Understanding weather is more than just knowing if youre going to have a sunny day out on the water. Weather is inextricably linked to boating; it behooves boaters to fully understand it so they can stay safe and not get caught in a potentially dangerous situation.

Anyone can tell you what the weathers like by simply looking out the window, but the real trick is to be able to look forward, or forecast, with some degree of accuracy whats likely to happen in the future —be it the next day, week or month.
Most folks are familiar with the television news or radio weather forecasts, but these reports are brief and cover a large general area. As such, they wind up being of limited value to boaters.
NOAAIf you know where to look, theres a bewildering array of weather information available to boaters, and much of its free. NOAA is the government agency that provides weather information to other agencies and individuals. Their website can be hard to navigate, but theres plenty of information available —everything a boater could want and then some.
NOAA provides dedicated small craft weather forecasts, which have information that includes wave heights, visibility and expected wind. Its also possible to download synoptic charts for free, and these can be a boon —but only ifyouknowwhat youre looking at. Ive found the best approach is to spend time at home or the office looking at the NOAA website, find links that are most appropriate to me and save these to my smart phone, so I can update my information on a regular basis while Im out on the boat.
XM weather
This only works ifIm in cell range, however. For reliable weather information offshore, its best to use satellites. The best known source is the XM weather service, which is subscription – based and costs between $10 and $50 per month, depending on the amount and detail of information required. In addition to paying the monthly service fee, you also need a compatible receiver. For many boaters, its possible to integrate XM weather into their chartplotters or multi – function displays.
Despite advances in modern – day technology, good ol sailors wisdom still holds water. “Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” and “When rain comes before the wind, halyards, sheets and braces mind; but when wind comes before rain, soon you may make sail again,” are just two examples.
Its easy to dismiss these rhymes as folklore, but theres a lot of truth to them. In the days of clipper ships, there was virtually no way to forecast weather. Ship captains had to rely on their own knowledge and experience.
Barometers
Apart from making observations about the wind and sky, keeping an accurate barometer aboard is a useful forecasting tool; sadly, however, theyre often treated as little more than a bulkhead ornament. But barometers can provide boaters with useful information.
Most barometers have designations on the face such as “fair,” “cloudy,” “stormy,” and so on. Honestly, these are more for decoration than anything else. To be of use to the yachtsman, readings from the barometer should be taken at regular intervals, say, every hour, and then readings recorded in a log book. From there, the captain can form a clearer mental picture of what the weather is likely to do. A sudden drop in barometric pressure over a few hours time almost always foretells unsettled weather is coming.
Theres no doubt about it: Weather is a fascinating subject, and one that has a huge impact on the lives of boaters. One book I can recommend for further study is “The Yachtsmans Weather Guide” by Ingrid Holford. This book has been in print for some years now, but its interesting reading and does a good job showing you how to make sense of all those squiggly lines on a weather chart.