Many boaties neglect to check the weather!

17 October 2017

Almost 30 percent of boaties seldom or never check marine weather forecasts before going on the water, and Maritime NZ and MetService want to get that number down.

“Checking the marine forecast is fundamental and simple,” Maritime NZ Director, Keith Manch said. “It doesn’t take much time, and it’s easy to do it before every trip.

“Our research shows that as many as 29 percent of recreational boaties don’t always check the weather. We want all boaties – 100 percent - to take this basic safety step. This will help keep them, and their families and passengers, safe this summer.

“MetService provides excellent, free services about the highs and lows of marine weather,” Mr Manch said.

“Today, MetService marine forecasters have published new, handy tips for recreational boaties on their blog. Check them out.

http://blog.metservice.com/understanding-sea-conditions-from-marine-forecasts

“It’s useful information to help understand waves, sea state and wind speed.”

The new information follows a MetService survey of boaties that found some were unsure what ‘swell’ and ‘sea state’ means for the sea conditions they might face.

Boaties can get marine forecasts and updates on VHF radio, online and from the popular MetService Marine app – 30,000 people already us the app every month.

More information about the MetService Marine and the MarineMate apps is at http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/mobile-apps/

The MetService media release issued today is on the MetService New Zealand Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MetService/
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