dist. /km 4 km/h 5 km/h 6 km/h 7 km/h 8 km/h 9 km/h 10 km/h
0.1
1.5
1.2
1
0.9
0.75
0.7
0.6
0.2
3
2.4
2
1.7
1.5
1.3
1.2
0.3
4.5
3.6
3
2.6
2.25
2.0
1.8
0.4
6
4.8
4
3.4
3
2.7
2.4
0.5
7.5
6
5
4.3
3.75
3.3
3
1
15
12
10
8.6
7.5
6.7
6
dist. /NM 2 Kts
2.5 Kts
3 Kts
3.5 Kts
4 Kts
4.5 Kts
5 Kts
0.1
3
2.4
2
1.7
1.5
1.3
1.2
0.2
6
4.8
4
3.4
3
2.7
2.4
0.3
9
7.2
6
5.1
4.5
4.0
3.6
0.4
12
9.6
8
6.9
6
5.3
4.8
0.5
15
12
10
8.6
7.5
6.7
6
1
30
24
20
17.1
15
13.3
12
20 strokes ~ 100 m ~ 1 min (at 6 km/h) 45 strokes ~ 1/8 nm ~ 2.5 min (at 3 kts)
Station
Tel
MSI Station
Tel
MSI
Belfast
028 914 63933 1 Liverpool
01519 313341 2
Brixham 01803 882704 1 Portland
01305 760439 2
Dover
01304 210008 1 Solent
023 9255 2100 2
Falmouth 01326 317575 1 Holyhead 01407 762051 3
Shetland 01595 692976 1 Humber
01262 672317 3
Stornoway 01851 702013 1 Milford Hvn 01646 690909 3
Thames
01255 675518 1 Swansea
01792 366534 3
Aberdeen 01224 592334 2 Yarmouth 01493 851338 3
Forth
01333 450666 2 Clyde
01475 729988 4
VHF ch. 23, 84, 86 after announcement on 16
A1: 0710;1910 | A2: 0730;1930 | A3: 0750;1950 | A4: 0810;2010
B1: 0110;1330 | B2: 0130;1330 | B3: 0150;1350 | B4: 0210;1410
MSI (local time) A=Full; B=Inshore; C=rpt Inshore 3 hrs after A&B
distance
features
100m 0.05 NM identify people by facial recognition
200m 0.1 NM faces, clothing colors, numbers, letters
500m 0.25 NM id people by movement, sm. bouys & blades vis.
Sp w. opp. 1 km 0.5 NM count individual windows, id lg bouys
1.5 km 0.75 NM individual trees, paddle flash
3
3
3.5 2.75 2 km 1 NM
ind. houses, id. cars from larger vehicles
3.5 2.75 3 km 1.5 NM sep. trees from greenery, limit kayak to kayak vis.
Time periods
Imminent <6 hrs
Soon
6 to 12 hrs
Later
> 12 hrs
Speed– pressure. syst.
Slowly
<15 kts
Steadily
15 - 25 kts
Quickly
25 - 35 kts
Rapidly
35 - 45 kts
V. Rapidly > 45 kts
Wind descriptions
Bec.cyclonic Rapid ch. in dir., ass. with front.
Veering
changing in a clockwise dir.
Backing
changing in an anti-clockw. dir.
Visibility
Very Poor
< 1000m
Poor
0.6 - 2 nm
Moderate
2 - 5 nm
Good
> 5 nm
Beaufort to knots: (BFT-1)*5=kts
Sea State
Wave height
Smooth
< 0.5 m
Slight
0.5 - 1.25 m
Moderate
1.25 - 2.5 m
Rough
2.5 - 4.0 m
Very rough
4.0 - 6.0 m
High
6.0 - 9.0 m
Very high
9.0 - 14.0 m
Phenomenal
> 14.0 m
Knots to Bft: BFT=kts/5+1
ferry angle
(eff speed)
1
2
3
4
5
current
Bft Wind/kts Descr. Wvs (m) Sea St.
Sea Description
2
4-6
Light brz. 0.1-0.3
2
Smooth sm wavelets
3 7-10 Gentle brz. 0.4-1
3
Slight
lg wavelets
4 11-16 Mod. brz. 1-1.5
3-4 Slight-Mod. sm waves, frq whitecaps
5 17-21 Fresh brz. 2-2.5
4
Moderate md waves, some foam&spray
3.75 2.5
6 22-27 Strong brz. 2.4-4
5
Rough
lg waves, crests, spray
4 2.25
7 28-33 Near gale 4-5.5
5-6 Rough-V.Rgh sea heaps up, foam streaks
4.5 1.5
8 34-40
Gale
5-7.5
6-7 V.Rough-High mod h. wvs,crests break,spindrift 4.5
1
9 41-47 Severe gale 7-10
7
High
h. waves w. dense foam, crests roll over, spray
10 48-55
Storm
9-12.5
8
Very High very high waves, tumbling white seas
11 56-63 Viol. storm 11-16
8
Very High except. high waves
12 64+
Hurricane
14+
9
Phenomenal huge waves, foam and driving spray
rule
50/90
thirds
0
0
1
50
1/3
F
0
20
40
60
80
100
speed
2
27 (1.8)
45 (1.4)
56 (1.1)
63 (0.9)
68 (0.7)
3
18 (2.8)
34 (2.5)
45 (2.1)
53 (1.8)
59 (1.5)
4
14 (3.9)
27 (3.6)
37 (3.2)
45 (2.8)
51 (2.5)
5
11 (4.9)
22 (4.6)
31 (4.3)
39 (3.9)
45 (3.5)
Hours after slack
2
3
4
5
6
90 100
90
50
0
2/3 3/3 3/3 2/3 1/3
VQ or Q
N
IALA bouyage
A
port red
starboard green
B
port green
starboard red
with hand out at arms length:
n finger widths = 2n degrees
thumb to tip of index = 15 deg.
thumb to tip of pinky = 20 deg.
W
HAZARD
VQ(9) 10s
or Q(9) 15s
C
-18
-7
4
16
27
38
© 2008
E
VQ(3) 5s
or Q(3) 10s
S
VQ(6)+LFl 10s or
Q(6)+LFl 15s