Handbook for Caribbean Cruising

Volume 1: Eastern Caribbean

Weather

Caribbean Weather

The most important event in a cruiser’s life, besides happy hour, is the weather.  Anytime cruisers gather at a popular watering hole the first question is always, “what do you think about this weather?!?”  I was responsible for broadcasting the weather during one season for the Cruiser’s Net in Trinidad.  Most everyone appreciated the weather.  However, as I was the resident ‘Weather Broadcaster’, feedback was not always positive.  A few of the questions I received included: “Why are the winds blowing so hard?”, “Will there be a wind shift when the tropical wave passes over us?”, “When will the seas calm down?” and my favorite, “When can we leave Trinidad and sail to Grenada?”  One sailor constantly questioned my weather reports even though all I did was read the official NOAA weather forecast!  I guess photography was his only expertise!

In the Caribbean there are several excellent sources for weather information:

All of the official NOAA forecasts, charts and satellite information can be downloaded or sent to your personal e-mail address and retrieved with your PC or Mac onboard your vessel.  This is the easiest way to obtain accurate weather information.

Eric broadcasts daily from Trinidad at 0630 AST on SSB 3855.0 LSB.  Eric gives the NOAA reports and also reviews the satellite and surface charts for the Caribbean.  You will be able to receive Eric everywhere in the Caribbean from Puerto Rico south.  His weather reporting is excellent.

Chris Parker broadcasts every day from Florida at 0830 AST on SSB 8104.0 USB and again at 0930 on SSB 12359.0 USB.  Chris took over David Jones’s broadcasts when David passed away several years ago.  Chris gives very detailed and interpretive weather forecasts for the Caribbean.  His weather information is also excellent.

George broadcasts twice a day from the USVI at 0730 and 1630 AST on SSB 7086 LSB.  His afternoon broadcast is called the Caribbean Cocktail and Weather Net and is very entertaining because stations report their conditions when they call in.  His weather information is excellent.

Herb broadcasts every day from Canada at 1600 AST on SSB 12359.0 USB.  Herb is an excellent weather resource, especially for those making long ocean passages.

NOAA broadcasts on the VHF weather channels that can be received from St. Maarten northward throughout Puerto Rico.

Buoyweather.com is a fee service that will send you a detailed e-mail weather report on demand. The weather report covers a specific latitude and longitude anywhere on the surface of the Earth.  The cost for this service is $29.95 for 365 weather reports.  When you want a weather report you simply send an e-mail request to Buoyweather and within 5 minutes you will receive a reply, vial e-mail, with your weather information.

Caribbean Weather Seasons

Yes, the Caribbean has several weather seasons, just like the temperate zones.  And believe it or not, there are no such things as rock steady trade winds!  One cruising guide describes the trade winds as constant and from the same direction, day in and day out.  This could not be further from the truth!  The trade winds will blow from a direction that changes 60 degrees or more during the day.  The speed of the winds changes from 10 knots to 20 knots at will.  The winds and their direction in the Caribbean are not constant!

The weather seasons in the Caribbean are:

Winter – Mid December through March.  High winds and high seas characterize the sailing conditions during these months.  The guidebooks mention the “Christmas Winds” as a term of interest.  Well, the “Christmas Winds” actually describe the strong winter winds and rough seas in the Caribbean during this entire period.  These winds and sea conditions can be seen by this actual weather snapshot:

OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST FOR THE SOUTHWEST AND TROPICAL NORTH ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN SEA

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL

E CARIBBEAN E OF 75W TO LEEWARD AND WINDWARD ISLANDS

430 AM EST JAN 2006

.TODAY AND TONIGHT...N OF 14N E WINDS 25 KT. SEAS 9 TO 13 FT. S OF 14N E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT.

.SAT AND SAT NIGHT...N OF 15N E WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 9 TO 14

FT. S OF 15N E WINDS 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 7 TO 10 FT.

.SUN THROUGH MON...N OF 14N E WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 9 TO 14

FT. S OF 14N E WINDS 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 TO 12 FT.

.TUE...NE TO E WINDS 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 TO 12 FT.

As you can clearly see the winds will be blowing from the East at a strong 25 to 30 knots, just shy of gale force.  The seas match the winds with waves up to 14 feet.  These are extremely uncomfortable sailing conditions but fairly typical in the winter season. 

