The above are laptop screen photos of GRIB file weather data. A very readable description of GRIB files can be found at http://www.sea-tech.com/grib.htm
The middle photo shows a map of the world upon which I have identified my area of interest defined by the red rectangle. That rectangle covers the area between Hawaii (bottom left) and Puget Sound (top right). An enlargement of the photo will show my cursor poised over the "Download Grib File" button.
The bottom photo shows the result of the download. It indicates benign conditions between Hawaii and the Pacific North West. The right-most button on the tool bar above the chart is "create animantion" which will create an animation in three-hour intervals through the 7th of January. That animation revealed that the winds will steadily build up to as indicated by yesterday's weather fax.
The top photo shows conditions along the west coast of South America and the Horn. I look at this every day because it is about this time of the year that we expect to round the Horn in 12 months time. Although Dec-Jan is the most propitious time for rounding the Horn, we can expect wave after wave of weather systems bringing 30-40 knot winds every few days.
An advantage of GRIB files is that they are delivered on demand, whereas weather faxes are delivered by schedule. While I have wireless access to the internet I can get the Grib files at no charge. While at sea Arnold will download the Grib files via the Iridium phone via a commercial provider.
2 comments:
Ha-ha! That is interesting..."round the Horn in 12 months times"...I originally thought the whole trip was over in 12 months!!!!! What a surprise!that it is extending more and more the further you travel.
Hi Chris,
Your observation is even more correct than you think. In my planning I grossly underestimated the amount of time in port for rest, repairs, reprovisioning, recreation, etc. I also underestimated the barriers that weather seasons can present, e.g. the 3-month delay in Hawaii until the worst of the winter in the NE Pacific is over. ... But there are more delays to come. Read about it in the blog!
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