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.
Coastal, reef, island and offshore products are not interchangeable. Compare the official warning with swell direction, local tide and exposed arrival before relying on any model-based route.
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
Local, coastal and high-seas BoM products cover different distances offshore.
Australia’s east coast spans many BoM coastal waters and exposed harbour or bar entrances.
Choose every named BoM zone on the leg, compare swell direction and timing, and verify a specific entrance’s current authority advice.
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.
Harbour, coastal and Tasman Sea files belong in one brief
For a Queensland–New South Wales coastal plan, list the named coastal sectors reached by the track and the local-water product where departure or arrival lies inside a harbour. BoM's lite directory distinguishes Sydney enclosed waters and coastal/high-seas products. A longer offshore alternative needs its own coverage rather than an extended Sydney land forecast. Save the applicable text, issue time and warning together for each stage.
- BoM low-bandwidth marine directory — Named coastal, local and high-seas products; obtain their current text and warnings.
A harbour entrance can remain limiting after wind improvement
Carry swell direction and period into the receiving harbour assessment, then obtain the harbour or maritime authority's current entrance information. A reduction in forecast wind is not a calculation of bar conditions or breaking waves. Separate any offshore current context from the local stream at the approach. Observations need the right exposure and sensor; do not treat a coastal anemometer as a measurement of every entrance wave.
- BoM low-bandwidth marine directory
- BoM Queensland coastal observations — Named coastal sites; missing sea sensors and stale observations remain explicit.
Keep a slower coastal progress scenario
Compare alternatives at the exposed coastal stage and harbour arrival, including a delay. If the later departure shifts the entrance into a changed swell direction, poor visibility or darkness, revise the destination and waiting strategy before fixing the plan. A nearby harbour must be assessed independently. Use the low-bandwidth text products as an update option, while verifying the current delivery channel and not assuming internet availability offshore.
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.