Kayak Window

How to read the forecast

Tap a spot in Kayak Window and you get one block for every day. Each block has three parts. Here's what every line and number means.

The big word: GO, LIKELY, WATCH, NO GO

WordWhat it means
GOInside all your settings, within the next 3 days.
LIKELYInside all your settings, 4 to 7 days out. Could still change.
WATCHInside your settings, 8 or more days out. An early look only.
NO GOSomething is outside your settings.

If the four weather models disagree, the app drops one step: GO becomes LIKELY, LIKELY becomes WATCH. In the app, tap "What does ... mean?" under the ring to see this.

1. The day's top line: sky and water

The top line of each day: date, moon, sunrise to sunset, and tide times Tue 20 Oct moon 64% sun 06:25–19:20 ↑ High 09:41 ↓ Low 15:52 ↑ High 22:05 1. DaylightSun comes up,sun goes down 2. Tide timesUp arrow = water at itshighest. Down = lowest 3. The moonHow much of the moon islit. Full and new moongive bigger tides Each day has 2 highs and 2 lows, about 6 hours apart

2. The wind picture: the most important part

Think of it as a hill of wind through the day. The higher the line, the stronger the wind.

The wind chart: wind line, gusts, your max limit, fishing window and wind arrows 01020 06:0012:0018:00 Times across the bottom Arrows on topWhere the wind blows to Light blue cloudGusts, the strongest puffs Orange dashesYour max wind limit Red lineToo windy for you Green lineWind is fine for you Numbers on leftWind speed (knotsor km/h) Orange shaded boxYour fishing window: go then Morning calm, wind builds after lunch: go early, back before the red
The arrows point to where the wind is blowing towards. If they point out to sea, the wind pushes you away from the beach (offshore wind). Stay close in.

3. The window card, or why there's no window

A fishing window card with each number labelled, and a no-window line Tue 20 Oct06:00–11:00 Good bet Wind from SE8 kn Gusts12 kn Swell1.1 m · 11s Pressure1018 ↑ High tide 09:41 4 weather models agree (within 3 kn) Offshore wind warning shows here if any When to goStart and end time How sureGood bet, likely or watch Swell 1.1 m · 11sWave height, and secondsbetween waves (more = gentler) PressureAir weight. Falling fast= weather coming No window: Swell 2.0–2.5 m, over your 1.9 m (11 of 13 hours) The biggest reason the day doesn't work for you Card = a good time to go. Dashed line = no good time, and why. Tap the wind picture for "Hour by hour": every number for every hour

4. The lines under a window card

5. The weather models chart and the fish on the tide

By default the app uses the strongest of the four models for each hour, the safe choice for a kayak. You can switch to the average in Settings > Display. The arrows in the wind picture and the hour-by-hour grid now carry the direction letters (S, SW, WNW...) for where the wind blows from.

Tap a day. Under the hour-by-hour grid, a chart draws the wind from ECMWF (Europe), GFS (USA), ICON (Germany) and UKMO (UK), with your limit as the dashed orange line. When the four lines sit together, the forecast is solid. When they fan out, it could go either way.

On the tide chart, little fish mark fish activity from the moon: a big fish is a best feeding time, a small one is the next best. It's a nudge, not a promise: wind, water and bait matter more.

Read a day in 10 seconds

  1. Is there a card? Yes = there's a time to go, and it says when. Only a "No window" line = it tells you why not.
  2. Green or red line? Green = fine for you. Red = too windy. Be back on the beach before the red.
  3. The light blue cloud is the gusts. If it reaches well above the orange dashes, expect strong puffs even when the line looks fine.
  4. Arrows pointing out to sea? Offshore wind. It pushes you away from the launch, so stay close in.
  5. A "way back" line? The wind turns against you on the way home. Be back before the time it shows.
A forecast is a guide, not a guarantee. Check conditions at the launch, tell someone your plan and always wear your PFD.