Month: August 2024

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Foul Weather Gear

I have been putting off buying foul weather gear, in part because I have not needed it in the Sea of Cortez, but mostly because it is so darn expensive. I have been saving my pennies for the past several months, and am now in a place to pull the trigger on several purchases. To make my funds stretch, I have been keeping my eye out for good deals on eBay.

The first purchase was a Gill OS1 jacket (top left). This is a jacket for extreme conditions that retails for $650. I found a “new” one on eBay for $200 that had been the (unworn) backup jacket of the seller. I couldn’t find used OS2 bibs, so I bought a new pair on Amazon for $210 (they retail for $250). From the same seller as the OS1 jacket, I got the yellow bibs for $70. I also purchased the “coastal” (looks like an OS3) jacket on the right for $60. So for less than $550, I got a complete medium-weight and heavy-weight set. The total retail for the four garments new would be about $1,500. Three of the four garments are essentially (or actually) new.

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Obtaining Weather Forecasts While Offshore

I have been procrastinating purchasing satellite communication equipment because the technology is evolving rapidly. The main use I will have for the equipment is obtaining up-to-date weather forecasts. I have been using PredictWind for the past year and I am convinced this is the forecasting tool I will use. While in principle, I can download PredictWind via Starlink, I do not consider that platform reliable. It’s hard to say when Musk will burn it to the ground and the Starlink offshore data rates have gone up markedly in recent months. Furthermore, the system runs on AC, so if the inverter fails, I will not have access to Starlink. Perhaps most importantly, it is not designed for saltwater/sailing environment. The antenna is subject to damage and the electronics look fragile. Finally, it uses a large amount of power. I do not have the resources to access Starlink when it is cloudy/storming, which is exactly when you most need weather forecasts.

I just purchased an Iridium Go Exec. While the technology is dated, it is reliable. Further, the partnership with PredictWind allows seamless integration. The Iridium Go Exec offers several advantages of Starlink, including it’s stand-alone, it uses much lower power (5% of StarLink), it has battery backup, it is compact, it is rugged, and the data plans are much less expensive. While it retails for $1,600, I found a new one on eBay for the $750. I also bought the DataHub ($300), which allows me to GPS-track the boat, log data, and it allows me to extend the AIS data I receive to 300 NM.