# Weather Module on Simrad



## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Any guys have the weather module on their Simrad (or other chartplotter)? Certainly most skiff runners are within cell service so its not any advantage. But wondering for those of us who routinely run where cell service is usually not available and certainly not enough strength for any kind of data transfer such as radar.

Yesterday I checked all the usual weather forecasts and looked at the radar. All indications were a pretty easy run out and good weather until after lunch. So off we went. Residual swell was more than predicted but not a big deal and forecasts had it laying off even more. Well the weather deteriorated once we were out. Sporadic lightning to the west and north so we just moved further south. Then it just was all around us. The wind layed down and it looked like there was a good sized gap in storm cells that we could run between. Which was almost correct. Half way back it blew up big time and I NEVER want to go through that again.

In hindsight I should have just stayed hunkered down in the marsh and its what I will do in the future. But had I had the weather module and radar I would have been in a much better position to make the right call.

They have a rebate right now for $100 and the monthly service I'd want is $35/month. Peace of mind is great but.....

So anybody using it on their skiffs?


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## dweave3 (Aug 24, 2011)

Ha, good question. I was right there with you. Left from Hopedale thinking we could get some fishing in before the clouds rolled in. WRONG. Ran South West until we found some cover and let it blow by for about 2 hours. Was a rough day! Glad you made it through OK.


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

We were out yesterday too. It chased us out and continued to build. Big winds and lightning, but we didn't see too much rain. Thankfully, we had a place to hunker down. A few other boats showed up too. It turned into a party! We fired up the grill and enjoyed meeting some new faces.

Those random big cells dropping in from the north / east are becoming more common. There's a thread on THT about one dropping down on Cameron, LA one calm morning during the early snapper season last year. The forecast was such that many bay boats ran out 30-50 miles to bottom fish, thinking conditions were perfect for a run. Storm dropped in from the North and there was no getting around it. Many boats went down, thankfully everyone was rescued.

Sirius XM weather is a must. However, if the storm is big enough and fast enough like the one in Cameron, there's no getting around it. To be frank, skiffs (and bay boats) venture to places and have no business being there, but I know I'm preaching to the choir. One of these days it will not go well for the more adventurous types.

I bought the Navico WM-4 last summer and was excited to finally have the capability to track storms. To this day, I have not been able to get it work with my Lowrance Live after spending too many hours talking to someone in customer support who doesn't speak English. They sent me another new unit, and it's the same exact issue. Doesn't connect to my Lowrance. Could be user error I'm sure, but I can not get anyone to help. I'm to the point where I'm considering a second GPS like Simrad or even the dreaded Garmin, in order to have a doppler radar image. My buddies who have Garmin or Simrad haven't had issues getting it set up.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Had that happen to me in Port St Joe a few years back in June. My phone wouldn't load the radar so I had to text my daughter and have her tell me what direction it was moving. All turned out well.


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

I've considered it for years, just haven't pulled the trigger. Our problem in SFL/SWF is no cellular service. So, absent the Sirius weather module, one is dependent on the weather forecast (and we know how accurate those are...how do those people keep their jobs??). Fortunately, I know where the Chickees are located, so I generally have a place to run to when things really get bad and I feel like I can't run around a storm.


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