Last week, I ran a short piece on the new and not-so-new weather-routing software that many offshore sailors are using these days. The article got a lot of response and readers spent a lot of time clicking on the links supplied to the various websites hosting these software packages. But what was left out of the article was basically the second half of the weather forecasting and routing coin: professional weather routers. In the last few decades, I have sailed around the world and made six Atlantic crossings. In every instance, I have used onboard weather software, starting with the basics of downloading NOAA weather charts to the latest and greatest from the likes of PredictWind and Ocens. But I also, in every instance, have used the services of a professional weather guru and router. To me, using both provides the “belts and suspenders” redundancy that should matter to all offshore skippers. With onboard weather routing software, you can be self-sufficient and will have some useful data at your fingertips. Yet, given all of my time at sea dealing with changing weather, I am not a trained meteorologist. So, with a daily update from a weather router who is both a meteorologist and a veteran router, you have an opinion that is very much worth listening to. Whether it is Chris Parker, Commanders Weather or Bob McDivitt, these guys have a ton of information in front of them all the time and they can quickly and expertly compare weather models to arrive at an informed consensus about what is happening in your neck of the ocean. There have been times when faced with a bad forecast that the onboard software told us to sail the rhumbline while our router has told us to get out of Dodge, fast. Each time we followed the router’s advice and each time we avoided storm conditions, even though the routes suggested were somewhat counter intuitive. So, if you are headed offshore, employ a weather router and you will have a safer and more enjoyable passage. Here are a few routers to check out:
Chris Parker
