What Do People Use To Get Weather Info While At Sea?

[danstanford]

So if one were to get the Starlink under one of their plans you would connect to it with a tablet or phone and then see your data from something like Windy? Windy gives you all the information needed it just cannot be seen out of cell range and therefore the Starlink gives you access?
Is there any way to overlay this on your plotter the way we put AIS on there? Raymarine Axiom if it matters.
Thanks

 

[Davidasailor26]

Is there any way to overlay this on your plotter the way we put AIS on there? Raymarine Axiom if it matters.

B&G plotters can display grib files to get a wind forecast overlay. The files are usually downloaded from a source like PredictWind. I don’t know if Raymarine has similar functions.

 

[dlochner]

Yes, StarLink provides high speed internet access. It is often faster than the connection I have at home. It is very reliable except under 2 conditions, heavy overcast, such as occurs during a thunderstorm and speeds can decrease if there are large number of Starlink users on line in the same geographic area, the total bandwidth gets divided between all users.

 

[danstanford]

We got nailed with a 1:00 am heavy squall in a race last year that took us completely by surprise. Weather radar would likely have helped in that situation but we had nothing we could use to forecast the storm.

 

[dlochner]

We got nailed with a 1:00 am heavy squall in a race last year that took us completely by surprise. Weather radar would likely have helped in that situation but we had nothing we could use to forecast the storm.

Most of the time cloud cover is not a big issue, it may slow down the connection, but not block it. However, when sitting directly below a cloud the rises to 30K or 40K in height the signal will be blocked until the storm passes over. If you had Starlink and were watching the radar through Starlink, you probably would have seen it coming, once you were in the storm, the connection would probably have been broken.

 

[Mac Smith]

There are a couple of factors at play. Each country has the right to regulate the radio frequencies within its borders. Some countries have not allowed Starlink to operate within their borders and thus, you can't use it. There are several Caribbean nations that do not permit StarLink to operate with in its borders.

The other factor is bandwidth. In crowded areas, StarLink may not have enough bandwidth to support all the devices that want to use it. They appear to use pricing as one means of limiting use. In crowded areas transmission speeds are degraded because there is not enough bandwidth.

I think that is instead that Starlink cannot be SOLD inside their borders, until an agreement is met with that country. I certainly USED Starlink anywhere, however there was a time limit of 30 or 60 days before Starlink would disable the service in that country. This was 2022 and 2023.

 

[Mac Smith]

I used IRIDIUM Go with PredictWind which worked everywhere. 2021 PredictWind was $500 yearly and IRIDIUM Go was $160 monthly. I could place calls up to 150 minutes. Data was limited. PredictWind downloads took 35 minutes.
I got Starlink Roam Regional in 2022 and now I had Internet! Real internet! PredictWind downloads took seconds, plus I could use regular email like Gmail, and wifi calling. Other apps like Windy.com and global radar and more. There was no comparison! Almost the same monthly, but Starlink was less.
From what I can tell the Starlink Regional Roaming plan with the TOGGLE for offshore underway may no longer be available. The Marine plans with 50gb ($250) and higher, are (I believe) meant to be resold to your passengers, since it is so expensive. The 50gb plan could be easily used up, sitting inland at the dock! This happened to a cruiser in St Martin in 2023. 1.3 GB is about one Netflix movie.
You will be charged for the overage. Of course, you can turn it off, and you can pause service for months as needed. Not true with the PredictWind subscription. The PredictWind subscription at $500 offered full service including currents and boat Polaris, when predicting a routing on a passage- very helpful, the next tier down was half price without the currents.
If your exact vessel Polars were not in PredictWind there was usually one close to yours.
Really accurate, but I still provisioned for another 50% time on the water, just in case.

 

[dLj]

I think that is instead that Starlink cannot be SOLD inside their borders, until an agreement is met with that country. I certainly USED Starlink anywhere, however there was a time limit of 30 or 60 days before Starlink would disable the service in that country. This was 2022 and 2023.

It's my understanding there are some island groups in the Pacific that do not allow you to use your star link there - irrespective of where you bought it.

dj

 

[dlochner]

It's my understanding there are some island groups in the Pacific that do not allow you to use your star link there - irrespective of where you bought it.

dj

South Africa was another country that did not allow Starlink. Starlink can geoblock areas.

 

[dLj]

South Africa was another country that did not allow Starlink. Starlink can geoblock areas.

I thought there were more... Thanks for clarifying.

dj

 

[colemj]

I think that is instead that Starlink cannot be SOLD inside their borders, until an agreement is met with that country. I certainly USED Starlink anywhere, however there was a time limit of 30 or 60 days before Starlink would disable the service in that country. This was 2022 and 2023.

There are several countries that have not approved SL, and SL geolocks service within their territories. For example, sail around in Greece and as soon as you touch Turkey territorial waters between them, SL goes dead.

From what I can tell the Starlink Regional Roaming plan with the TOGGLE for offshore underway may no longer be available.

It is still available as a plan. Certain areas may not have it available for subscription because of over-subscription there, but if you "move" your dish/account to a less congested area you can get it.

Mark

 

[BarryL]

Hello,

How well does starlink work when you at sea in rough conditions?

Thanks,
Barry

 

[dlochner]

Hello,

How well does starlink work when you at sea in rough conditions?

Thanks,
Barry

Works pretty well. It does not work well when a T-storm is passing over head, the cloud cover is too dense. Otherwise it was not affected by weather.

 

[jssailem]

My observation is that you should know where you are (use Starlink) at the start, before the rough weather.

That is why good seamanship recommends keeping a log of your position.

During rough sea conditions, you focus on sailing the boat.
Then, when the storm passes, you fire up the Starlink and identify where you are. Again, you log this information.

The need to know your location up to the second may be relevant when you are close to shore, but in the middle of the ocean, not so much.