Section 10: Meteorology and Forecasting
The main difference between the day skipper and coastal skipper/ yachtmaster syllabi is in this section of the course. Meteorology takes up a much larger part of the syllabus and we go into the science of weather in much greater detail - how the weather works and why it works in the way that it does
The section comprises the following:
The atmosphere: relation between pressure, density, temperature, humidity and height.
Pressure and wind; high and low pressure systems; world wind and pressure distribution.
Stability and cloud types.
Air masses and fronts.
Meteorology of a frontal depression.
Weather associated with high pressure.
Types of and conditions for the
occurrence of fog.
Wind and waves; the Beaufort scale.
The BBC shipping forecast - times, frequencies etc
Terms used in marine forecasting
Other sources of marine forecast -
internet, coastguard, NAVTEX etc