Hurricane Season Cruising

Created by webmaster. Last modified on 2002-08-19 00:50:48
Contributors: Nick & Carolyn Wardle
Countries: Bahamas

Question:

Any advice for someone chartering in the Bahamas in July? We only have VHF on board, and are concerned about the hurricane season.

Answer:

There are several VHF nets in different parts of The Bahamas and generally someone has the weather. If any storm should be coming our way, of course, the local AM radio, ZNS on 1540 KHz reaches out to all islands and will have all the warnings you need. It's also relatively cheap to buy a short wave receiver to listen in to the SSB and Ham radio nets, the criterion being to be able to change from Upper to Lower Sideband in a definite way (switch).

Our weather nets are as follows: 0700, freq 4003 KHz USB (marine freq); 0715, VHF 16/72 in Nassau area; 0720, 7096 or 3696 KHz LSB ham bands, (alternative freqs depending on radio conditions); 0745, 7268 KHz LSB (Waterway Radio & Cruising Club net). There are other VHF nets locally.

Nick and Carolyn Wardle