Getting Weather on the Water: From VHF to Starlink

We break down the mix of old-school radios, smart‑phone apps and satellite gear that can turn you into a more confident weather watcher underway.

By
Todd Vorenkamp
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14
A waterspout reaches down from a thunderhead, a common sight during summer in the Florida Keys. (Photo: Ben Edmonds/NOAA)

We are in the midst of a yachting weather forecasting and awareness revolution. With satellite internet technology today’s sailors have never had so much weather information available to them while sailing offshore. Here we will take a look at the new and traditional weather tools available to, hopefully, keep you a “fair weather sailor.”

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Todd Vorenkamp
http://www.trvphoto.com
Todd Vorenkamp is a proposal writer and editor for Valiant Integrated Systems. He is a former Senior Creative Content Writer for the B&H Photo blog, Explora, where he wrote educational articles about photography and optics as well as product reviews, Op-ed pieces, and feature articles. Since 2017, Todd has worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Photography at Dakota College in Bottineau, North Dakota teaching the full curriculum of photography classes. He engages in freelance work as a photography workshop instructor, professional photographer specializing in commercial architectural assignments and environmental portraiture, writer for aviation and maritime magazines, and has worked as a sailing instructor for both adults and children. Todd has a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Photography from the Academy of Art University and his photographs have appeared in books and magazines. Todd is also a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy and is a former naval aviator who has served as an aircraft commander in the Boeing H-46, Sikorsky H-3 and H-60, and Eurocopter H-65 helicopters. He has raced sailboats and sailed across the globe on commercial containerships as a licensed merchant marine officer—holding a 3rd mate unlimited tonnage ocean license. Todd is the author of “A Is for Aperture: The ABC’s of Photography.” He is the former editor-in-chief of Rotor Review, the Naval Helicopter Association’s quarterly publication and "Hear This," the USMMA midshipman newspaper. His writing was featured in the anthology “Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families,” published by Random House and the National Endowment for the Arts. Todd has written over 100 print-published articles and hundreds more for online publications.
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14 COMMENTS

  2. This article is remiss for not identifying a barometer as a source for predicting weather. Barometer readings are prime indicator of impending weather. Barometers are not expensive, do not require batteries and are completely reliable. There are barometer apps that work on Apple devices without an WiFi or cellular connection. On my vessel there are three barometers and I check the readings the change of every watch. Never surprised by bad weather.

    • Hi Donald,

      You make a great point here as I was focused solely on electronic means of getting weather reports.

      Along with the barometer, I also realized that I forgot to mention keeping a “weather eye” on the horizon!

      In the absence of electronic weather-getting devices, the barometer is certainly the most reliable old-school way to “sense” approaching weather.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Best,

      Todd

  4. I used to use an Iridium Go! to (slowly) download grib files. It was a game changer. The game changed again with Starlink and now I use it primarily with Windy. I am tempted to try PredictWind as it seems to offer many useful features, but I am not a fan of subscription services (SaaS models).

  6. OpenCPN has a great weather routing plugin, that uses GRIB files (for shorter term forecasting) or historical weather data (provided by the Climatology plugin, for longer term forecasting). Superb functionality, at an unbeatable price (free!)