I started this concept a few years ago for myself. Whenever I went through a training session or was out on the boat experimenting, I’d try to distill what I learned into a simple, repeatable checklist — something logical that I could refine as I gained experience.

I like having at hand a guide that reminds me of all the nuances of sailing and seamanship. There’s a lot to keep track of if you want to stay safe. With every delivery or trip from the dock or mooring, there are countless factors to consider — and whether you’re brand-new or an old salt, it’s easy to get distracted and forget something important.

This is the first in a series of checklists I’ve been developing as reminders and supplements to training. It’s not intended to be a replacement for experience or coursework, but rather a reminder and aid.

I call this one “3W — Wind, Weather, and Water” It’s a reminder of the key natural forces that always deserve your attention before setting off.

Whether you’re heading out for an easy afternoon sail or planning a multi-day passage, your level of preparation will vary — but it never hurts to have a guide to help you think things through. I’ve found these reminders really useful, and I hope you will too.

Wind– “It’s remarkable how quickly a good and favorable wind can sweep away the maddening frustrations of shore living.” — Ernest K. Gann, Song of the Sirens (Sheridan House, 2000 [original 1968 edition]), p. 37. ISBN 978-1-57409-092-5

When prepping for the sail it’s critical that you considered the wind. It should come as no surprise that the wind is probably the most common and easiest natural element that we think about first as a sailor. Here are a few reminders of what to look out for when we assess the wind. Keep in mind that depending on the type of sailing you are doing – Racing, Day sailing or Longer trips you will be assessing and -reassessing the wind.

Let’s start with a forecast. There are numerous tools available now for forecasting and predicting wind. Predict Wind being one of the aptly named favorites. Windy is also another popular choice. You can also go direct to the source for a lot of these applications and get the data from NOAA directly. Each of these applications and tools will have their own interface and their own way of interacting with the information so learning your favorite and being proficient with it is a critical skill. Once we have some forecasted wind for our sailing area we can then begin to make decisions. Do we go at all? What directions will we be able to travel today? Should we start out going upwind so we have an easy sail back to the dock? Should we motor into the wind for a while and then set sail? Is the wind going to change direction or force as the day marches on? As a sailor a lot of these things are second nature but good reminders when we review a forecast.

Local wind. There are often special circumstances that make the wind behave in a different way than predicted. Some of these have lore and special names — such as the Bora, a gusty sudden cold wind down the Dinaric Alps into the Adriatic coast, or the Catalina eddy off Southern California, where island-and-mountain geography distorts the wind. Islands, large buildings, landscape, other vessels, temperature—all of these factors and many others contribute to local wind. If you’re a racer, you’ve probably spent many hours analysing the local wind patterns on the waters you race.

However, many of us just going out for the day can be caught unaware of a potential large wind shift around an island or the wind-shadow behind a huge tanker tied to the dock. Being aware of the local wind will enhance your sailing experience greatly.

Learning to read the local wind from flags, smoke, ripples on the water, other sailboats, and numerous sources that show what the wind is doing is a lifelong skill that is enjoyable to practice and learn.

Prevailing Winds. When you’re thinking about wind over the longer period of a trip, you shift your focus: from “What’s happening now?” to “What’s been happening, and what will likely carry me (or slow me) over the next days?” That’s when you start to think more about consistent winds that blow and their directions, which change seasonally.

That’s where Pilot Charts come in. These are the wind-rose charts and other map diagrams that show, on a global or regional level, the typical wind patterns — direction, strength, frequency — for each month of the year.  While mastering a Pilot Chart is a course unto itself, it’s important simply to know they exist. And when you’re sailing, you should factor in that the prevailing wind may carry you… or make you claw for every inch of forward movement.

There are a few beautiful ways to see the prevailing wind once you know what to look for, and after you recognize them you’ll find yourself constantly checking:

Watch the higher clouds. They often move with the upper-level prevailing wind, which can translate into the surface wind trend.

Watch the direction of the swells. These larger, rolling waves are pushed along by wind that has been blowing from one direction for days.

One of my favourites: sargasso, foam spray and streams of bubbles in the water. Look at how long lines of sargasso or streaks of white foam point across the surface — they literally line up with the wind, as if nature is painting directional arrows for you to follow.

