Marine weather report: Radio silence on Deutschlandradio - the best apps for skippers
Johannes Erdmann
· 23.03.2023
That is now a thing of the past: the coffee water is boiling on the Optimus cooker, the sandwich is half-greased, the crew pauses, because an announcement can be heard on the shortwave set, which means the most important news of the day for the German boater: "Here you can hear the marine weather report. Issued by the German marine weather service in Hamburg." After that, it is as quiet as a mouse on board for up to 20 minutes. Everyone listens to the monotonous, almost indifferent voice as it reads out the wind and weather reports for the numerous sea areas along the German coasts. Very slowly, so that you can easily take notes.
"German Bight, Ooooost-Nordoooost, eight." No one other than the Deutschlandfunk announcers ever drew out the "O" so strikingly to make the wind direction distinguishable even in poor reception conditions. The speaker read out the contents of tables in a structured manner. Data that meant nothing to him, but which on some days sounded like a judgement to the skipper and advised him to stay in port. The speaker was not just an announcer, butthe manon the radio, which helped the boatman with his decisions. He could ruin a day with one sentence.
- Apps for skippers 1: 12 programmes for navigation and weather
- Apps for Skipper 2: Harbours, anchoring, shore leave
The marine weather report has had its day
However, with the advent of the internet, smartphones and numerous weather apps, the marine weather forecast had already become a nostalgic accompaniment to breakfast on board in recent years and was no longer essential for cruise planning. By the end of 2014, Deutschlandradio had already begun to close a major chapter in radio history by switching off its long-wave stations. The medium wave transmitters were then switched off at the end of 2015, which meant that the marine weather report on 1269 kHz was also cancelled. Since March, the marine weather report on the radio has also been history.
If you still want to be a little nostalgic, you can still listen to the maritime weather report twice a day (8.30 and 23.03) on NDR Info Spezial (for the time being) - or even subscribe to the podcast.
The 3 best weather apps
Predictwind
One of the most respected and reliable apps for marine weather reports, station reports and route planning. The free version already offers basic elements. A membership for 35 euros per year opens up slightly more functions.
Windfinder
A favourite with surfers and skippers for years, the app offers good and reliable weather forecasts for more than 160,000 stations worldwide. The basic version is free and very functional, the Pro version costs a one-off fee of 10 euros.
Windy
The app shows well visualised weather and storm developments in real time. With Windy, it is possible to call up the latest weather report from anywhere in the world. The basic version is free, the premium version costs 21 euros per year.
