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
Harbour shelter and offshore swell can diverge across a coastal passage.
New England coastal cruising shifts between island shelter, exposed headlands and offshore approaches.
Select the precise NOAA coastal zone for each leg, check buoy observations where representative and compare swell with the intended harbour entrance.
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.
Boston's sectors are examples, not all of New England
The Boston zone directory distinguishes Boston Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, Nantucket/Vineyard sounds and outer waters. Use these names to understand the required scale, then locate the issuing office for the actual northern or southern continuation. A passage around Cape Cod or between sounds may need several sectors. Pair each with its warning and planned transit time rather than treating a harbour forecast as coast-wide coverage.
- NWS Boston coastal zones — Southern New England harbour, sound, bay and coastal/offshore sectors.
Visibility and current can dominate a modest-distance leg
Include visibility explicitly in the briefing instead of reducing New England weather to wind and waves. NWS explains that moist air over colder water can produce sea fog; a clear marina or land observation does not guarantee visibility offshore. For a tidal channel, use a current prediction appropriate to that channel, not the nearby harbour's high-water time. Check the observation location before using it as confirmation.
- NWS sea and lake fog explanation — Fog mechanisms and observation limits; not a local visibility forecast.
- NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents — Separate measured water levels, tide predictions, current predictions and model forecasts.
A quieter sound is not an automatic diversion
For a coastal day passage, compare the open headland and the planned harbour approach at realistic ETA. If swell or visibility changes, examine the alternative entrance's own forecast, current information and local restrictions before adopting it. Avoid an itinerary that gains apparent protection only by requiring an unverified channel transit. Record the last practical point for shortening the route while the evidence is still current.
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.