I was recently asked in another boating forum how to get weather
information while cruising offshore. Typically this would be done
using either a sat phone or a SSB radio. It is a somewhat complicated
subject, and the right answer depends to a certain extent on your
level of expertise, and whether or not you have a ham
(amateur radio license) or not. If there is sufficient interest I may
turn this posting into a short magazine article. All rights reserved.

The easiest, but arguably the least useful, is to listen in on the HF
High Seas weather broadcasts which are offered in voice at different
times and different frequencies. More information he

http://www.docksideradio.com/SSB%20Voice%20WX.htm

The Dockside Radio web site also has a great deal of other weather and
SSB radio information:

http://www.docksideradio.com/

The High Seas broadcasts are difficult to understand for the
uninitiated and require some practice/experience in advance. Many
people advise tape recording the broadcasts so they can be replayed as
needed. Learning what times and frequencies have the best reception
is part of the challenge for all HF/SSB communications. Some
knowledge of weather systems is required to understand the
terminology.

Moving up the complexity scale, and yielding more useful/detailed
information, is weather FAX (WEFAX) reception. There is software
available for the PC which will decode, display and store FAX images.
One of the more popular programs is called JVCOMM32. More info he

http://jvcomm.de/index_e.html

There are also dedicated, turnkey weather fax solutions from most of
the major marine electronics dealers such as Furuno, etc.
Interpreting the WEFAX images requires knowledge of weather system
behavior and interpreting weather maps. The schedule of broadcasts
and other information can be found he

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/radiofax.htm

Last on the complexity scale is two way EMAIL transmission via SSB,
generally requiring something called a PACTOR modem to encode and
decode the digital signals. EMAIL allows one to request and receive
customized GRIB (Gridded Binary) files which are highly compressed and
very detailed data extracts from the global weather models. They are
"gridded" because the data is for specific blocks by latitude and
longitude. In addition to location you have the ability to specify
forecast times, dates and information level. There are two services
available for EMAIL: "Airmail" for those with a ham license, and
"Sailmail" for everyone else. Airmail is free and uses ham radio
frequencies, Sailmail requires an annual fee and uses marine
frequencies. More information he

http://www.sailmail.com/

http://siriuscyber.net/airmail/

Of course the EMAIL capability is also useful for keeping in touch
with friends and family. The amateur radio service prohibits
commercial messages of any kind.

Last but not least, there are various weather routing services
available, some free, some not. Chris Parker has a wide following
among cruisers, especially in the Bahamas and Caribbean. You can
listen in to his broadcasts for free, but personalized information is
by paid subscription:

http://www.caribwx.com/