Where is this traffic information coming from?

Realtime weather information is available via satellite for marine and aviation GPS systems. You can overlay the weather radar with the map, or read text based forecasts. It's very nice, but I'm too cheap to pay for the service.

Tom

 

It's coming as part of the free 90 day XM trial. If you want to keep it, you'll have to pay $10 a month (or $4.00 a month if you also subscribe to the music/news channels). In the other XM threads, it's been pointed out that XM also has a weather service, but it wasn't clear why anyone would pay extra for that.

 

Realtime weather information is also available through your windshield (for free).

 

Good point. While sailing I don't even have to look through the windshield. I just look over my shoulder with horror at the dark line of angry clouds rapidly gaining on me. The is nothing like long passages and volatile weather. I have said many a prayer to the weather gods.

Tom

 

A downwind sailor, huh? Sailing in Oklahoma we used to worry about sailing into weather, not being chased down by it, because we would always go upwind (which tended to be into the fronts). For downwind we would put out the motor and re-set for another run upwind

With the right front coming through, since lakes in Oklahoma are reservoirs (swolen rivers, 32 or so nice sized ones) we could often sail all day on an upwind tack (usually weather to port) going upriver and never leave the lake or cleared area. Or the crosswind tacks were fast and set us up for another long reach.

But oh, the storms - when they came, you better not be on the water! My Starwind 19 couldn't survive those storms (or I wasn't a good enough sailor to survive them, LOL).

:rain::focus:

 

Unfortunately it does seem that we are always going upwind. It must have to do with Murphy's Law or the Law of Selective Probability.

We live on a small bay off of Lake Michigan. It runs north and south, and is about 40 miles long and 13 miles wide. My brother and I have plans to run a scientific experiment where he will start at the south end and I will start at the north end, each sailing toward the other. The question is what will happen when we come together? Our experience is that you are always sailing into the wind, but going opposite directions something will have to give. I suspect either the wind will go flat, or a micro burst will come straight down.

Tom

 

ound: :bump2:

At the risk of totally pirating this thread, what kind/size of boat?

 

Too late. I think we have already seized this thread and are heading toward the coast of Africa.

Our boat is a custom designed, custom built heavy cruiser. She is 32' LOA, 29' LWL, and displaces 16,000 pounds empty. Construction is plank on frame, Honduras mahogany over white oak frames.

I have a few photos in a PriusChat album. Here is the link:

PriusChat Forums - qbee42's Album: Suzy

Tom

 

At this risk of keeping things a little on track, I've been getting the traffic updates here in Vegas and they work well. After encountering an especially bad accident and sitting for 20 minutes thinking that the nav could have easily warned me about it, I now enter even familiar destinations, just to check traffic conditions. It's saved me twice from some nasty delays.

The nav is pretty timely and accurate with respect to accidents, work zones and lane closures, at least here.

BUT, when an accident is announced on my route ahead, I want to be auto-rerouted. I can't seem to get the nav unit to do this.

I have turned on AUTO AVOID TRAFFIC per the manual, but I am never offered the option to reroute as the manual advertises. If I reroute myself, it spends about 10 minutes trying to get me back on the original route containing the announced accident.

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

I actually had it offer once to reroute me. I just said no, since I knew the alternative route I wanted to take. Probably should have said yes, just to see what she came up with! Of course, by the time she told me, I might have been past the off ramp!

 

I may be way off base - but I believe traffic accidents etc are broadcast over the FM band, and a GPS picks it up, and can overlay.

This is not a satellite or XM thing...

 

It's XM NavTraffic (see p. 96 of the Navigation manual), so it's satellite.

After reading over all of the text again, including how to manually select a detour around traffic congestion, I'm guessing that an accident report does not necessarily imply to the system that there is also congestion associated with the accident.

Could explain why sometimes there is an offer to reroute and no offer the next. It may only offer the detour assistance around reported delays, not accidents, work zones, etc.