From Experience: One of my earliest sailing experience with local wind and learning what may happen was on Squam Lake in New Hampshire. I was sailing with a friend on a beautiful fall afternoon and we had some decent breeze. As we were tacking up a narrow channel the wind was getting lighter and lighter and the tacks were starting to take longer to complete. As we exited the narrow channel on our last tack, the wind slammed into us and we heeled way over with water coming over the gunnels. I scrambled to release the main sheet and get us upright. This was a small 17’ pocket cruiser so it was very tender. Once I finally got the main sheet released and we sat huffing and puffing I was able to take an assessment of the situation and figure out what was going on. It has turned out that as we were tacking up the narrow channel, the wind was being shadowed by the island on our windward side. I was too in experienced to realize that that fresh breeze that we had been sailing in all day was just being blocked. I had wrongfully assumed that the wind was just dying down. It was not. It was being blocked by the trees and houses and mounds of terrain on the island. As soon as we came out the other side of the island we took the full force of the wind directly broadside into the full main and jib. Right over we went. A great learning experience and one that I have not forgotten. I was not as in tune with the wind and how it can behave around land mass. Sailing in lakes especially can be tricky with surrounded by huge mountains and geography that funnels wind in different directions. It wasn’t until I started sailing in open bays and on the open ocean that I realized the consistency and satisfaction of an ocean breeze.

Weather

The topic of weather is one that entire lifetimes have been devoted to studying. I won’t pretend to cover its full breadth here — that’s a pursuit that humbles even the most seasoned meteorologists. But weather belongs in this series because, unlike the wind that fills our sails and demands our immediate attention, the weather can sneak up on us. It can turn a pleasant day sail into a dangerous fight for safety if ignored.

A prudent skipper takes time before every voyage — whether a short harbor hop or an offshore passage — to contemplate the weather.

• What’s the forecasted wind direction and strength?
• What’s today’s temperature and visibility?
• Are rain, fog, or thunderstorms expected?
• Is there a frontal boundary moving in, or a pressure drop that hints at squalls?
• And if conditions deteriorate, do we have an escape plan — a protected harbor or anchorage we can reach if needed?

Weather awareness isn’t about paranoia; it’s about respect. The environment is dynamic, and a mariner’s greatest asset is anticipation. In the artwork accompanying this section, you’ll notice a storm building on the horizon. With any luck, the travelers aboard have read the signs and made their preparations — reefed the sails early, checked the bilge, secured the hatches, and readied their foul-weather gear.

To think about weather is to think forward. It means not just glancing at the sky but also reviewing radar and long-range models, studying surface analyses and GRIB files, and watching the barometer for subtle drops that announce a change. It means checking that everyone aboard has dry layers, a safety harness, and knows where the life jackets are stowed. It means thinking not just of how things are now, but how they’ll be in the next few hours — or over the next horizon.

For offshore sailors, “weather routing” has become as critical as navigation itself. Selecting a good weather window can be the difference between a smooth, efficient passage and a miserable or even dangerous one. Thanks to modern forecasting tools, satellite imagery, and routing software, we no longer need to sail entirely by instinct — but instinct remains invaluable when the instruments fail or the picture changes faster than the data updates.

Ultimately, weather is something no skipper can control — only prepare for.

As Melville wrote in Moby-Dick:

“Calms crossed by storms — a storm for every calm.”

That’s the mariner’s truth: accept that both will come, and prepare for each with equal respect.

Weather changes fast, and so must our readiness. The comfort of passengers, the safety of crew, and the wellbeing of the vessel all hinge on how we respond. Fortunately, most weather conditions are manageable with preparation and practice. Every boat owner should carry proper storm gear — and know how to use it. Learning to deploy a drogue or sea anchor for the first time amid building seas is a recipe for fear; practicing it on a calm afternoon is seamanship.

Good weather sense isn’t just a skill — it’s a mindset. Check early. Prepare often. Reef before you need to. Never forget that the sea rewards those who respect her moods.

Water

Everyone knows the saying “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

Water is a fascinating thing from a sailor’s perspective. It isn’t just a surface — it’s a living, three-dimensional world in constant motion. We’re not traveling over water so much as with it, through it, and sometimes against it. Understanding what the water is doing is one of the most valuable habits a skipper can develop.

Currents and Tides

Before you untie the dock lines, take a moment to check how the water is moving. Is the current pushing you onto the dock or pulling you off? Are you leaving with or against the tide? Will you have enough depth over the sand bar when you return? Will today’s high tide leave you guessing on the overhead bridge clearance later? Tide tables and local current stations are your pre-departure briefing.

Currents and tides are invisible forces that shape every trip. Even a small current can make a huge difference when navigating in tight quarters or shallow water. They can work for you or against you, but they should never surprise you.

How Fast is One Knot, Really?

It’s easy to underestimate how powerful current can be. I like the rounded conversion of 6,000 feet per nautical mile. That makes the mental math simple:

• • 1 knot = 100 feet per minute

• • = 16 feet every 10 seconds

Even a “gentle” one-knot flow moves you a football field every minute. It doesn’t sound like much until you realize it can set you completely off a narrow channel or carry you down on another vessel before you even notice.

Onboard Trick: Using Boat Length to Gauge Current

You can roughly measure current speed using your own boat. Drop a small floating object near your bow and count how long it takes to drift past your stern. Divide your boat length by the seconds it took, and you’ll have the flow in feet per second. Convert to knots if you like, or just make a quick-reference table and laminate it near the helm.  

