AL SHAHEEN -
Useful weather links:
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Frank Singleton, sailing weather guru: | |
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Meteo France: | |
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NOAA: | |
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Herb Hilgenberg: | |
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National Hurricane Center: | |
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Caribbean Weather Centre: | |
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Canadian East Coast: |
NOAA also provide their complete North Atlantic forecast by voice on several SSB
frequencies, 6-
Since 1987, Herb Hilgenberg (Southbound II) has been delivering a daily weather forecasting
and ship-
The Caribbean Weather Centre, through Chris Parker, offers a subscription service by SSB voice or by email. Sponsoring vessels may talk to Chris daily (except Sundays) and obtain a customised forecast for their area or intended route. Chris operates from Florida/Bahamas and covers the Caribbean, US East coast and North Atlantic. We use this service extensively. Chris is an expert hurricane analyst and his emails on tropical storms and hurricanes are invaluable.
Email by SSB
The “Saildocs” service is available free via Sailmail (see the Communications section). This provides Grib Files (computer generated wind strength and direction charts) for any area of the world, and a host of forecast information for localised areas, most emanating from National weather sources.
Navtex
Navtex is a radio-
Weatherfax
The Weatherfax service is another free source of oceanic weather and provides, mainly, synoptic charts by SSB radio, through a decoder or modem, to a laptop computer or direct to a printer. The recipient has to have the knowledge and expertise to interpret synoptic charts to provide forecast information but it is often useful to have these available to understand forecasts provided by others and to understand how the weather systems are being driven.
Weather:
Obtaining accurate up-
We use the following weather delivery systems aboard “Al Shaheen”. As our present cruising area is Caribbean/East coast of North America, our present focus is on sources relevant to this area.
Inmarsat C
See the Communications section. Inmarsat C provides valuable 6-
SSB voice
Daily voice forecasts for the Caribbean are provided on SSB by ham radio amateurs “Eric” (from Trinidad), “George” (from St John USVI) and by Chris Parker (on Bel Ami) operating as the Caribbean Weather Centre from Tortola. Most cruisers listen to at least one of these daily. Of the three, Chris Parker is the only professional forecaster and he is also a hurricane expert.