Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine June 2017

JUNE 2017 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 24
St. Kitts Marine Works
BOAT YARD - Haul & Storage
LOCATED AT NEW GUINEA, ST.KITTS Long 62º 50.1’ W Lat 17º 20.3’ N
“QUALITY SERVICE AT A GREAT PRICE”
Special - 5% discount for full payment. Haul and Launch $ 11 / ft.
Storage $ 8 / ft / month. Beat the Hurricane season rush. Have access
to your vessel to be launched at any time and not get stuck behind other boats.
Tie down available ($3/ft), backhoe available ($100/hr) to dig hole to put keel down
in etc. Pressure wash, Mechanics ($45/hr), Electricians ($45/hr), Welding and
Carpenters available. Our 164 ton Travel Lift has ability to lift boats up to 35 ft
wide and 120 feet long.
We allow you to do your own work on your boat. No extra charge for Catamarans.
Payments – Cash (EC or US$)
Visa, Mastercard, Discover & travellers checks (must sign in front of us with ID)
24 hr manned Security, completely fenced property with CCTV.
Water and electricity available. FREE high speed Wifi.
www.skmw.net
E-mail: Bentels@hotmail.com
Cell: 1 (869) 662 8930
REGULAR HOURS FOR HAUL:
Monday to Thurs 8am to 3pm, Fridays 8am to Noon
Agents for:
Selected On-Line
Weather Sources
“Red sky at night…?”* When was the last time you
really looked at the sky during happy hour? For that
matter, when was the last time you even tapped the
barometer? Yet weather prediction occupies a large
part of a Caribbean sailor’s attention.
According to Wikipedia, it was not until the
invention of the electric telegraph in 1835 that the modern age of weather forecasting
began. Before this time, it was not widely practicable to transport information
about the current state of the weather any faster than a steam train (and
the train also was a very new technology at that time). By the late 1840s, the
telegraph allowed reports of weather conditions from a wide area to be received
almost instantaneously, allowing forecasts to be made from knowledge of weather
conditions farther upwind… In the United States, the first public radio forecasts
were made in 1925 on WEEI, the Edison Electric Illuminating station in
Boston. Television forecasts followed in Cincinnati in the 1940s on the DuMont
Television Network. The Weather Channel, a 24-hour cable network, began
broadcasting in 1982.
The technology used to disseminate weather forecasts is continually evolving.
Although it’s been a long time since people tried to predict the weather by examining
onion skins or seeing whether or not the groundhog went back into his hole, it has
also been a while since mariners routinely listened to WWV radio for marine storm
warnings. The use of once-popular weatherfax has been replaced by GRIB.
Although SSB radio is still indispensable, today, with WiFi so widely available in
the Caribbean, increasing numbers of sailors get their weather information from
on-line sources. SSB or SatPhone weather is still important when offshore, out of
WiFi range.
Here we present a selection of sites that various Caribbean cruisers have recommended
(tested PC and Android tablet compatible).
Is your favorite weather website not listed here? Let us know!
Caribbean National, Regional and Island Weather Websites
• ABCs Weather: www.meteo.cw/rad_loop.php
• Cuba Met Institute (Spanish): www.met.inf.cu
• Curaçao Met Department: www.meteo.cw
• MartiniqueWeatherRadar (French):
www.meteofrance.gp/previsions-meteo-antilles-guyane/animation/radar/antilles
• Panama Weather (Spanish; requires Adobe Flash Player and is not Android
compatible): www.hidromet.com.pa/index.php
• St. Martin (French): www.sxmcyclone.com/?page_id=1129
• Trinidad & Tobago Weather Radar: www.metoffice.gov.tt/radar
• US National Weather Service (for USVI and Puerto Rico): www.srh.noaa.gov/sju
• Barbados weather satellite (Barbados Weather Radar is off the air pending
facility reconstruction}: www.barbadosweather.org/barbados-weather-dir-Sat.php
General Weather Websites
• NOAA’s Environmental Visualization Laboratory (great satellite images,
animations and more visual storm stuff): www.nnvl.noaa.gov
• Mike’s Weather Page: www.spaghettimodels.com
• http://www.windfinder.com
• PassageWeather (provides seven-day wind, wave and weather forecasts):
www.onboardonline.com/weathertools
• Weather Underground: www.wunderground.com/hurricane
• www.windyty.com (shows wind speed and direction for 14 days in about
three-hour increments)
Weather Conversions
• http://weather.org/conversion.htm
Commercial Marine Weather Service Websites
• Buoyweather (free two-day forecasts in addition to paid-for custom forecasts):
www.buoyweather.com
• Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center (listen free on daily SSB nets
or subscribe for daily e-mails for your area): http://mwxc.com/index.php
• Crown Weather Services (provides a good Tropical Weather page in addition
to paid-for custom forecasts): www.crownweather.com
• Worldwide severe storm prediction (paid subscription): www.stormpulse.com
• Caribbean Weather: http://weather.org/caribbean.htm
Hurricane Information Websites
• Caribbean Hurricane Network (latest local updates from correspondents
on the islands): www.stormcarib.com
• US National Hurricane Center: www.nhc.noaa.gov
• NHC Offshore Reports: www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine/offshores.php
• Offshore Waters Forecast (Caribbean/SW Atlantic):
www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAOFFNT3.shtml
• AccuWeather:
http://sirocco.accuweather.com/sat_mosaic_640x480_public/IR/isahatl.gif
• Atlantic Hurricane Tracking Chart (print out for offline reference):
www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/tracking_chart_atlantic.pdf
• Caribbean Rainbow Loop: www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/carb/flash-rb.html
• NOAA Climate Discussion: www.climate.gov/news-features
• NHC Marine Graphicast:
www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine/graphicast.php?basin=at#contentw.nws.noaa
John J. Kettlewell says, “The map at earth.nullschool.net is an interactive pilot
chart, showing current conditions around the world. When you open the page you
see the entire globe, then you can zoom in to see smaller regions. Click on ‘Earth’ in
the lower left to get a menu. You can choose to see the world’s current wind or current
patterns, or ocean waves, all with animation.”
Happy weather windows!
* The “red sky” adage only holds true in the mid-Northern Hemisphere, where westerly
winds prevail. In Caribbean, our Eastern Tradewinds prevail.