This is a pre-passage source and decision desk, not a current forecast or clearance to depart. The map is centred approximately on the area, not on your route or a forecast-zone boundary.
Island arrival and offshore passage are different forecast scales. Record the ocean warning area, landfall time, local lee or acceleration zones and the next communications opportunity.
1. Primary sources
Open current bulletins and warnings for every sea area on the route. These links are starting points, not a promise that each covers the whole location; if unsure, identify the issuer through WMO–IMO.
2. Route and local effects
A mid-Atlantic landfall needs offshore outlook, warnings and a separate reef approach check.
A Bermuda landfall involves an offshore approach followed by a reef and harbour entrance; the forecast scales differ.
Bermuda Weather Service marine coverage is local; add the relevant ocean bulletin for the long approach. Confirm current entrance and navigation information separately.
How to use this source set
Start with the warning, then the marine text for the exact named area. If the route crosses a zone boundary, obtain both bulletins. Note issue and valid times, wind units and the meaning of wave height. Where a link opens an agency portal, navigate to its current marine product; a homepage is not itself a forecast.
Compare with an exposed station or buoy if available. Check its position and observation time: a sheltered station does not overturn a warning for an open channel. If a bulletin is missing or stale, identify the issuing service via WMO–IMO and defer the decision until current information is available.
Before-passage check
- Mark departure, exposed legs, arrival and feasible diversions; find the responsible named marine areas for each.
- Check warnings, issue and valid times; assess conditions when you expect to reach each leg, not only at departure.
- Compare wind and gusts, waves and swell, visibility, thunderstorms and local effects; do not infer a strait from a sheltered harbour.
- Compare recent observations where available, noting their time and exposure; a mismatch calls for another check.
- Set the next bulletin check, a reassessment trigger, an alternative and a backup communication channel.
Model map — optional
Windy is a third-party model display, not the issuer of official warnings. Choose a layer and check its valid hour and model run. Nothing loads until you click.
Without JavaScript, open the map separately.
If connectivity fails
Before departure, save the current official text bulletin and warning with issue time. Arrange another way to receive updates, such as an appropriate coastal broadcast, NAVTEX or satellite channel. A saved map cannot replace new warnings.
How to choose weather tools · All sailing areas
Scope: Source list assembled 25 September 2026; check its freshness and coverage before use. This public area guide is not a current personalised forecast, navigational notice service or safety verdict. Personalised forecasts with AI and experts are in closed testing; public booking is not open. The skipper makes the decision.
Know where Bermuda's local forecast stops
The detailed Bermuda Weather Service marine forecast explicitly covers waters out to 25 nautical miles from the coastline. Use it for local approach context, not for the entire ocean passage to Bermuda. Combine the appropriate Atlantic warning/synoptic picture with this local issue, and inspect the update time. A forecast titled 'Bermuda' in a generic app may instead be a point on land; those are not interchangeable products.
- Bermuda Weather Service detailed marine — Local marine coverage out to 25 nautical miles, separate inside/outside reef seas.
- NOAA Ocean Prediction Center — Ocean analyses, warning and forecast products; inspect Atlantic coverage.
Inside and outside the reef are separate evidence
BWS separates inside-reef and outside-reef seas, making it important to retain the distinction in the brief. Calm-looking protected water does not clear the reef approach. Wind, wave direction, visibility and the chosen approach's current navigation information must be considered together. Tide information is useful where locally applicable, but a high-water time alone is not proof of slack or safe passage through a particular reef channel.
Rebuild the final approach after an ocean delay
For a delayed landfall, obtain a fresh local issue covering the revised ETA and recheck whether the intended approach is still usable. Keep local warnings separate from tropical and ocean products; an absent local warning does not certify refuge from an approaching system. If visibility or arrival sea changes, compare the actual waiting/diversion options with boat endurance rather than preserving a favourable approach forecast saved several days earlier.
- Bermuda Weather Service detailed marine
- NOAA Ocean Prediction Center
- RYA passage planning — Practitioner guidance on contingency, tides, vessel and crew constraints.
Editorial review of this material: 27 September 2026. This date concerns the page content; check current forecast issue times and validity at the original sources.