Predicting the Sea Conditions?

[PokerDave]

So it appears Epic had some 20 foot swells and rocked a good bit during her Thanksgiving week.

 

How would you predict the kind of conditions you might face on your cruise? Are there any sites that do that?

 

I'm sure I can look at weather.com and get an idea of general weather around ports, but not sure how that would extrapolate...

 

Cruising Dec 18th Eastern Carib...

[Don Haynes]

Google or search Beaufort scale. Wind conditions are directly linked to sea conditions. Of course wind conditions are also directly linked to the weather. Outside of weather forecast, which aren't always correct, I know of no other way to forecast sea conditions.

 

Bring your sea sick pills and patches, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best... Or if this is a cruise breaker, don't sail and book a land based vacation in a desert such as Las Vegas...

[PokerDave]

Google or search Beaufort scale. Wind conditions are directly linked to sea conditions. Of course wind conditions are also directly linked to the weather. Outside of weather forecast, which aren't always correct, I know of no other way to forecast sea conditions.

 

Bring your sea sick pills and patches, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best... Or if this is a cruise breaker, don't sail and book a land based vacation in a desert such as Las Vegas...

 

Thanks Don. Wife does patches, I do the Meclazine... We do fine... But I'm draggin along a friend and his family for their first cruise and I'm hoping for good seas...

[Don Haynes]

Thanks Don. Wife does patches, I do the Meclazine... We do fine... But I'm draggin along a friend and his family for their first cruise and I'm hoping for good seas...

 

All of us have different tolerances. I can withstand 20 foot seas and swells, the swells effect me more than the waves, but my sister can literally get sea sick in one foot seas fishing at the local lake... My family kids her that she could get sea sick in a bath tub.... LOL....

 

One cruise will have smooth seas, the same itinerary next year will have rough seas the week I book... Its best to prepare for the worst and pray/hope for the best... The sea sick pills help considerably, they have never failed me...

 

And the longer and further out weather forecasts, the less reliable they are...

[Laszlo]

Wind, wind, wind. I've been a boater for 20 plus years. I've run my CC 20 miles off the coast on NC at 7 am and its been glass. Have a little wind pickup in the afternoon and you'll be coming home in 3-8 ft swells. I never got sea sick until 10 years ago when I had a bad head cold and my ear drum blew out from the pressure. I now need to take something every time I go out.

 

Funny thing about the weather........its always changing

[Ask4Jay]

@PokerDave -

Try this almanac. Plug in a port city and the date you expect to be there, and it will give you weather data for a number of years.

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

On our eight Atlantic crossings so far we had everything from glassy seas to real storms, but mostly just choppy seas. We are fortunate in that we do not get seas sick. In a storm we just sit by our rear-facing balcony door and enjoy the spectacle and motion. Can't get outside because of the spray.

[akupupule]

The NOAA bouy website can give you current information, such as wind speed, direction, and wave heights from hundreds of locations. Just zoom in to the area of interest and click on a particular bouy:

 

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

 

Also available from NOAA are their marine forecasts for many locations including the caribbean. Just scroll down the page to the map, and click on your area of interest for the marine 5 day forecast:

 

 

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/*****/marine/zone/wrdoffmz.htm

 

During the winter, cold fronts will often push south of the gulf into the western caribbean and beyond, and you can watch the strength and progress of those fronts on the NWS website. Just click on the 5 or 6 day fronts:

 

http://www.weather.gov/outlook_tab.php

 

Good luck and best wishes for smooth sailing...

[PokerDave]

The NOAA bouy website can give you current information, such as wind speed, direction, and wave heights from hundreds of locations. Just zoom in to the area of interest and click on a particular bouy:

 

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

 

Also available from NOAA are their marine forecasts for many locations including the caribbean. Just scroll down the page to the map, and click on your area of interest for the marine 5 day forecast:

 

 

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/*****/marine/zone/wrdoffmz.htm

 

During the winter, cold fronts will often push south of the gulf into the western caribbean and beyond, and you can watch the strength and progress of those fronts on the NWS website. Just click on the 5 or 6 day fronts:

 

http://www.weather.gov/outlook_tab.php

 

Good luck and best wishes for smooth sailing...

 

Awesome! Thanks!

[camz]

You know it's funny, everyone worries about sailing during hurricane season. However, now that hurricane season has ended for the year, there have been rough seas reported all over. The past three years we have sailed to Bermuda in August and had calm seas. Last December we sailed to the Bahamas and the Gem was rocking around quite a bit leaving New York and then was fine after that. That being said, the sea is an unpredictable creature and there is really no way of knowing beforehand. Here's to calm seas and beautiful weather! Enjoy!!! :)

[Tikiguy]

Just don’t worry about it. I was on the Epic over Thanksgiving; I heard the Capt. Say 17 foot seas so the reports of 20 on this board may be accurate, however, “rocked quite a bit” is an overstatement. On the upper decks there was only a noticeable sway with an occasional bump, down towards the center of the ship at O’Sheehan you could barely tell! The winds on the upper deck is another story, however, spice H20 provided adequate shelter.

 

With the exception of Sunday and Monday, the ship did NOT move at all. FYI – I am prone to sea sickness and had no problems.