We were about to head off on a race from Newport, RI to Cuxhaven, Germany, crossing the north Atlantic, heading north of Scotland and south through the North Sea towards Hamburg. Asked what our heading would be the following day, I told the sailmaker that I hadn't decided yet. I suggested that it was like asking a skeet shooter which way he'd be pointing the gun the next day when he pulled the trigger. Perhaps I wasn't being completely honest.
We can - and I do - plan further ahead than a few hours before departure. But I always try to keep my options open, studying the prevailing as well as the expected weather conditions. And that approach applies whether I'm racing, delivering a boat or just cruising. What is happening with the weather? What's going to happen? And how is it going to affect the boat and crew with whom I'm sailing? Those are the questions I ask before heading down to the boat - sometimes months before I climb onboard. And it applies to both near shore as well as offshore sailing. Safety, efficiency and, when racing, competitiveness depend upon an awareness of the conditions.
Of course, understanding how weather works takes more than just a magazine article or two. People spend years gaining advanced degrees in the subject. Others read books on the topic, and some attend seminars so they can ask questions and dig deeper into the causes and implications of how weather works and how it affects us as sailors. You don't "get it" by falling off the proverbial turnip truck. In my own case, the desire to learn about weather required a single-handed, 25 day transatlantic passage in 1985, during which I was on the wrong side of every wind shift in some of the worst weather I've experienced in the Atlantic. It dawned on me that I would benefit from getting smarter about the topic. I've studied weather ever since then, and much of the time the lessons were viscerally learned onboard a small vessel.
Even when we understand how weather works, we still need to have the data: maps, radar images, satellite images, observations and so forth. And we also need to understand the limitations of that data. What are the defining characteristics of that data? For example, in late May or June we might see a ship's observation for wind speeds of 20 knots someplace southeast of Newfoundland. That seems pretty straight forward, of course, and if we're in that area, we might expect that kind of wind speed. However, with the ship's observations being taken from high up on the bridge of large ship, we might experience something quite different while we're low in the water on a small sailboat. Wind shear over cold water in the springtime can be quite extreme, and while our own masthead instruments might be telling us that we have 15 knots of wind at the top of the rig, the surface of the water might be like glass and the vertical profile of the wind may go from 15 knots up top to nothing on deck. Don't plan to live up to your optimal sailing speeds in those conditions!
Of course, that's not to say that we don't need the information. In order to make informed decisions, we certainly need the information. But we also need to understand its limitations. In order to get a good baseline of information, I try to get accurate marine weather maps (both analyses and prognoses), radar images (preferably animated so I can determine the speed and heading of the precipitation indicated on the radar), satellite images (both infrared and visible light so I can determine which are the high, tall, cold, convective storm cells with the most punch), current or tidal information, sea temps, weather observations, and computer generated forecast data.
Each type of information has its own strengths and weaknesses or limitations. The maps that are created by the Ocean Prediction Center of the NWS are quite accurate, being compiled by trained, experienced marine weather forecasters. But as still images, they might be somewhat difficult for many people to understand how the weather is expected to evolve over time. Computer generated GRIB file map overlays, on the other hand, help us to understand rather clearly where systems are going to move, but the large scale data tends to be smoothed, and we can easily make incorrect assumptions in the smaller scale in which we actually sail.
Similarly, satellite imagery and large scale radar can be a huge help in understanding where systems are going and what they're bringing with them in terms of squalls, rain, or strong gusts, but they require some interpretation to get their full value. We're fortunate to have many sources of information, much of it in near real-time. By looking at QuikSCAT observations (microwave satellite telemetry that measures the aeration in the surface of the earth's water, providing wind speed and direction information), we can see what the wind conditions are, virtually on any ocean of the world. The information is usually valid within the last hour or two. But keep in mind that the QuikSCAT data is gathered by polar orbiting satellites, and it takes up to an hour and a half for the satellite to completely circle the earth and collect its data. It's not an instantaneous snapshot.
With increasingly sophisticated charting and weather routing software and communications capabilities we're able to manipulate the information for further study. As an extreme example of that, during the race to Germany, we were able to download infrared images of the Gulf Stream as well as QuikSCAT observations, geo-reference the images, and input them into our Expedition charting and weather routing software. The icon representing our boat was pinpointed by GPS on the Gulf Stream or QuikSCAT image so we knew exactly what kind of conditions we had, what our competition had, and where we wanted to gybe in order to stay in the strongest favorable current of the Gulf Stream and maximize our use of the wind shifts.
