SailGrib WR - recommended app

Something different this time:


I recently came across a very impressive smartphone app for weather routing, something I was waiting for a long time.

SailGrib WR allows weather routing, making use of the performance characteristics of different boats (through polar plots - some 100 boats are already included), tidal information and weather forecasts provided through GRIB files. The recently opened Meteo-France model forecast (Arpege and Arome) are already included (thus, it not only depends on the NOAA/NCEP GFS model).

In my view a MUST for all serious offshore and regatta sailors.

So far only Android is supported, but I know an iOS version is 'work in progress'.

As somebody working in the field of space-borne Earth Observation, I am in particular pleased to see that the Copernicus MyOcean Services (e.g. surface currents in the Med) are integrated, too.

A fantastic tool. For instance, I now plan my route using the Navionics app, export the route to a kmz file and use SailGrib WR to calculate the best route according to weather and current forecasts.

I proposed to Henri, the author of the programme, to extend the functionality by calculating the best time of departure within a given time window, possibly further constrained by the max motoring time. According to Henri, he had this already in mind, thus the extended functionality likely will be implemented in a future upgrade. Until then, I am playing around with different departure times which does the job,too.

Compared to other apps, SailGrib WR appears costly but is definitely worth every penny (I do not have shares in it!!!). A free version for testing with limited functionality is also available.

For further info see: http://www.sailgrib.com/

Feel free to share this info with other sailing friends and yes, if you come across the polar plots of a vintage HR352, let me know. I am very much interested in it.

Sailing T-Fish back to Rome

After several years in Tropea (spring 2010- autumn 2015, with one years in between in Teulada, Sardinia), T-Fish is back in Rome and will serve as my new home from Jan 2016 onwards. Charly supported me on this 320 nm transfer trip from 15-22 Oct. We had fantastic sailing conditions on a few legs with T-Fish 'flying' at hull speed of 7.5 kn, but we were also forced to wait 1 1/2 days at anchor in the Cala di Luna bay, Ponza Island, protecting us from strong easterly winds (7-8 Bft). On the leg from Ponza to Rome and as a result of the strong wind conditions, we had to motor cruise against a 'street of debris', likely washed from the beaches. This also included a submerged sailing boat - it looked like a vintage wooden boat, probably the seize of T-Fish - which we passed less than 20m on the starboard side. Quite scary - in particular during the night! After calling the coastguard on VHF 16 in order to report the position of the submerged vessel, we got no answer. This is even more scary, knowing that apparently nobody is watching channel 16 during the night any longer! Luckily, we made it safely to Rome without any collision. Below a few pics of this adventurous trip.

For viewing all tracks, see Tropea-Rome Tracks.

Cilento coast

Amalfi

Amalfi coast

Ponza

Ventotene

Ventotene - off season

Pentecost 2015 - Hiking and sailing

Over the pentecostal vacations we spent a week sailing and hiking to Stromboli and Panarea. Definitely the best time of the year to spend vacations in Southern Europe, warm days and cool nights.The sea temperature was still a bit on the chilly side but did not prevent us from a first swim in the sea. Together with Julia's friend, Deborah we enjoyed a lovely week and Italian lifestyle and cuisine.

Waiting for new adventures in 2015!

T-Fish at her 'home base' in Tropea, Calabria, Italy waiting for new adventures in 2015!

Agrandir le plan

Take a look at the pics below (taken in Aug 2014) and you will understand why we have chosen this lovely spot as T-Fish's 'home base' for the last couple of years.

Porto di Tropea

Tropea

Lido di Nonno

Tropea Night view