a Naval vessel to sheltered waters when the log showed that the barometer was falling at a greater rate than forecast. Good job I did or we would have had a very uncomfortable passage in Estaural waters. In these conditions, you can easily get crew injuries which then compounds an already difficult situation.
Get a cheap recording barometer and it will pay you back its small cost one day with interest!
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18-05-2016, 07:57
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#17
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: BC
Boat: O'Day 40
Posts: 1,083
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Snowpetrel
What is the app. I don't see it in the android store.
__________________
Trying to make new mistakes.
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18-05-2016, 08:02
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#18
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,150
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead
A recording barometer is not at all a "marginally useful device" -- it's fundamental data for any kind of offshore sailing.
But you don't need to spend $250 on the MeteoMan. A $50 weather station will do the job.
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Agree totally. Weather forecasts are regional; not your exact spot. A barometric pressure device will tell you what is happening around your boat. We were down below when the barometer started a noticeable nosedive. Looked outside and guess what, a big, black tornado was bulldozing across the river we were anchored in. Nothing on the weather charts, no broadcasted notices. Just sudden death moving our way. For the serious cruiser, its an essential device. For the weekend sailor or those who just look at boats, no its not essential.
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18-05-2016, 08:17
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#19
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Long Range Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Australian living on "Sea Life" currently in England.
Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
Posts: 12,822
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Seems I always say you don't need the ancient crap cluttering up your boat: no paper, no sextants... no old fashioned barometers.
I note the OP is in Vancouver heading to Mexico. The Tropics are different in that the daily range is just a few MB, unless there's a hurricane, of course. But nowadays we are tracking weather changes faaaarrrrrrr from the boat, 1,000s nmss in many cases. By the time the barometer goes down its too bloody late!
For those people who are competent to predict the weather themselves then its probably a device they want. But I am clearly incompetent compared to the meteorologists at NOAA, BOM AU, Metro France etc. I RELY on them. If they are wrong I could not have done better tapping the glass.
As a couple of people have said there's some very affordable digital home weather stations at the hardware store that have a 24 he graph plus temp, humidity etc. And its the temp & humidity I use most
Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.
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18-05-2016, 09:05
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#21
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Thessalonki Greece
Boat: Westerly Centaur 26
Posts: 152
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Yes you do need one. Any simple mechanical will do the job
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18-05-2016, 09:22
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#22
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Southern California
Boat: Catalina 320
Posts: 1,328
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
The inexpensive weather stations have the benefit of multiple small remote temperature sensors also, I keep one in the refrigerator to insure that essential beverages are kept properly chilled.
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18-05-2016, 09:36
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#23
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: sailing south
Boat: Ericson 35-2
Posts: 330
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calif.Ted
to insure that essential beverages are kept properly chilled.
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Now THAT's more than marginally useful! And have an alert for when the temperature goes too high?
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18-05-2016, 09:37
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#24
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,208
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
It is nice to see some posts about sailing without all of the interactive electronics. Yep! It is nice but what happens with a system failure. Many sound like they are so rapped up into electrics that they would be lost and that would be sad.
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18-05-2016, 10:22
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#25
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Meandering about the Gulf of Alaska coast [NNE Pacific]— where the internet doesn't always shine... [Even Elon's...] Homeport: Wrangell Island
Boat: Nauticat 43 [S&S Staysail Ketch]
Posts: 1,687
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedHerring
Planning to sail down the West Coast from Vancouver to Cabo this fall.
The barometer I have is dead. Resuscitating it is theoretically possible, but I have enough problems to deal with between now and castoff day. For getting weather forecasts, there is VHF, two SSB receivers and a satellite messenger (Delorme InReach). Is there a scenario where I'd really want to know the local pressure trend?
If so, what should I replace my dead aneroid piece with?
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I believe sensing and tracking/trending local calibrated barometer readings is critical to wx analysis, and for comparing/adjusting 3rd wx products. [e.g., forecasts, WeFax, etc.] A bit less so in lower latitudes, except during storm seasons.
As others have already mentioned, recent smart phone and tablet models have pressure sensors, and apps for reading/tracking/calibrating that output.
We use Apple products, and pressure sensors were included beginning with iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2. I know other manufacturers include pressure sensors as well, but don't have those details since we don't use them...
The iOS apps we like the best for live and recorded barometer readings so far include:
Barograph
Bar-o-meter
The above is an excerpt from our Computers, Devices and Applications page if more detail is of interest to anyone.
Safe travels.
Cheers!
Bill
__________________
SV Denali Rose
Learning every day- and sharing if I can.
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18-05-2016, 11:20
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#26
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Long Range Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Australian living on "Sea Life" currently in England.
Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
Posts: 12,822
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calif.Ted
The inexpensive weather stations have the benefit of multiple small remote temperature sensors also, I keep one in the refrigerator to insure that essential beverages are kept properly chilled.
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What a great idea!
Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.
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18-05-2016, 11:38
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#27
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,150
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkJ
What a great idea!
Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.
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Better yet, keep any white distilled stuff in the freezer. Tastes better.
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18-05-2016, 12:29
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#28
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cruising
Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only
Posts: 2,723
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
I keep a watch with barometer function in the nav station, and when I am underway, I log the barometric pressure every hour around the clock.
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18-05-2016, 13:14
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#29
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Neuse River, NC
Boat: 1984 Catalina 36
Posts: 137
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowpetrel
My phone has a barometer sensor. I run a free barograph app. This plus writing the barometer value down in the log at the end of each watch works well
Sent from my SM-G930F using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
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Works well enough and records trends.
__________________
Paul
1984 Catalina 36
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18-05-2016, 13:15
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#30
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bellingham
Boat: Outbound 44
Posts: 9,319
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Re: Do I really need a barometer? Which one?
The OP stated clearly his passage goal. Vancouver to Cabo. 75% of the passage is within VHF weather reception. The run without VHF weather is San Diego to Cabo where they will have other weather available. Can't say that the barometer did much of anything for my passages along the same route. If the OP wants to cut back, then this cut back isn't likely to make much difference. As Mark stated the meteorologists usually interpret the weather better than I do. We have a recording digital barometer onboard and record readings in the log on passages that are not just in the tropics. It is useful in those cases to judge where fronts and systems are located.
__________________
Paul
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