You may or may not want to use all of the bells and whistles that are available. But you certainly want to be safe. Understanding how weather works, where to collect the data, and the data's limitations will help you avoid being on the wrong side of every wind shift - or worse - during your next passage.
List of a Few Weather Websites
Maps
U.S. and N. Atlantic: http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/
British Met: http://meteonet.nl/aktueel/brackall.htm
Canada, Ice: http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/App/WsvPageDsp.cfm?ID=1&Lang=eng
Text
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/usamz.htm
Canada: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/marine/index_e.html
UK & North Sea, Shipping: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/index.html
UK & North Sea, Inshore: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/inshore_forecast.html
UK, High Seas: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/highseas_forecast.html
http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/index/danmark/farvandsudsigter.htm
Real-Time Observations
http://www.iwindsurf.com/
Buoys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
Buoys, Nova Scotia: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/NovaScotia.shtml
Buoys, UK & North Sea: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/United_Kingdom.shtml
QuikScat: http://manati.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/doc/oppt.html
QuikScat, UK Approach: http://manati.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/dataimages21/cur/zooms/WMBas30.png
Radar
U.S. & Nova Scotia: http://www.intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage.aspx?seg=LocalWeather&loc=usa&Product=Radar&prodgrp=RadarImagery&prodnav=none
U.S. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/radar_tab.php
Canada: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=ERN
Europe: http://euro.wx.propilots.net/
Satellite imagery for cloud
http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/
Europe, still or animated: http://euro.wx.propilots.net/
Currents
http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_nlom32/skill.html
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/
Computer models
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/cmet.html
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/
Private forecasting services
Commanders' Weather
154 Broad Street
Suite 1517
Nashua, NH 03062
Tel: 603-882 6789
Fax: 603-882 6661
Email: CommandersWeather@csi.com
Website: http://www.commandersweather.com/
Fleet Weather Ocean Services
Yacht Division
2566 Route 52
Hopewell Junction, New York, 12533
USA
Tel:845-226-8400
Fax: 845-226-4210
Website: http://www.yachtweather.com/
Locus Weather
21 Elm St.
Camden, ME 04843207-236-3935 (office)
207-596-4972 (mobile)
Website: http://www.locusweather.com
Sailing Weather Services
Chris Bedford
Watertown, Massachusetts
Newport, Rhode Island
Mobile (international) +1 617 721 5417
Landline +1 617 926 7457
Fax +1 617 812 0757
Website: http://www.sailwx.com/
Susan Genetts Real Weather
PO Box 1397
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401)-841-0287
Weather Routing, Inc.
P.O. Box 345
Glen Falls, NY 12801
Tel: 516-798 1110
Website: wri@wriwx.com
Tides
U.S.: http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/geographic.html
Europe France, S. UK, Spain, Portugal: http://tide.frbateaux.net/
UK & Ireland: http://www.pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tidalp.html
Worldwide: http://ocean.peterbrueggeman.com/tidepredict.html
Worldwide National Weather Services
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/world/
Bill Biewenga
P.O. Box 757
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847 0867
Cell: 401-578 4901
Email: billbiewenga@cox.net
Websites: www.weather4sailors.com and my personal site, www.WxAdvantage.com
We can - and I do - plan further ahead than a few hours before departure. But I always try to keep my options open, studying the prevailing as well as the expected weather conditions. And that approach applies whether I'm racing, delivering a boat or just cruising. What is happening with the weather? What's going to happen? And how is it going to affect the boat and crew with whom I'm sailing? Those are the questions I ask before heading down to the boat - sometimes months before I climb onboard. And it applies to both near shore as well as offshore sailing. Safety, efficiency and, when racing, competitiveness depend upon an awareness of the conditions.
Of course, understanding how weather works takes more than just a magazine article or two. People spend years gaining advanced degrees in the subject. Others read books on the topic, and some attend seminars so they can ask questions and dig deeper into the causes and implications of how weather works and how it affects us as sailors. You don't "get it" by falling off the proverbial turnip truck. In my own case, the desire to learn about weather required a single-handed, 25 day transatlantic passage in 1985, during which I was on the wrong side of every wind shift in some of the worst weather I've experienced in the Atlantic. It dawned on me that I would benefit from getting smarter about the topic. I've studied weather ever since then, and much of the time the lessons were viscerally learned onboard a small vessel.
