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Saildocs

An online source of weather data available by email request to [email protected] See saildocs.com for details of the process. This is a very popular service used worldwide by thousands of mariners for over 23 years. They provide an excellent service. They offer graphic weather maps, model forecasts in grib format, text reports, and observations, and much more. See even more detail in Modern Marine Weather

To get data from Saildocs requires a specific format for the request, which is explained on their webpage. Several navigation programs such as OpenCPN and qtVlm, provide a user interface to the grib forecast that generates the proper format for the request, which can then be copied and emailed to Saildocs. These interfaces are convenient, but none offer all the product options that Saildocs offers. Saildocs own grib viewer (ViewFax 5.2.2, PC only) offers the most through coverage of what they can provide. Expedition offers both the mail generation as well as a direct request for the data.

Saildocs was a pioneer in delivering weather data to mariners and they continue to be the primary source of weather data for many mariners worldwide. They provide a fantastic service. The data and service are free of charge, which makes it a legal source for yacht races that prohibit commercial support.

Saildocs does not provide all of the model data that are available to the public. Newer and more specialized model data are sometimes presented in map projections that are not compatible with their system at present. National Blend of Models is one notable example, as are the new higher resolution GFS and NAM data. See our text for a discussion of these. See also the LuckGrib models page for a convenient summary of models available.


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