Introduction

Make no mistake, going to sea in a small boat can be dangerous and this is certainly compounded if the skipper either missed, forgot or didn’t fully understand the weather forecast.

We are bombarded by accurate weather forecasting these days. I hope you are not jeering at that last statement because the forecast on the TV always seems to be wrong! I quite agree. It is not exactly wrong. Normally the weather that is forecast is correct, but it does not arrive exactly on time.

Let’s have a think about where we can get hold of weather forecasts.

Look outside often and note clouds, wind direction, temperature, and if you have a barometer, the air-pressure. Any quick fall or rise means lots more wind!
 

Forecasts

TV - The BBC give very good land forecasts and even give us a glimpse of a synoptic chart for a few seconds! I’m afraid some of the other TV forecasts are not much more use to the sailor than telling us it will be light all day until it gets dark, then dark all night until it gets light again! If you have teletext, you can see the shipping and Inshore waters forecast.

Newspapers - Most give a land area forecast and some give out the shipping forecast. Most have a synoptic chart, which also helps.

Radio - Most local radio stations, if they cover towns near the sea give out good nautical weather regularly. The times and frequencies of these are noted in Almanacs.

BBC radio 4 broadcast the "Shipping forecast" issued by the Met office, four times per day. These are also noted in Almanacs. The Coastal Station reports are broadcast twice per day.

Telephone - There are various telephone weather forecasts available by fax and recorded voice. These little cards are given away free in Yachting mags, and stations etc. See an Inshore waters Met fax? The inshore forecast is incredibly detailed for a small area.

The Coast Guard gives out weather information every four hours on the VHF radio and more frequently if there are strong wind or gale warnings in operation. Again all information is carried in Almanacs.

Navtex is an on board fax machine like device which receives broadcast information on a range of subjects including weather.

The Internet is becoming a widely used weather information device.

Harbour offices and Marinas always have an up to date forecast for their area posted on notice boards. This is usually in the form of the latest Shipping Forecast and Local Inshore Waters Forecast.

We have no excuse for not knowing what the weather has in store for us on a coastal passage.

On Radio 4 on 198 KHz Long wave. Be careful here as the frequencies for LW and MW are very close together. It is all too easy to miss the forecast because you are listening to the wrong Radio 4 broadcast.

The shipping forecast is broadcast at time of writing at the following times. NB, recently these times have been changing so check up in the "Radio Times"

0048 UT, 0535 UT, 1200 local time and 1755 local time. Local time means the clock time, which is different at various times of the year.

The forecast is in four parts.

1. The first is any "Gale Warnings".
    
2. Next comes the "General Synopsis".
   This tells us where the weather systems are and where they are likely to be going.
    
3. Next are the "Sea Area Forecasts" for the next 24 hours.
   You have probably heard the radio rambling through "Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties Cromarty" etc before you got sick of it and changed channels? Those were the area forecasts. Most people do turn it off, but the seaman’s ear is glued to the radio at that time. The information is crucial for his safety. For each area or group of areas, we hear the wind direction and strength and any changes. See Using the "Beaufort scale" The precipitation (rain, hail, snow etc) and then the visibility.
    
4. Next are the "Coastal Station Reports" These are now only broadcast at 0048 and 0535. This is unfortunate.

They tell us exactly what weather is happening at various points around the British Isles. We hear first the wind direction and strength, precipitation, visibility, pressure, then pressure change. With experience, this allows us to decide where fronts have passed by or are just about to hit. Very useful.

To hear an example shipping forecast, Click Your Browser has no Sound support