Atlantic crossing, U.S. weather reports, communication

[MoCan]

Two of us are planning a crossing aboard "Seclusion" in November 2021, hopefully staging the boat in southern Portugal in the spring. Our English based Moody 39 is equipped with Navtex and Weatherman receivers and the range out to sea can be impressive.
We (one very smart Englishman, and one very gullible Canadian) would like to receive proper weather info from the US weather services. Is it all satellite based comms now or is radio still used and on wavelengths which will travel some miles?
Last year we sailed from Oban to Greenland via the Faroes and Iceland and relied on weather updates via Yellow Brick from one of our land-based "Captains".

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by MoCan

Two of us are planning a crossing aboard "Seclusion" in November 2021, hopefully staging the boat in southern Portugal in the spring. Our English based Moody 39 is equipped with Navtex and Weatherman receivers and the range out to sea can be impressive.
We (one very smart Englishman, and one very gullible Canadian) would like to receive proper weather info from the US weather services. Is it all satellite based comms now or is radio still used and on wavelengths which will travel some miles?
Last year we sailed from Oban to Greenland via the Faroes and Iceland and relied on weather updates via Yellow Brick from one of our land-based "Captains".

I cannot answer your question but the east to west crossing from Portugal/Cape Verdes to the Caribe, in the proper season which you will do, the weather is pretty stable as you will be riding the trades. I honestly don't think you'll need weather services other than receiving gribs from time to time to confirm your local observatons. Better to aim at getting some form of entertainment... Just my 2 cents.

[MoCan]

We are looking forward to warm trade winds but once positioned on the east coast we will need communications as we head north, optimally to NYC, and perhaps to Nova Scotia before the return loop to Gibraltar in spring 2022.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by MoCan

We are looking forward to warm trade winds but once positioned on the east coast we will need communications as we head north, optimally to NYC, and perhaps to Nova Scotia before the return loop to Gibraltar in spring 2022.

Sounds like a wonderful plan. If you can, include Bermuda, a gorgeous place and it could save you time on the way up. Let's just hope that this virus will be killed by then.
All the best.

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by MoCan

We are looking forward to warm trade winds but once positioned on the east coast we will need communications as we head north, optimally to NYC, and perhaps to Nova Scotia before the return loop to Gibraltar in spring 2022.

Once on the US east coast, your communications options are wide open. NOAA continuously broadcasts weather observations and forecasts on VHF channel 1. And you'll be coast hopping, so cellular data is an option if you want GRIBs, web-based weather, or email. Also, by Nov 2021, Starlink should be an option for coastal Internet connectivity too, just not mid-ocean yet.

-David

[boat driver]

Look at NOAA radio fax services. Google Boston weathefax for the Atlantic.
SSB frequency and times are listed

[Snore]

There is a great conversation on weather, etc in this thread, that is still very active.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...an-240825.html

[barnakiel]

There is good voice over ssb on the way towards the Azores. Beyond the Azores there (used to be, maybe still is) good Offenbach radiofax. I will assume some kind of offshore UK forecast too but never used one.


This much said, today all my clients use some form of sat to get their wx onboard.


b.

[roland stockham]

There is an area off N Africa as you approach the trades area that can be a radio dead spot especially if there is bad weather around but other than that Offenbach the US coast guard should give you all you need. Weather maps from SSB are much better that Gribbs as they are prepared by professional forecasters and show weather fronts. Gribbs are raw data with no interpretation

[psp2psp2]

Originally Posted by MoCan

Two of us are planning a crossing aboard "Seclusion" in November 2021, hopefully staging the boat in southern Portugal in the spring. Our English based Moody 39 is equipped with Navtex and Weatherman receivers and the range out to sea can be impressive.
We (one very smart Englishman, and one very gullible Canadian) would like to receive proper weather info from the US weather services. Is it all satellite based comms now or is radio still used and on wavelengths which will travel some miles?
Last year we sailed from Oban to Greenland via the Faroes and Iceland and relied on weather updates via Yellow Brick from one of our land-based "Captains".

We used Chris Parker at Caribbean Weather Center to provide us with forecasts for our W>E Atlantic crossing. Excellent service at reasonable cost. F’casts delivered to a Garmin In Reach device - their ‘plan’ is (from memory) $60 for the month. The device cost me $250 and I get good use from it. (Before buying the in reach, we had an Inmarsat BGAN which cost a fortune to use)

AGE OF SAIL - Home

[AlanT]

We used Herb in Montreal 3 times on Atlantic crossings over SSB. He was awesome but I believe now retired. We had no trouble connecting over voice every day of every crossing.

On one crossing we also rented a Portable satellite phone largely to update our website, that also worked well on data and picked up GRIBS from both the Sat and the SSB. Also rented a Sat phone on a US West Coast delivery a few years ago. It worked out pretty cheap and easy to pick up and drop off (or mail back) on completion of the voyage. ~Alan

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

There is an area off N Africa as you approach the trades area that can be a radio dead spot especially if there is bad weather around but other than that Offenbach the US coast guard should give you all you need. Weather maps from SSB are much better that Gribbs as they are prepared by professional forecasters and show weather fronts. Gribbs are raw data with no interpretation

No.


Gribs are not raw data. Gribs are processed data. And in fact every forecast is an interpretation: grib, wefax or voice. 99% of publicly distributed wx data IS interpretation.


True what you say about grib not showing fronts clear enough. On the other hand fronts are not much of an issue sailing out and beyond Canaries.


I always wish them coders redesigned the way gribs are made so that we could get a we-fax-like front line drawn by the software. It should not be too difficult and would save us some headache.



Cheers,
b.

[psp2psp2]

Yes, Herb was a star! I regret not keeping a recording of his “Southbound two . . “ announcement to demonstrate to the grandchildren how it used to be. Anyway, I encourage you to look at the Garmin In Reach device and service plan, I find it useful and economical. They also offer a weather forecast service for an extra subscription. Best part is you can cancel everything month by month. All the plans include a tracking service similar to Yellow Brick.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by psp2psp2

(...)



Garmin In Reach device and service plan, I find it useful and economical. They also offer a weather forecast service for an extra subscription.


(..) cancel everything month by month.

Basic weather used to be contained in the basic plan. I believe it still is.


(re: cancelling) Yes. But one is often better off 'suspending' than 'cancelling' as the latter action requests paying another 'activation fee' when you want to start using the device again.


Cheers to all,
barnakiel

[Snore]

Originally Posted by psp2psp2

Yes, Herb was a star! I regret not keeping a recording of his “Southbound two . . “ announcement to demonstrate to the grandchildren how it used to be. Anyway, I encourage you to look at the Garmin In Reach device and service plan, I find it useful and economical. They also offer a weather forecast service for an extra subscription. Best part is you can cancel everything month by month. All the plans include a tracking service similar to Yellow Brick.

I used the inReach weather for a passage. Called for 10-15kts and seas under 10. In reality, we had over 20 all day and appropriate sea state.

Wait it gets worse!!!

While doing a transatlantic the inReach weather system was down. They had no forecasts for 2-3 days. When I emailed them from the inReach, they responded to my land email. Good thing wifey was there to relay the info.

If you are going to get serious about a passage. You need to see the GRIBs vs reading some interpretation. You need a system that has some redundancy. As stated above, I pull weather at least twice a day. I also run it through routing software that uses the vessels polars



The other option is Chris Parker. But I really prefer looking at GRIB- porn and making my own decisions.