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Introduction
There are numerous applications, both Android and Apple, and internet sites, vying for your attention. Below I have provided short descriptions of the ones I use practically all the time, noting that I use Android. If I am sailing to more exotic locations than the UK's south coast, I will invariably research local and other country apps and sites and create a set of links to help me quickly find the most relevant and helpful resources.
Android applications
One of several applications that permit you to have a chartplotter on your phone or tablet. The application is free but there is an annual subscription for the chart area(s) you choose to obtain. The subscription includes regular updates. The charts are vector charts, but you also have dynamic access to tides and tidal stream data as well as wealth of other community provided information.
Another application that provides chartplotter capabilities on your phone or tablet. The application is free and I use it for displaying Admiralty Raster Charts, obtained via a subscription to Visit My Harbour (see in internet sites). but there is an annual subscription for the chart area(s) you choose to obtain. I was brought up on paper charts and raster digital charts are the equivalent of an image of the
This is my first stop for a broad overview of the weather forecast. Indeed, when conditions are unstable I also come here for regular updates. The interface is simple and straight forward and it has most of what you will need, remembering that you should always obtain a variety of forecasts and determine which one is giving you the most accurate information at any given time, and then adjust your weather expectations accordingly.
A more sophisticated weather app with the provision of a greater number of weather parameters for you to consider.
Weather routing takes a weather forecast, your boat's performance data, a route and a time for your passage. Along with a number of configurable parameters, eg whether you might choose to motor sail, or choose a more comfortable route, the system will calculate and plot where you should go to achieve your routing intentions. Other versions of this software can cost, with subscriptions, well into four figures. SailGribWR provides most of the functionality you'll ever need for less than £50. Possibly more power at your fingertips than most cruising sailors feel the need for, but for a technical buzz and a massively pwerful tool for planning those longer coastal and offshore passages, it's my winner.
Internet Sites
An online version of the 'classic' weather information in the UK's sea areas.
The coastal equivalent of the shipping forecast.
Another useful Met Office product, showing where in the UK it is raining now, and where it has been raining during the previous hours. You can animate the rain radar to do your own rain predictions based on the direction of travel of the rain.
An independently provided real time weather station in the middle of the Solent. There is a reading of current wind and gusts along with trends from the previous 12 hours. Use it to compare actual weather with forecast weather in order to give you a feel for the forecast's reliability.
Provided by the UK Hydrographic Office, Easy Tide provides simple tidal predictions in a format that aligns well with using theoretical tidal curves and times of high and low tides, for anywhere in the world. Free predictions for the next two weeks, or longer term for a small subscription, allows you to plan ahead, and print curves relevant to your cruising needs.
The online equivalent of pilot guides. Accessible via your home computer during the early planning phases of a trip, and via mobile devices thereafter, VMH offers a number of very significant benefits for a very modest subscription, of which the most valuable is the entire UKHO UK and Ireland digital raster chart set for less than £10, less than the cost of a single paper chart.
Unsurprisingly, marinas and harbours provide all kinds of online information. Standards and usefulness can vary, but this one from Yarmouth Harbour includes an excellent Harbour Entry guide for people unfamiliar with the approaches and layout.
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