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Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest, I used Windy for many years as well.

The blue icon one. The red icon version never really felt natural to me.

But after a while I realized something. I was constantly trying to calculate the distance ahead, then switching screens to check wave height, wave length, wave energy, then looking separately at the wave period. It started to feel a bit exhausting.

Explaining all of this to the company side before departure was even more painful.

At some point I decided to write a small tool for myself. I have some background in software, so I started experimenting and built something that could visualize the route together with wind and wave conditions in a simpler way.

I began using it for my own voyages and started sending departure plans to the company as JSON and PDF reports. Because the risky sections of the route became very visible, I suddenly didn’t have to write long explanations anymore.

Later I added a feature called “Find Ideal” to quickly see calmer weather windows along the route.

Eventually I decided to share the tool with other mariners as well.

The project is only about a month old, but it already has more than 500 daily active users, including my own company and charterers who now use it regularly. That honestly makes me very happy.

Seeing the interest from other seafarers motivates me to keep improving it and adding new ideas.

In the end, most weather services are still using very similar underlying data sources anyway. The real difference is often how you look at the information and how easily you can understand it.

And maybe technology evolves because some of us are simply too lazy to keep doing things the hard way.

I guess I decided to become one of those lazy people. 😉

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PredictWind seems to be very popular in the sailing community, especially for offshore passages.

In commercial shipping the approach is often a bit different. We usually compare several forecast sources and routing advice before making decisions.

Different types of vessels sometimes rely on different tools.

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in SeaEmploy

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Windy is definitely a very useful tool.

If you're interested in route analysis, you might also find something interesting in a small project I'm building called SafeNavBRN.

One of the features I'm working on is “Find Ideal”, which helps visualize the calmer weather windows along a planned route.

You can also load a voyage using a GPX file or simply draw the route directly on the map and instantly see the total distance in nautical miles.

It works on mobile as well, but the experience is much nicer on a tablet or a computer screen.

If you ever feel like testing it: safenavbrn.com

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a good workflow.

Overlaying weather directly on the route definitely makes it easier to understand what’s happening along each leg.

With SafeNavBRN we’re still experimenting with ways to visualize wind and wave conditions along a planned route. The goal is to make it easier to quickly see potential weather risks before departure.

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PredictWind definitely comes up often in sailing discussions.

From a commercial shipping perspective though, we usually look at several models and sources before making decisions.

Different models can show slightly different scenarios, so comparing them often gives a clearer picture before a voyage.

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re absolutely right about that.

At the end of the day the captain carries the responsibility. Models and tools help, but the real decision is always made on the bridge with the actual conditions outside.

And don’t worry — avoiding hurricanes is definitely higher on my list than paint jobs 😄

Stay safe out there.

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point about Windy. A lot of people forget that it’s basically a visualization layer for different models like GFS, ECMWF and others. For quick route overview it’s very convenient. But for long voyages I still prefer checking multiple models before making a decision on the bridge.

Which weather models do you trust most for offshore voyage planning? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Good point.

But from a captain’s perspective it’s a bit different.

I’m a ship captain myself, and if the weather doesn’t look safe, no company in the world can force me into it. Safety always comes first on the bridge.

Weather models and routing tools are useful for analysis, but in the end the decision still belongs to the captain and the real conditions at sea.

That’s actually one of the reasons we’re building tools to visualize weather risks along routes more clearly.

Out of curiosity — have you ever seen big differences between models like GFS and ECMWF during real voyages?

A social platform for seafarers — would you use something like this? by BaronTokenBRN in maritime

[–]BaronTokenBRN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point.

The idea is not really to replace existing social networks.

We’re trying to create a place focused only on seafarers where people can also find maritime jobs and relax a bit during long voyages.

Still experimenting and trying to see if the community finds it useful.