Even when we understand how weather works, we still need to have the data: maps, radar images, satellite images, observations and so forth. And we also need to understand the limitations of that data. What are the defining characteristics of that data? For example, in late May or June we might see a ship's observation for wind speeds of 20 knots someplace southeast of Newfoundland. That seems pretty straight forward, of course, and if we're in that area, we might expect that kind of wind speed. However, with the ship's observations being taken from high up on the bridge of large ship, we might experience something quite different while we're low in the water on a small sailboat. Wind shear over cold water in the springtime can be quite extreme, and while our own masthead instruments might be telling us that we have 15 knots of wind at the top of the rig, the surface of the water might be like glass and the vertical profile of the wind may go from 15 knots up top to nothing on deck. Don't plan to live up to your optimal sailing speeds in those conditions!
Of course, that's not to say that we don't need the information. In order to make informed decisions, we certainly need the information. But we also need to understand its limitations. In order to get a good baseline of information, I try to get accurate marine weather maps (both analyses and prognoses), radar images (preferably animated so I can determine the speed and heading of the precipitation indicated on the radar), satellite images (both infrared and visible light so I can determine which are the high, tall, cold, convective storm cells with the most punch), current or tidal information, sea temps, weather observations, and computer generated forecast data.
Each type of information has its own strengths and weaknesses or limitations. The maps that are created by the Ocean Prediction Center of the NWS are quite accurate, being compiled by trained, experienced marine weather forecasters. But as still images, they might be somewhat difficult for many people to understand how the weather is expected to evolve over time. Computer generated GRIB file map overlays, on the other hand, help us to understand rather clearly where systems are going to move, but the large scale data tends to be smoothed, and we can easily make incorrect assumptions in the smaller scale in which we actually sail.
Similarly, satellite imagery and large scale radar can be a huge help in understanding where systems are going and what they're bringing with them in terms of squalls, rain, or strong gusts, but they require some interpretation to get their full value. We're fortunate to have many sources of information, much of it in near real-time. By looking at QuikSCAT observations (microwave satellite telemetry that measures the aeration in the surface of the earth's water, providing wind speed and direction information), we can see what the wind conditions are, virtually on any ocean of the world. The information is usually valid within the last hour or two. But keep in mind that the QuikSCAT data is gathered by polar orbiting satellites, and it takes up to an hour and a half for the satellite to completely circle the earth and collect its data. It's not an instantaneous snapshot.
With increasingly sophisticated charting and weather routing software and communications capabilities we're able to manipulate the information for further study. As an extreme example of that, during the race to Germany, we were able to download infrared images of the Gulf Stream as well as QuikSCAT observations, geo-reference the images, and input them into our Expedition charting and weather routing software. The icon representing our boat was pinpointed by GPS on the Gulf Stream or QuikSCAT image so we knew exactly what kind of conditions we had, what our competition had, and where we wanted to gybe in order to stay in the strongest favorable current of the Gulf Stream and maximize our use of the wind shifts.
You may or may not want to use all of the bells and whistles that are available. But you certainly want to be safe. Understanding how weather works, where to collect the data, and the data's limitations will help you avoid being on the wrong side of every wind shift - or worse - during your next passage.
List of a Few Weather Websites
Maps
U.S. and N. Atlantic: http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/
British Met: http://meteonet.nl/aktueel/brackall.htm
Canada, Ice: http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/App/WsvPageDsp.cfm?ID=1&Lang=eng
Text
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/usamz.htm
Canada: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/marine/index_e.html
UK & North Sea, Shipping: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/index.html
UK & North Sea, Inshore: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/inshore_forecast.html
UK, High Seas: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/highseas_forecast.html
http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/index/danmark/farvandsudsigter.htm
Real-Time Observations
http://www.iwindsurf.com/
Buoys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
Buoys, Nova Scotia: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/NovaScotia.shtml
Buoys, UK & North Sea: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/United_Kingdom.shtml
QuikScat: http://manati.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/doc/oppt.html
QuikScat, UK Approach: http://manati.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/dataimages21/cur/zooms/WMBas30.png
Radar
U.S. & Nova Scotia: http://www.intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage.aspx?seg=LocalWeather&loc=usa&Product=Radar&prodgrp=RadarImagery&prodnav=none
