The Caribbean Weather Center provides cost-effective services tailored to the specific yacht, including SSB Nets and daily regional e-mails, plus custom consultations on your schedule via phone, e-mail or SSB.

SSB Net Subscriptions - Due to increased demand for our services, we now offer six (6) daily SSB Voice Nets from 6:00am to 10:00am, allowing us to cover virtually (subject to the vagaries of propagation) the entire Northern Atlantic, US East Coast, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.  Cost is $195 for 12 consecutive months of unlimited service.  Summer Schedule, effective November 2, 2006:

• 8137 USB 7:00am AST / 6:00am EST / 1100 UTC
• 4045 USB 7:30am AST / 6:30am EST / 1130 UTC
• 8104 USB 8:30am AST / 7:30am EST / 1230 UTC
• 12350 USB 9:30am AST / 8:30am EST / 1330 UTC (or a few minutes thereafter if busy on 8104)
• 16525 USB 9:45am AST / 8:45am EST / 1345 UTC -for vessels over 2000 mi from "Bel Ami" (or a few minutes thereafter if busy on 12350).
• 6221 USB 10:00am AST / 9:00am EST / 1400 UTC - for vessels within 200 mi of Central Florida

(Please NOTE: times, frequencies and regions covered during each Net will vary some from season-to-season as we and our customers move about.  Please check this Web page for the latest schedule or e-mail us) 

For member-vessels we offer custom, interactive voice forecasts similar to the custom text forecasts detailed below.  We encourage vessels to ask questions and explore with us alternative routing scenarios for the best possible outcome.  We try to be friendly, efficient and thorough...sometimes that takes a little time.

Regional Daily E-Mail Forecasts - We distribute detailed forecasts for the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, similar to the custom text forecasts detailed below.  Cost is just $25/mo (plus a $40 activation) or $195 for 12 consecutive months.

BEST DEAL: For the ultimate in forecast detail and convenience, combine BOTH the SSB Voice Net AND the Daily E-Mails for only $295 for 12 consecutive months!  That's a $85 savings off the regular price!

We have two Custom Consultation products, a 5-day forecast with 10-day outlook for $55 and a 2-day forecast for $30. - Both products examine several weather-related parameters: wind speed (knots) and direction (compass degrees True); sea state (height, direction and period of primary and any other significant waves); precipitation (rain, squalls, t-strms); and ocean currents.

Each parameter is handled in detail in the following fashions:

• #1 - Current conditions and short-term forecast. Yacht can validate the forecast based on whether their current conditions match those in this analysis, and take appropriate short-term action to avoid squalls or other undesired occurrences.
• #2 - Synoptic overview of major weather systems and their impact for the forecast period.
• #3 - Forecast for each of the 4 parameters (wind, sea state, precipitation, currents). Format varies some, but wind and sea state are generally in a table format at 12-hr intervals, with ocean currents in a separate table plus text discussion, and precipitation in another text discussion.
• #4 - Routing advice and general suggestions, including suggested waypoints, plus any necessary cautions or general assessment of forecast confidences and, if necessary, alternative forecast scenarios. It is important for the yacht to understand any aspects of the forecast in which we have doubt, and we help the yacht formulate a back-up plan in case the situation changes.

These forecasts average 500-700 words, and are text-only, with the resulting e-mail 3k to 5k in size so it will download quickly on a satellite phone and pass without problem on any SSB e-mail service.

Pricing these services is quite difficult for us. With the analysis and time they take to prepare, we lose money on a single forecast. Forecast accuracy with all services decreases as time passes. While we believe our 5-day forecasts and 10-day outlooks are as good as any, frequent updates are key to avoiding the localized bad weather at sea which is so difficult to predict even a few days out (think a small area of squalls). We have priced our services so the yacht can obtain daily or every-other-day forecasts at a reasonable cost for the duration of a passage. These forecasts are available via e-mail, telephone or SSB Voice.

Whether you use us for passagemaking or not, you should consider using our services upon your arrival in the Bahamas or Caribbean.  e-mail us at weather@caribwx.com.