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
Island coasts and the strait have distinct exposure and forecast areas.
Bass Strait and the Tasmanian coast combine open-water seas with island and headland effects.
Read BoM Bass Strait and Tasmanian coastal sectors as applicable; compare wave and swell direction with the arrival coast and preserve a realistic diversion.
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.
Bass Strait and its eastern sub-areas are not interchangeable
For a Victoria–Tasmania crossing, obtain the Bass Strait and approaches product as well as the applicable coastal arrival forecast. Banks Strait and Franklin Sound is a specific eastern sub-area, not a forecast for the whole crossing. Use BoM's text directory to locate both. Compare wind waves and swell at the open-water ETA and preserve the current warning text, not only a model route colour.
- BoM low-bandwidth marine directory — Named coastal, local and high-seas products; obtain their current text and warnings.
- BoM Banks Strait and Franklin Sound — Specific eastern Bass Strait sub-area; not the whole crossing.
Current opposition changes the meaning of a wave forecast
BoM's wave explanation highlights that opposing tidal currents can increase wave steepness in Bass Strait. Keep the relevant local stream information separate from a broad wave grid and do not derive a passage window from high-water time alone. An island lee may change wind exposure without removing incoming swell. Check arrival protection against the predicted direction and period, especially when the passage may slow down.
- BoM wave model explanation — Sea/swell model context and Bass Strait wind/current interaction.
- BoM Banks Strait and Franklin Sound
A diversion must remain feasible beyond the island stop
Before choosing an island stop as the alternative to a direct crossing, check the onward leg, current entrance information and the forecast period still available on arrival. Test a delay that moves the next open-water stage into a revised system or warning. Do not call the island option safer solely because it breaks the distance into two parts; it can add another approach and another exposed commitment.
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.