U.S. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/radar_tab.php
Canada: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=ERN
Europe: http://euro.wx.propilots.net/
Satellite imagery for cloud
http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/
Europe, still or animated: http://euro.wx.propilots.net/
Currents
http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_nlom32/skill.html
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/
Computer models
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/cmet.html
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/
Private forecasting services
Commanders' Weather
154 Broad Street
Suite 1517
Nashua, NH 03062
Tel: 603-882 6789
Fax: 603-882 6661
Email: CommandersWeather@csi.com
Website: http://www.commandersweather.com/
Fleet Weather Ocean Services
Yacht Division
2566 Route 52
Hopewell Junction, New York, 12533
USA
Tel:845-226-8400
Fax: 845-226-4210
Website: http://www.yachtweather.com/
Locus Weather
21 Elm St.
Camden, ME 04843207-236-3935 (office)
207-596-4972 (mobile)
Website: http://www.locusweather.com
Sailing Weather Services
Chris Bedford
Watertown, Massachusetts
Newport, Rhode Island
Mobile (international) +1 617 721 5417
Landline +1 617 926 7457
Fax +1 617 812 0757
Website: http://www.sailwx.com/
Susan Genetts Real Weather
PO Box 1397
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401)-841-0287
Weather Routing, Inc.
P.O. Box 345
Glen Falls, NY 12801
Tel: 516-798 1110
Website: wri@wriwx.com
Tides
U.S.: http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/geographic.html
Europe France, S. UK, Spain, Portugal: http://tide.frbateaux.net/
UK & Ireland: http://www.pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tidalp.html
Worldwide: http://ocean.peterbrueggeman.com/tidepredict.html
Worldwide National Weather Services
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/world/
Bill Biewenga
P.O. Box 757
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847 0867
Cell: 401-578 4901
Email: billbiewenga@cox.net
Websites: www.weather4sailors.com and my personal site, www.WxAdvantage.com
Respect is earned... and our next contributor, Bill Biewenga is in the company of very few. Bill is one of America's most accomplished offshore sailors. He has accumulated approximately 400,000 sea miles including 37 transatlantic crossings, several TransPacs, numerous record attempts, deliveries and races, as well as participation in four round the world races. He has worked as skipper, navigator, weather analyst/router, watch captain, helmsman, deck hand, and project manager collecting a vast amount of knowledge and experience. Currently Bill is actively engaged in racing and delivering a variety of vessels, routing for some of the world's top offshore campaigns, and conducting seminars and writing articles on navigation, marine weather and how to efficiently use weather information, as well as other marine topics. Bill's two web sites,
WxAdvantage.com and www.weather4sailors.com provide a wealth of information.
Bill's Next Lesson:
Weather To Navigate - You know you need the information, but what information is it?
WxAdvantage.com and www.weather4sailors.com provide a wealth of information.
Bill's Next Lesson:
Weather To Navigate - You know you need the information, but what information is it?
In addition to a excellent lesson, Bill also includes a great list of resources.
AshoreSchool.com Presents: A Teachable Moment
LEARN: Free interactive sailing lessons will take you from an absolute beginner to a confident sailing student who can communicate well with your instructor and classmates.
READ: The electronic version of
L&A's Seafaring, Latitude 38, Carolina Currents,48 Degrees North, Points East, Great Lakes Scuttbutt, Southwinds, Caribbean Compass, Spinsheet, and Ocean Navigator.
DEFINE: Understand the definitions of common nautical words and phrases
CHECK: Five ready-to-use Day Sail checklists that
can be viewed for FREE on your iPhone or any
other Web - Enabled - Device
EXPERIENCE is a great teacher, and this is a
excellent place to start. In this section we bring you the experiences of thousands of miles of sailing, without leaving your seat.
CHART: 1018 NOAA charts over Google Maps, with US Coast Guard Navigation Aids and NOAA Chart 1
Symbols. Makes it the perfect tool for students exploring any US coastline
WATCH: Expanded section includes dozens of excellent videos involving sailing training,
knot tying, racing, bloopers, and fun commentary presented in High Definition.
UNDERSTAND: Our Points of Sail lesson clearly illustrates not only the Point of Sail and the Mainsail position, it also includes the tack, the wind angle,
and the masthead wind direction.
PLAN: Where do you go once you have learned
sail? These great websites will help
you plan you future behind the helm.
PREDICT: These excellent weather related resources were collected and contributed by Bill Biewenga.
All the resources you need to keep an eye
on the weather
SEE: Increase your comfort level and confidence
with sailboat images identifying key areas of a sailboat.
SAY: We welcome your comments and ideas. If something needs to be
clarified, or you think it's great,
just drop us a note and tell us...
MAIN: Return to Port