Seas and Winds: why knowing the sea before sailing?

It is very important to know the conditions of seas and winds before sailing, sometimes it can avoid transforming a pleasant and relaxing day into a terrible misadventure.

In this article you will discover:

The most reliable websites for weather forecasts
The numbers to call in case of emergency at sea
How to behave in case of emergency

THE MOST REALIABLE WEBSITES FOR WEATHER FORECASTS

The daily check of weather forecasts is a habit lots of people have: as a matter of fact, the weather conditions can favour or destroy our plans, above all in the weekend. But it is not sufficient to rely on any weather forecasts: there are lots of Apps or websites that give you the possibility to check the weather, but very few of them can be considered as reliable sources.

Let’s discover together the websites and the best apps used by the Italian sailors.

WEB APP

The easiest way to check the weather forecasts, of the current day and of the subsequent days, is surely to install an App on your smartphone and have then the possibility to have an easy access to forecasts. The best Apps you can find on Android and IOs are the following:

3B Meteo: it is surely among the most reliable apps and, for this reason, one of the most popular. 3B Meteo offers the possibility to customise the App to allow you to have, at login, all the data you need. Moreover, it gives you the possibility to discover the weather forecasts of a determined area by taking a picture.
AccuWeather: excellent graphics of the interface and the forecasts hour by hour make it one of the Apps preferred by those who are interested to know the weather conditions during the whole day. This app too gives reliable data and is considered among the most appreciated and downloaded.
Meteo & Radar: has been elected the most reliable App ever, not only because its forecasts are exact and always very accurate, but also because the classic general information are put together with the sat images and graphic animations. Among the parameters it is also able to give the wind chill and the degree of moisture.
Yahoo Meteo: this App comes right among the most reliable and better developed apps. The forecasts are always precise and punctual, but the most appreciated thing is the magnificent backgrounds that it presents and that change according to the location where you are or you wish to know the forecast of.

There are also other significant Apps, available only for Android or only for iOS. Among the Apps available only for Android, it is important to mention Weather, particularly indicated for those who travel in Europe because it returns data and very precise maps, even with weather in all the time slots. Among the Apps available only for iOS we have Meteo Aeronautica, which returns all the data collected directly from the Air Force and that proves to be very precise, and METEO – Previsioni Meteo by iLMeteo.it, which takes data directly from the website ilmeteo.it that we’ll see among the most reliable websites.

WEBSITES

All the data that can be found in most part of the apps we have already seen are directly taken from the relevant websites. The weather forecast websites are easily accessible from desktop PCs and tablets, while if you are surfing from the mobile it is better to download one of the above-mentioned Apps to have all the data ordered in a more linear and less confusing way. For the same reasons described above for the apps, the websites that give information about the weather and that have turned to be more reliable are the following:

The websites and the Apps we have mentioned are very reliable and some of them can be also very precise in the forecast not only of the city or of the town, but also of the location or of the exact point where we are. However, it is important to remember that the early check of the forecasts for a given day does not ensure that they verify: it is necessary to check the weather day by day, because often the weather conditions, because of the several factors that can influence them, are subject to continuous changes.

NUMBERS TO CALL IN CASE OF EMERGENCY AT SEA

A trip to Italy is always a unique experience: whether for a weekend out of town or for a truly holiday in never explored locations, the peninsula can always offer unforgettable landscapes and thrilling experiences. But, foreign tourists (and Italians, too) are often not ready to face all kind of accidents that can occur during the journey. Hence, here’s a list of the useful numbers, to contact in case of emergency or simply to have information about several aspects of your journey.

Write them in your agenda and travel safer and more relaxed!

Emergency numbers in Italy

112 is the single emergency number valid all over Europe: by calling it, you can reach the service of Pronto Intervento of Carabinieri, which, if necessary, routes the call to the suitable body. The Italian Polizia di Stato offers a similar service of Public Aid at number 113. The Fire Department instead answers at 115.

It is important to highlight that emergency numbers are in operation 24/7 always for free: they can be reached also from mobile phones without credit, and in some cases also without SIM card.

Travels by land and by sea

If you travel by sea, the number to call to receive rescue is 1530, which alerts the Coast Guard and the closest Harbour Office. Instead, if you travel by car, it should be useful to know the number of the Roadside Assistance of A.C.I. (Automobile Club d’Italia): 803 116.

When during sailing you are in a difficult situation and you are about to ask for intervention, it is useful to have the right tools to know the type of problem occurred in order to inform properly the rescuers that will help you. This allows authorities to better reply to the requests and give the best possible assistance.

A first important step is to know how to distinguish an emergency from an urgent situation.

By “emergency situation” (distress) it is meant a critical situation in which one or more persons, present on the place of the accident, are in an imminent danger of life.

Instead, a critical circumstances, which surely asks for an emergency response because it represents a threat for the safety of a boat or of a person, but that does not undermine the survival of those present, can be classified as “urgent situation” (no distress).

HOW TO BEHAVE IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

In order to identify an emergency, one can think about – for example – a fire out of control aboard a boat, an important grounding, a strong collision with another boat or with an obstacle that has damaged the boat, determining its sinking.

Instead, we can talk about urgency in cases as a motor failure, the lack of fuel, an electric or mechanical failure, a not serious grounding or the presence of not seriously injured persons.

The signal for emergency calls, recognised at international level, is MAYDAY.

Instead, the universal signal for urgency calls is PAN PAN.

In case of need, it is possible to signal an emergency situation also through some signals codified at international level, as the use of a red trail flare gun or the ignition of an orange smoke bomb. To avoid misunderstandings, it is useful to gather information about the codes of the international signals.

In the event that one finds in an emergency situation at sea, it is absolutely indispensable to contact the Coast Guard, with the support of a mobile phone to call the number 1530 or, in the event that the boat is not sufficiently close to the coast in order to have a good reception range of the mobile network, using the VHF device to call on channel 16, the international frequency for radiotelephone distress calls.

It is useful to remember that the presence of the VHF device onboard is mandatory where the boat gests more than 6 miles away from the coast.