Recieving Exuma/Bahamas weather forcasts

[Content63]

Can you please advise?
What are the best ways to get daily weather (wind and wave) forecasts while cruising the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas?
Specifically, I'll be cruising between Great Exuma and Warderick Wells on a bare-boat charter for 6 weeks later this winter.
There's a VHF on board and I have Windy and Windfinder apps on my phone.
The boat does not have an SSB radio so Chris Parker's broadcast is probably not possible for me, unless I sign-up for the daily emails, which I assume may be spotty due to telephone signal reception? My cell provider is AT&T and I'll be using their International Day Pass reception plan.
Any advice as what I need to do or acquire before I leave would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

[MicHughV]

There are several " weather nets" in the B'mas...essentially someone somewhere will re-broadcast the weather for those unable to receive it.
You will likely hear an announcement on channel 16, vhf, to go to a certain channel at a certain time to receive the weather of the day.
Internet is also widely available, so you can access your own weather source.

[dcondit]

You'll have cell coverage most of the time in that area. I found I only lose it when out in the more removed locations like Green Cay.

[cofc]

Get a BTC sim from any BTC shop and just use Predict Wind’s free version. If you’re using your ATT plan I imagine it’ll be way more expensive than just using BTC. You can use their prepaid plans and add data directly from your phone. 15GB is $33.

[zstine]

There is no cell service, not BTC anyway, in wardrick wells and most of the marine park. I think at&t roams on BTC so I doubt att would work. this is from 2019 experience. in winter, cold fronts move through and wind can come out of west, then clock around and blow. have a bailout Anchorage if you are uncertain. we have a 7.5ft draft which made that hard, but a shallow draft will have more options. VHF nets may be available. certainly down in Georgetown.. maybe not in the park? if your charter is a week, then not really that big of a deal since 4-5 day forecast for a front is pretty good.

[TBW]

Check out Aliv. Get btc tower map. Warderick right between two towers so poor. Maybe boo boo hill sometime in warderick.

[bgallinger]

Originally Posted by Content63

Can you please advise?
What are the best ways to get daily weather (wind and wave) forecasts while cruising the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas?
Specifically, I'll be cruising between Great Exuma and Warderick Wells on a bare-boat charter for 6 weeks later this winter.
There's a VHF on board and I have Windy and Windfinder apps on my phone.
The boat does not have an SSB radio so Chris Parker's broadcast is probably not possible for me, unless I sign-up for the daily emails, which I assume may be spotty due to telephone signal reception? My cell provider is AT&T and I'll be using their International Day Pass reception plan.
Any advice as what I need to do or acquire before I leave would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Cell phone service is very good in the Bahamas except in the park, and especially Wardrick Wells. I would suggest you use BTC or Aliv as cell phone providers for weather and communication. Also, go out and buy yourself an inexpensive short wave receiver (maybe $150), then listen to Chris Parker on 8.137 USB at 06:30 EST. He beams the broadcast on a 120T from Florida and it is FREE. You can also listen on 4.045 USB at 06:30 EST for the omni directional signal.

[Panacea2183]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

Cell phone service is very good in the Bahamas except in the park, and especially Wardrick Wells. I would suggest you use BTC or Aliv as cell phone providers for weather and communication. Also, go out and buy yourself an inexpensive short wave receiver (maybe $150), then listen to Chris Parker on 8.137 USB at 06:30 EST. He beams the broadcast on a 120T from Florida and it is FREE. You can also listen on 4.045 USB at 06:30 EST for the omni directional signal.

I happen to have one!

[Jamme]

You may want to check this thread:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...io-194343.html

Fair winds.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

There are several " weather nets" in the B'mas...essentially someone somewhere will re-broadcast the weather for those unable to receive it.
You will likely hear an announcement on channel 16, vhf, to go to a certain channel at a certain time to receive the weather of the day.
Internet is also widely available, so you can access your own weather source.

Highborne Cay Marina broadcasts weather, daily at 0800 on VHF Ch 06.

“Blue Yonder" [C6AGJ], based at her home, or MV Emerald, at Staniel Cay, when on the island, broadcasts a weather summery, from multiple sources at 0815 - 0830 on VHF Ch-12; an announcement is made on VHF Ch-16 first. The service is provided during the period of late November to May.

Staniel Cay Yacht Club provides copies of weather summaries on bulletin board in the bar.

These specifics may be out of date, but SOMEONE will be doing it. Ask, locally [VHF Ch. 16].

[chris mac]

We have spent about a week in the park so far this winter. Most places we were able to get a weak signal, except warderick wells. There we hoisted a phone up the mast as a hotspot. It worked well enough for windy and emails.

[GordMay]

One wag wrote:
Unplug your radio.
Tape this forecast to your radio.
-Rain showers at dawn [summer]
-Sea breeze forming at mid morning
-High in the mid 80's [summer, or mid 70's [winter]
-Mid afternoon thunderstorms lasting 30 minutes [summer]
-Low near 80/60 [summer/winter]
-Outside of thunderstorms, scattered fair weather cumulus; bases at 2,500ft
-Occasional scattered hurricanes between May-October.
-Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Emouchet]

At Warderick Well, you can get ok cell phone signal if you take a walk and climb up to Booboo Hill (20 min from the park rangers house).

There is a bench at the top of the hill where you can sit. Cell reception is not that bad. With a bit of patience, you can download emails and grib files using your favorite app on your cell phone.

By experience, works better on day with clear sky than when cloudy. The closest cell towers are at Highbourne Cay and Compass Cay. So this makes quite a distance.

[wsmurdoch]

Until Covid stopped us in 2019, we traveled through the Exumas in each of the twelve previous years. irish-eyes-to-the-bahamas.blogspot.com Our primary weather source was Chris Parker usually by HF radio but sometimes by internet where his broadcasts are repeated as a webcast or available later as an audio file. We were subscribers. We also subscribed to Predict Wind for their graphical internet forecasts including CAPE values. Weather forecasts from the Bahamas Met Office were obtained from their internet site, from a morning HF broadcast by BASRA, or from the AM station ZNS (1540) in the morning from Nassau. That same Met Office forecast was read daily from Nassau on HF by the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club. Our internet was by BTC cell phone and our AM and HF were from either a shortwave receiver or the boat's marine SSB transceiver.

Recording weather broadcasts on a cell phone or voice recorder is a good idea.

[MicHughV]

I find these weather forecast threads interesting.

My first time in the B'mas was in 1980. At that time, weather forecasts for the average yachtie in the B'mas....ha ha....they were non-existent. As was GPS, etc. Cell phones had not arrived yet.

I never had the slightest problem dealing with the weather or wondering where I was. Most all anybody had back in those days was a vhf radio.

I simply don't see how the modern day sailor with every possible modern electronic convenience manages to get by.