Long before (say 6-12 months) you embark on any voyage, either coastal or oceanic, you need to obtain an idea of the average winds and weather (the climatology) that you may encounter.
A broad overview of what drives our
Australian weather at various times of the year, can be obtained from
here
To gain an idea of the average coastal
wind winds at locations around the Australian coast, then check out
this link
For ocean areas check this one
http://cioss.coas.oregonstate.edu/cogow/
An idea of other weather elements can
be gleaned from here
Check out what weather information is
available to you via HF and VHF radio whilst at sea (extremely
important if you don’t have internet access on board)? All this
information can be obtained from this link
http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/radio-sat/marine-radio-sat.shtml
How might an El Nino or La Nina impact
on my voyage? Check out
At least two weeks before you plan to
embark on your voyage, lock into (get in phase with) the weather.
This can be achieved by monitoring computer forecast models. There
are a range of different models available, some of the better ones
are available from (If cruising plan to leave on a favourable weather
pattern. If racing then there is generally no such option):
The Bureau of Meteorology website
(ACCESS suite of models)
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml
ACCESS model (out to 7 days)
Passage Weather (GFS model from the
USA)
An excellent site (free trial then
payment required) for higher resolution models is
http://www.predictwind.com
At least the day before you set off, on
the day and whilst on your voyage, regularly work down the following
checklist:
- Are warnings current for my area of interest? http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/warnings/index.shtml or via HF/VHF radio
- What is the latest weather situation?
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/synoptic_col.shtml
or via the Weather Situation which accompanies a coastal or high seas
forecast are broadcast on HF/VHF radio.
- What is the latest coastal or high seas weather forecast for my area?
http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/index.shtml
or via HF/VHF radio
[With internet access, the range of computer forecast models (listed
above and more) can be accessed as well]
- What are the latest weather observations along the coast?
http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/index.shtml
or via HF/VHF radio
5. What is going
on around me? Log wind (direction and speed), atmospheric pressure
and cloud types at least every 3 hours and look for trends. This
valuable information can assist you to fine-tune forecasts. Make sure that
you have a working barometer on your vessel.
Other
information of interest could beTides?
http://www.bom.gov.au/oceanography/tides/
or from the tide tables that you have onboard.
Ocean Currents?
and
At the end of the day the one stop shop
is http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/index.shtml
Do your homework before you depart.
Whilst at sea regularly check and update the weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment