Starlink, PredictWind

PredictWind Datahub Review This article is a test review of the PredictWind DataHub, the pros and cons and explains how we used the system in combination with PredictWind the leading weather application (please check out our report on Predictwind) on board of Ambra during our last two Atlantic crossings. As sailors aboard the sailing vessel Ambra, we’ve found the PredictWind and the DataHub to be an invaluable tool for our voyages. This smart device has revolutionized how we access and utilize marine data and communications while at sea. Online connectivity and cost is a very important topic discussed in the sailing community. When you sail in the Baltic Sea or the med and visit a marina every night it might not be a problem for you. You might have European wide roaming on your mobile handset and in most marinas you will be able to find a decent wifi internet connection to check your weather forecast and data. In case you start sailing abroad communication and least cost routing becomes an important and costly topic. In the past we bought a local SIM card in a given country you are visiting and offshore most sailors relied on Iridium Go (in the past SSB) to download news or weather informations. This is very costly and you need to install a firewall to protect the systems from unwanted satellite traffic. We have meet sailors, who lost their entire satellite data subscripton  for a couple of hundert dollars overnight, because a computer downloaded a virus update over the Iridium connection. Now Starlink has become a major game changer for the boating community. Here in the Carribean Sea most of the vessels have Starlink on board. Starlink is a global satellite data service and can be used on and offshore. The data [...]