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.
Find each named coastal, offshore, bay or lake zone along the route. For inlets, bars and tidal narrows add current local notices and observations; an offshore wave forecast does not describe the entrance.
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
Swell direction and the next exposed headland matter alongside the coastal warning.
California passages can leave a calm marina for an exposed Pacific headland and swell-facing harbour.
Read NOAA coastal warnings and the local sector; check swell period and direction, then verify any bar or entrance restriction with the harbour authority.
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.
Use a central-California example without extending its coverage
NWS Monterey separates San Francisco Bay and several central-California coastal/outer-water sectors. Trace the actual leg through the zone definitions; obtain the adjoining office product for a continuation beyond that area. A San Francisco marina forecast is not the exposed coast forecast, and the bay product is not a Golden Gate stream prediction. Keep the destination approach as its own information requirement.
- NWS Monterey marine zones — San Francisco/central California example, not the entire California coast.
- NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents — Separate measured water levels, tide predictions, current predictions and model forecasts.
Headland exposure and swell are not captured by marina wind
On a coastal passage, add separate times for the exposed headland and receiving harbour. Compare wind waves and swell direction/period with the intended approach rather than judging only the departure wind. Include visibility and an arrival delay. NWS's fog explanation supports checking the ocean route even when the land start is clear; a remote buoy gives context, not a complete local entrance observation.
- NWS sea and lake fog explanation — Fog mechanisms and observation limits; not a local visibility forecast.
- NWS Monterey marine zones
Reassess before the next committed coastal leg
Compare an earlier and later departure at the headland ETA and the final approach. If the later option reduces local wind but loses arrival light or changes the swell exposure, it has not necessarily improved the trip. Obtain current harbour information before adopting a substitute, and do not manufacture a universal 'morning is safe' rule from one forecast or a general seasonal pattern.
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.
- United States
Choose a bay, coastal, offshore, Great Lakes or ocean product for the actual track.