The National Data Buoy Center has just put three new data buoys on line in Long Island Sound. This is great news for LI Sound boaters. The buoys actually belong to the University of Connecticut, who was generous enough to hook them up with the NDBC. One of the Buoys, in the central sound, has wind and sea state, the other two have wind only. There are two ways to acces the data buoys: 1. The internet. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/ (see related link) 2. Dial-a-Buoy. There are instructions on the web site, but the short version is... a. Dial (228) 688-1948 using a touch-tone phone b. Enter 1, followed by the station identifier. 44040 (west), 44039 (central), and 53523 (eastern). Save the number in your cell phone directory. The data can be up to an hour old, but it's still lots better than the forecast, which is often completely wrong. Not only do boaters have a new source of information, now the meteorologists have a source of feedback for their models, which should improve the accuracy of the forecasts. Paul sv Escape Artist h336