This is the example table for a 25’ boat.  

25′ Boat: Bow-to-Stern Drift Timing → Approx Current

Seconds (bow → stern)	Speed (ft/sec)	Approx Current (knots)
5	5.0	3.0
10	2.5	1.5
15	1.7	1.0
20	1.25	0.7
25	1.0	0.6
30	0.8	0.5

Set, Drift, and Course Over Ground

Water moves in three dimensions: vertically (tide and depth), horizontally (current), and diagonally (the vector that carries your boat off track). Watch the difference between your heading and your Course Over Ground (COG). The gap between them is the story of set (direction) and drift (speed).

For example: a boat making 6 knots through the water with a 1-knot current directly on the beam will actually move at about 6.08 knots over the ground and will be set roughly 9.5° off its heading. That may not sound like much, but over an hour, you’ll be a full nautical mile down-current from where you intended to be.

Keeping an eye on your COG versus heading helps you understand these invisible forces before they turn into problems.

Reading the Water

You can often feel current before you see it. A helm that won’t hold a transit line, a buoy sliding past faster than expected, or waves forming strange angles to the wind are all hints. Verify with your instruments and use visual ranges to confirm what your senses are telling you.

The surface of the water tells stories:

• • Smooth, oily patches can mean converging currents.

• • Streaks of foam or weed lines can show the edges of two flows.

• • Darker water is usually deeper; lighter, brownish water may signal shoaling.

Paying attention to these details will give you confidence at the helm.

Waves and the Weight of Water

Water is heavy — 8.34 pounds per gallon, or about 64 pounds per cubic foot. When it stacks up and breaks, that weight becomes a moving wall. A breaking wave can strike with shocking force, and it doesn’t take much to knock a boat off balance.

A practical rule of thumb:
A breaking wave one-third the length of your boat can capsize it.

So, a 30-foot boat can be rolled by a 10-foot breaking wave. That’s why it’s so important to not just look, but listen for breaking surf when near shore. Your ears often catch the danger long before your eyes do.

Nearshore vs Offshore Behavior

Near shore, waves interact with the bottom. They steepen, trip, and break over sandbars, reefs, or abrupt depth changes. Even a gentle swell can become dangerous if the bottom comes up quickly.

Offshore, waves are longer, steadier, and more predictable. They might toss you around, but at least there’s usually nothing nearby to hit. Out there, comfort and control are the priorities — not collision avoidance.  It’s not to say that ocean waves are not dangerous.  They can certainly get bad.  

If we have done our homework and preparation and paid attention to the wind and weather, the water should behave for us.  If we neglect the first two, then the third will be treacherous.   

Final Thoughts

Wind carries us where we want to go if we know how to harness its power.  It blows off our favorite hat or fills the sails with a loud pop.  It’s the very essence of something you cant see but you can feel, hear and sense it all around you.  Learning how to best utilize it is the life long chase of the sailor.  One I look forward to continuing to pursue!

Weather is responsible for the comfort we feel or the lack of when on a journey.  The old saying of “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing” can be applies equally as well to sailing.  Bad planning will be exasperated by bad weather.  So taking the time to review the weather will make the difference between an enjoyable adventure and one that ends up being uncomfortable or worse dangerous.

Water is always in motion. It’s alive, shifting, and full of surprises. Learning to read it is one of the true arts of seamanship — and the difference between reacting to what it does and working with it as a partner. Once you start noticing how the water behaves, you’ll never see a flat horizon the same way again.  I for one am looking forward to seeing as much of it as I can! 

Wind Prediction Apps & Websites

Here’s a list of some highly regarded wind and marine-forecast tools (apps + websites) — with working links. You (as a sailor with racing/delivery experience) may already know many of these, but I thought a consolidated list would help for your checklist and future reference.

Name	Description	Website
PredictWind	A premium marine forecasting service tailored for sailors — high-resolution wind, waves, tides, and routing tools.	predictwind.com
Windy.app	Popular app for sailors and water-sports enthusiasts with detailed wind, waves, and tide forecasts.	windy.app
Windy.com	Beautiful, interactive global weather map with wind, gusts, and pressure overlays — very popular among cruisers.	windy.com
SailFlow	Real-time wind maps, sensor data, and forecast models made specifically for sailors and racers.	sailflow.com
Windfinder	Simple wind and wave forecast tool for local coastal and inland waters, with historical data.	windfinder.com
NOAA / NWS Marine Weather	Official U.S. source for marine forecasts, buoy observations, and real-time wind and sea state data.	noaa.gov
PassageWeather	Trusted by cruisers and offshore sailors for regional GRIB-based wind, wave, and weather forecasts.	passageweather.com