[Joe Barnwell]

Hi,

I’m planning a 3 week kayak trip near Sitka, Alaska for this August. I carry a VHF  marine radio with me, a Zoleo satellite communicator and use Navionics for electronic charts/forecasting/etc.. It appears as though some of the weather stations in the Sitka area are not operating or are degraded. So…I am wondering is there a way to get good marine weather forecasting remotely/offline? Zoleo weather does not include marine weather and the weather information on Navionics seems limited when off the grid. My understanding is that if you monitor Ch 16 then weather alerts are broadcast and you can switch to 22A for further information. Any thoughts about other options?

Thanks,

Joe Barnwell

Topic

[Joe Barnwell]

Thank you Michael. Joe

[Michael Luce]

Recognizing the brand-name technology issue noted above (buying another device), but, for what it’s worth to anyone, I can report that I got unlimited, “free” good,  useful and seemingly accurate local forecasts to my locations all the way from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy last summer on a Garmin InReach with the expedition subscription.  At least as accurate as the usual online forecasts, and more useful, more locally accurate,  than the Environment Canada regional marine forecasts over VHF.   The prediction is every 2 hours the first 24 hr, farther apart the next day, and can then be updated.  I can request the update any hour of the day or night, and it usually arrives within 10 minutes. They also offer marine forecasts, but they will not give you a marine forecast at your location if your location is not 20 miles offshore, i.e. you are not in a location that marine forecasts are designed for.  They give land-location near-shore forecasts.  You can ask for the forecast at a future or distant location by asking for that location, which is easy if you have that waypoint already stored, or build that new waypoint.  I might  carry 3 current forecasts to preview a long day’s journey down the coast. I get similar good forecasts inland here in state of Washington.  A forecast costs you 1 message, so they are “free” on the bigger subscription, but might cost extra 0.50 on a cheaper limited subscription.

[Joe Barnwell]

Thanks Yekaterina and Kevin.

Joe

[Yekaterina Yushmanova]

You can get decent weather via inreach, but if you have zoleo already probably wouldn’t want to get another expensive device. As Kevin has suggested, getting a land based friend message forecasts to your zoleo is best.

[Kevin Amos]

On one of SISKA’s YouTube videos they talked about having someone at home text the weather to there Spot Sat Communicator. Not sure if that is possible with the Zoleo.
https://youtube.com/@siskakayaking?si=VS7ZTijizhLv2Chk

[Author]

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