Better decisions. Better boating.

Favourable weather is a key ingredient to a good day on the water. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that a sailor’s life revolves around the weather. But favourable weather can be elusive and tricky to predict, so I thought I’d ask an expert to explain the mystery that is weather.

And Kiwi Bob McDavitt is a very well credentialed weather expert. He qualified as a meteorologist in 1975 and has been forecasting ever since. He’s a veteran of two America’s Cup campaigns, helped a certain girl in a pink boat sail around the world and was New Zealand’s MetService ambassador for 20 years.

The Art of Forecasting

Bob explains that forecasters firstly gather observations of what’s currently happening. Then he explains, ‘We transfer these into a matrix of dots in a computer model, then use a mathematical model to run an experiment to push the data stored in this matrix one time-step into the future, and again another time step and so forth.

‘A marine forecast is framed in terms of winds, waves, and weather. But these all come from isobars on a weather map, and these isobars are what really capture the pattern of the weather and its changes.

‘Marine forecast come in two timeframes,’ says Bob. ‘One covers today/tomorrow, and the other is an outlook for next few days.’ Because ‘real weather’ deviates from the ‘captured pattern of the observations, the outlook period is always less reliable than the short-term forecast.

‘Thanks to advances in computer processing and mathematical modelling, the accuracy of the forecasts has increased a lot over the last few decades, but this pace of improvement is easing off now,’ he says. ‘Weather forecasting will never reach perfection.

‘The winning formula is to take the forecast and then tweak it – using your own observations to ascertain possible alternatives,’ an approach that Bob tells me is not only common sense but also consistent with scientific principles.

An Inexact Science

However, Bob stresses that weather forecasting is an inexact science and explains that there are two reasons for this. Firstly, ‘the matrix of dots averages out the weather. Any extremes that occur between the dots is lost. And so, as the time-steps get further into the future, this averaging loses the pattern.’

And, secondly, ‘weather is a mixture of pattern and chaos. In chaos theory, slight changes in initial conditions can give result to an ensemble of different outcomes. Each run of a global computer model can only come out with one outcome. We produce an ensemble of outcomes by varying the initial conditions slightly, and these ensemble forecasts explain more of the possible future than does one computer run.’

Bob asks that sailors treat weather forecasts as an ‘idea’ and remember that ‘in the real world the weather will unravel away for the forecast, and after a while, the forecast is no longer what we get’.

Keeping a Constant Watch

Bob suggests that sailors should also establish a routine of watching the environment and can ‘use technology to arrange alarms for any measurable external changes’. The main things he suggests we should watch for are changes in the barometer and the clouds, which he suggests are ‘useful signs as they start changing within hours of wind changes and act as a herald’.

He explains that it’s important for sailors to understand and anticipate ‘events that may do damage’. For example, the conditions that breed squalls are in the forecast. ‘The actual timing or intensity or duration of a particular damaging squall will not be mentioned in any routine marine forecasts.

‘I’m still waiting for someone to invent a barometer with which the user can get target alarms. Meanwhile, we should learn to read the clouds and the colour of the sunrise/sunset,’ says Bob.

Bob offers a weather information service for cruising sailors and is currently helping Lisa Blair navigate the Southern Ocean’s ferocious weather as she circumnavigates Antarctica.  

Sailing vlogs (video blogs) are having a moment. In the last few years, there’s been an explosion of sailors documenting their adventures as they sail the world, and there’s no shortage of armchair sailors tuning in to share their adventures.

There’s a very long list of great sailing video bloggers out there, but I don’t want to overwhelm you if you're new to vlogging. Here are a few to give you a taste of what’s out there and get you started:

Sailing La Vagabonde

I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of these guys. They’re Aussies and some of, if not the most watched sailing vloggers. Starting out as sailing novices, Elayna and Riley have become experienced sailors as they crossed the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Recently they’ve upgraded their 43ft Beneteau for brand new 45ft Outremer catamaran to continue their adventures.

The quality of their video production has improved since then, and it’s tricky to pick a favourite, but I’d recommend starting with episode 1.

SV Delos

The skipper of SV Delos, Brian, brought the boat in Seattle back in 2008, the original plan was just to cross the Pacific. But the adventure has grown far beyond the original plan. In addition to Brian, Brandy and Kazza sail the boat full-time and are joined by a revolving crew of fun-loving sailors. 

It’s easy to get hooked on any of their videos, but why not check out their lengthy Facebook Live interview with Lisa Blair when they caught up with her in Cape Town after her dismasting.

Monday Never

Will and Cat left their jobs in San Francisco and set off around the Caribbean in their 36ft yacht Paradox. These days they mix sailing adventures with land-based adventures on a motorbike, complete with sidecar.

Start with this video where the crew rescue a family that were forced to abandon their yacht in the middle of the ocean. It’s a video that’s hard to stop watching and provides some great insights into boat-to-boat transfers at sea.

Shaun & Julia Sailing

Canadians Shaun and Julia have been documenting their sailing adventures in amusing YouTube videos since 2012. Starting out on a modest 25ft yacht, many of their videos feature passages through the Great Lakes and down the Intracoastal canal systems.

A great place to start is with this video in which Shaun gives an entertaining insight into the world of vlogging.

Salt&Tar

This one’s a little different as these guys are still building their boat. Garrett and Ruth are documenting the build of their 35ft wooden gaff rigged ketch in Washington. Their videos offer all the satisfaction of building a beautiful wooden boat without the hard work!

A good place to start is with episode 1. and the very beginning of the build.

Another great place to see some fantastic sailing on screen is the inaugural SEAbbatical Short Film Festival held on the opening night of the Sanctuary Cover Boat Show this Thursday. Tickets are free, and all sailors and aspiring sailors are encouraged to head along.

Who feels like a glass or two? 🍷😉

We have an incredible community of boaters on Deckee. They have now contributed over 1900 reviews in an effort to help one another make better decisions!

But a select few of our Deckee Pro members have really gone above and beyond to share their boating knowledge and experience. So we thought it was time we organised a very special gift for them.

The Deckee Drop is soon to be recognised by skippers as Australia's and indeed one of the world's finest red wines. Perfect for sunset cruises or entertaining friends on board. 🙂

How can you get a bottle? Start adding reviews of your own and share your experiences with the community! We'll be keeping an eye out for awesome contributors... ⛵