Wild Matilda - Sailing and Photography

Weather - Focused on Sites Useful for Caribbean Weather

Weather Forecasts and Observations

National Hurricane Center - Marine Forecasts & Analyses - A very good collection of data. Well down on the page you can find the Weather FAX charts for the Caribbean. They give current conditions and the forecast for 24, 48, 72 hours in the future. Also just above the Weather FAX charts is a link to the chart of the current conditions for the Atlantic basin.

NOAA Radio Fax Charts from Marshfield, Massachusetts (NMF)- North Atlantic weather FAX Charts. Useful as often the activities in the North Atlantic affect those in the Caribbean.

NOAA National Data Buoy Center - Has become easer to use when they added the selection for the Caribbean Sea on the right hand panel. Unfortunately not too many buoys in the Caribbean.

NWS Marine Offshore Marine Forecasts by Zone - The Official NOAA forecasts for the Caribbean. Often the same for many areas. The general situation information is useful. It is also useful to compare to GRIBs.

NWS High Seas Marine Forecasts - Official NOAA forecasts for the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific.

NWC Ocean Prediction Center - Synoptic Charts of the North Atlantic. Stops short of the Caribbean, but useful to understand the driving factors affecting the weather further south.

Lee Chesneau's Marine Weather - A very useful collection of weather charts. His tutorials on how to read a weather chart are excellent if difficult to follow.

Model Guidance from the NWS - Provides longer term forecasts from computer models. You need to select the region, model, and then select the information on the next page. We typically use WNATL and GFS. Then 10m_WND_Precip which provides winds at 10 meters and precipitation. Those forecasts can go out as far as 16 days.

Weather Charts for North America, the Atlantic and Europe - A useful compendium of hard to find weather charts.

Weather Radar

Meteo France - Weather Radar - Provides a weather radar loop covering the eastern Caribbean from Antigua to Grenada. A link also provides radar for Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad Weather Radar - (Down at the Moment - Unknown when it will be operational again) Provides a variety of weather radar products.

Barbados Weather Radar - Provides weather radar out to about 400km. Make sure the time matches as it is occasionally down. Useful from Trinidad to Guadeloupe. Unfortunately it is often down, as it is now (9/25/2017)

GRIB Data

Most popular GRIB viewers display data from the GFS (Global Forecast System) model. In theory, they should all yield the same information, however due to averaging and other factors there is often differences.

yzGrib - Probably the best GRIB file viewer and down-loader. Requires the user to download an application.

Global Sailing Weather - A new site to me. Has excellent regional weather charts and also has ocean current charts. The first site that i have found with this information in an easy to understand format. Much other good stuff - explore.

The Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) - (status unknown) A good navy site that presents both atmosphere and ocean data. Useful as they present other models than GFS. A good comparison site.

Passage Weather - The most widely used of the GRIB viewers. Good coverage for the Caribbean. However, you must use their regions. Does not give as much data as yzGrib.

GRIB US - Another useful GRIB viewer application.

BuoyWeather - A popular application that allows you to select or place a virtual buoy at any place and gather the weather for the location. Good graphics.

Windytv - A new web GRIB viewer. Displays streamlines and all the rest of the usual GRIB data. Incorporates both the Euro and NOAA models. Very nice presentation.

Hurricanes

National Hurricane Center - Tropical Prediction Center - The major source for Hurricane information. Track information is limited to the official track.

Weather Underground Tropical Weather - Better track information than NOAA. Daily discussions are useful. Often spots trouble much before NOAA.

Hurricanes, Typhoons and Tropical Cyclones Page by the Naval Research Laboratory - A useful Navy site. Good track graphics.

Tropical Tidbits - A excellent collection of data on current storms all in one place.

Mike's Weather Page - A very extensive collection of data from across the web.

Windy - Not strictly a tropical storm model, but very useful in assessing the affects of weather patterns on your location.

Weather Sites for the Trinidad Morning Report

Weather Forecast Piarco, Trinidad And Tobago | Piarco Weather | Wunderground - Weather Underground Site for Trinidad

Forecast | Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services - The official Trinidad and Tobago met office.

Observation | Radar for Trinidad and Tobago - (Down at the Moment - Unknown when it will be operational again) The official radar site, select the 150 km scan range.

National Hurricane Center - Tropical Prediction Center - The major source for Hurricane information. Track information is limited to the official track.

Weather - Other Links

UM Weather - A good compendium of weather links

Photography

Digital Camera Reviews - The best place to get information on a new camera or to read biogs on your existing equipment.

B&H Photo Video | Digital Cameras, Camcorders - A great source for all types of Photographic Equipment. Out of NY. They also have a number of useful videos on all subjects of interest to photographers.

Birds and Bird Watching

eBird: - An excellent to find what birds are at a particular location.

The ASA Wright Nature Center - One of the primer bird watching sites in the world. Located in the tropical rainforest in Trinidad.

Cornell Lab: Neotropical Birds - Great site to help identify a bird you have seen.

Yerette - Home of the Hummingbird - A wonderful location to view most of the 18 species of Hummingbirds found in Trinidad.

A Black-throated Mango Hummingbird - Female, taken at Yerette (Home of the Hummingbird), Trinidad

Sailing

Noonsite: The global site for cruising sailors - Most often viewed for its security related posts, but contains all sorts of useful Cruising Information

The 2016 Classic Yacht Regatta, Antigua.

Sailing Blogs

Sailing Vessel Wild Matilda | Thoughts and Travels - My blog.

Wildcat Sailor Girl - My friend, Sabrina's, blog.

Write On The Water - The blog of a personal friend of mine. Excellent coverage for anyone considering writing a book or even dreaming about the subject. Not being updated, but contains many years of wonderful reading.