weather
Weather models explained for sailors
How marine wind forecasts are made, why models disagree, and how to check HRDPS, HRRR, ECMWF and AI guidance against live stations before you sail.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
Telltale · learn
Sailing knowledge
Weather, currents, passage planning, racing and local guides for the Salish Sea, with real examples from the stations and our own sails.
Setting up a phone, a watch or a laptop aboard? Help walks you through it.
What Telltale shows you
- Live stations against the forecastEach station’s last hours beside every model.
- Current at the passesCHS predictions with the next slack.
- The race brief from the SIsTimes, course, VHF and deadlines, each linked to its clause.
- Percent of polarWhere you were on target, where time went.
- Against your rivalsYour time against each boat at every mark.
- Every departure, routedWhen she can leave, across the models.
- Apple WatchSpots, instruments, the start and heart rate.
- GarminInstruments and the start timer on a Garmin.
sailing
Passage planning with wind, waves and tidal currents
Plan a departure window from the forecast for each leg, current predictions at the passes, and the stations along the route.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Racing with Telltale: the race page, the start and the replay
Find your race, read the sailing instructions as a one-page brief, see the course on the chart, check the stations before the gun, start on an exact timer and replay the fleet afterwards.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Record a sail and review it: replay, polar and the fleet
Record GPS and your instruments, then replay the sail on the chart, see where you were on or off your polar, set each leg against your rivals and check which forecast was right.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
local
English Bay sailing: weather checks and useful review
Read English Bay wind from Point Atkinson, the English Bay buoy and Halibut Bank, and decide when to go out by watching the stations fill in.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
local
Howe Sound sailing: inflow, outflow and forecast scale
Read Howe Sound inflow and outflow from Pam Rocks and Squamish Airport, and know when the regional model is likely to miss it.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
local
Strait of Georgia sailing: crossing windows and conditions
Plan a Strait of Georgia crossing with the forecast for each part of it, Halibut Bank and Sentry Shoal, and the current at the passes.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
weather
Coastal wind: sea breezes, headlands, lees and inlets
How land changes the wind near the coast: sea breezes, headland acceleration, lees, inlet channelling, convergence, shore bends and gusts off high land.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Tides and currents for sailors
Tide versus current, slack and maximum flow, back-eddies, the Fraser River plume, wind against current, set and drift, and how to read CHS predictions.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Telltale on a Garmin watch: instruments, start timer and recording
What the Telltale app shows on a Garmin watch: wind, boat speed and depth from your instruments, a start timer with the line and time to burn, the boat’s systems, and recording from the wrist. Works with B&G H5000 and Zeus.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Telltale on Apple Watch: conditions, instruments, the start and heart rate
What Telltale shows on an Apple Watch: the wind at your spots and the race-day outlook, your instruments, the next mark, the start line and timer, the boat’s systems, heart rate and recording, with complications on the watch face.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
weather
How Telltale corrects forecasts with live measurements
Why model wind drifts from what is blowing, how Telltale nudges every model toward the latest station and buoy readings, how long the correction lasts, and how the most accurate model is picked.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Weather routing for sailboats: polars, forecasts and currents
How a weather router turns your polar, every forecast model, tidal currents and depth into a route and a time to leave, and how to read routes that disagree.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
sailing
Sailing instruments on your phone: helm, laylines, the start and the fleet
What Telltale shows while you sail: speed and angle against your polar, the next mark and laylines, start line bias and timer, and the AIS fleet, from NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, Signal K or B&G.
Reviewed 2026-10-11
weather
About Telltale: evidence, weather and sailing records
How Telltale separates measurements, forecasts and interpretation, and how these guides handle sources and claims.
Reviewed 2026-10-11