A typical Buoyweather.com forecast during the winter season is shown here for the area near St. Martin:

Location : 18.0N  63.0W              

  Cycle    : 20060121 t00z             

  UTC - 4 Hours                        

----------------------------------------------------

                  WIND                  SEAS

DATE   HR  dir/deg  range(kt)   dir/per   range(ft)

----  ---  ------------------   -------------------

1/20  20   ENE  64  20 - 27     ENE  9sec  10 - 16

1/21  02   ENE  69  23 - 31     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/21  08   ENE  75  24 - 33     ENE  9sec  12 - 19

1/21  14   ENE  74  22 - 29     ENE  9sec  12 - 18

1/21  20   ENE  73  22 - 29       E  9sec  11 - 17

1/22  02   ENE  69  21 - 28     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/22  08   ENE  70  22 - 30     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/22  14   ENE  70  21 - 29     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/22  20   ENE  69  21 - 28     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/23  02   ENE  73  22 - 29     ENE  9sec  11 - 17

1/23  08     E  82  18 - 25     ENE  9sec  10 - 16

1/23  14     E  83  20 - 27     ENE  9sec  10 - 16

1/23  20   ENE  77  22 - 29     ENE  9sec  10 - 16

1/24  02     E  87  20 - 27     ENE  9sec  10 - 16

1/24  08     E  86  19 - 26       E  9sec  10 - 15

1/24  14     E  87  15 - 20       E  9sec   9 - 14

1/24  20     E  87  16 - 22       E  9sec   8 - 13

1/25  02     E  95  16 - 22       E  9sec   8 - 12

1/25  08     E  95  14 - 19       E  9sec   7 - 12

1/25  14   ESE 108  13 - 18       E  9sec   7 - 11

1/25  20     E  98  15 - 20       E  9sec   7 - 12

1/26  02   ESE 104  14 - 19       E  9sec   7 - 11

1/26  08   ESE 109  13 - 18       E  9sec   7 - 11

1/26  14   ESE 107  10 - 14       E  9sec   6 - 10

1/26  20   ENE  77   8 - 12       E  9sec   6 - 10

1/27  02   ENE  73  11 - 15       E  9sec   6 -  9

1/27  08   ENE  68  12 - 17       E  9sec   5 -  9

1/27  14   ENE  63  10 - 14       E  9sec   5 -  8

1/27  20   ENE  57  14 - 19       E  9sec   5 -  8

This forecast also calls for winds just shy of gale force and wave heights up to 19 feet.

A typical weather chart for the winter cruising season shows:

This chart shows the most of the Eastern Caribbean having extreme wind conditions and very large seas.  These weather summaries illustrate that safe sailing weather windows in Winter down in the Caribbean are very short and will be stronger than you have been led to believe.

Spring – April through June.  This is the best time to sail in the Caribbean.  The trade winds have settled down to a more reasonable 10-15 knots and the seas are in the 4-6 foot range.  The wind direction clocks from NE to SE on a whim so it will most likely be on your nose regardless whether you are headed north or south.  But you may get that glorious sail you have dreamed about if you are headed south to Trinidad for hurricane season!

Summer – July through October.  Hurricane season is extremely dangerous.  This is not the time to be caught unaware or unprepared in the Eastern Caribbean.  You must be within 1 day’s sail of your hurricane shelter to be safe.  In the case of the Eastern Caribbean the only place to safely take refuge during hurricane season is Trinidad.  Nearly all insurance companies recently changed their hurricane box to exclude Grenada as a safe area.  The reason for this change was because hurricanes in both 2004 (Ivan) and 2005 (Emily) hit Grenada with disastrous results to the sailing community.

Fall – November to Mid-December.  This season is short and represents a change from the sporadic tropical waves and hurricane conditions of the summer season to the blustery winter weather conditions.  Fall is the time when you need to decide where you will spend the Christmas holidays and sail to your destination before the trades re-establish themselves and prevent you from achieving your goal.  For instance, if you wish to get to Antigua for Christmas you should depart Trinidad during the first to middle part of November.  If you wait until December to leave Trinidad you may be spending Christmas with your friends in Bequia or maybe Martinique instead.  The weather windows during the Fall sailing season are relatively short in comparison with the Spring sailing conditions.

There is an excellent book describing Caribbean weather.  It is called “The Concise Guide to Caribbean Weather” by David Jones and published in 1996.  Get a copy of this book and you will begin to understand the weather making systems in the Caribbean.  No other weather book can compare with this one.