Some Free Scouting/Planning/Stayin'-Alive Resources

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H2Oz
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 2:21 pm

Some Free Scouting/Planning/Stayin'-Alive Resources

Post by H2Oz »

In no particular order, here are updated links for some pretty cool data, for your bookmarking enjoyment:

Detailed maps for several popular regions of Tampa Bay -- same info/look
as the printed Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay -- and they're PDFs,
so you can zoom, or you can run them off on your home printer:
http://ocean.floridamarine.org/boating_ ... _maps.html

Want a map for the whole Bay Area? These are 2.4MB PDFs (get both sides):
http://ocean.floridamarine.org/boating_ ... ay_Map.pdf
http://ocean.floridamarine.org/boating_ ... y_Text.pdf

NOAA Raster (RNC) are full-color digital images of NOAA paper charts, compatible with most marine navigation software, and are free.
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A reduced-scale NOAA nautical chart for small boaters. Pick your area.
http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/BookletChar ... Charts.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Online Sat Photos that can drill to great detail:
http://ocean.floridamarine.org/boating_ ... ities.html

As above, but fullscreen, basically fullscreen GoogleSat with better detail but less frills:
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/templ ... lebar=true

Want some buoy data for The Tampa Bay Area? Click on a buoy, then look for the
"View Details" link in the pop-up:
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/?lat=27.875413 ... =&ls=false

Water Temperature Tables, Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Current & Historicals)
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/egof.html

Global Sea Surface Temps (in Farenheit!)
http://www.weatherimages.org./data/imag442.html

UniSys Sat Surface Map (& Others)
http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat ... nv=0&t=cur" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;[/url]

NOAA WaveWatch III (Gulf) -- Select a product & animation runtime.
http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/viewer ... ti_1-gmex-

Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts, 1-7 Days
http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/qpf2.shtml

Stream Gauge Conditions for 541 Florida River Locations:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/curre ... p_key=NONE

Real-Time Lightning Zoomable Google Map
(See EXACTLY where they're hitting -- down to street level!)
http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en

Live Lightning for Florida -- Other views on left.
http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/ind ... &page_0=32

Zoomable US Topo -- Click a location for elevation.
http://en-us.topographic-map.com/places ... ates-2241/

Enter *YOUR* ZIPcode, Get Customized Multiple Sources
http://www.my-cast.com/#34434,+FL

EVERYTHING Solunar from the Naval Observatory
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/index.php

Scoutlook 7-Day Detailed -- Set for YOUR Zipcode!
http://www.scoutlookweather.com/weather ... page_num=1

Florida WindMJapper -- Hold over an arrow for hourly breakdowns up to 5 days out.
http://www.windmapper.com/FL/forecast
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fishshooter99
Posts: 121
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:18 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Some Free Scouting/Planning/Stayin'-Alive Resources

Post by fishshooter99 »

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Gary
expatriate Floridian living in the foriegn land of Georgia
Rik
Posts: 14006
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Sarasota
Contact:

Re: Some Free Scouting/Planning/Stayin'-Alive Resources

Post by Rik »

Not that many years ago I had a good buddy who worked for the state of FL in a mapping department of some sort. Knowing that my Dad and I fished Bull and Turtle Bays quite a bit he decided to send us a present. One day a large cardboard tube showed up and inside were several very large aerial photographs of the bay's with instructions to quickly forget where they came from. We felt like we'd received classified top secret information. We studied those photos for hours and even took them with us on occasion, laying them out on the bow casting deck. Of course, we were quick to hide them if the sound of another boat came near. They were hugely valuable in our fishing success.

Now, as shown by the links above, that info is freely available to all and can be viewed by a device in the palm of your hand.
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley
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