Terms of Service
Last updated: November 2, 2026
These terms govern use of this PassageBuoys deployment, operated by the individual publishing this website (the “operator”). The operator is an individual. Use is subject to these terms to the extent permitted by applicable law. If you do not agree, discontinue use. The Weather Disclaimer is part of these terms.
1. Informational purpose
PassageBuoys is an independent informational marine weather visualization tool. It is not a navigation system, official marine warning service, emergency service, or substitute for appropriate marine weather and navigational resources. It does not determine whether to depart, what track to steer, or whether conditions are suitable for a vessel or crew.
The vessel’s operator, master, and crew remain responsible for navigation, seamanship, preparation, equipment, weather interpretation, and operational decisions. Consult official NOAA forecasts and marine warnings, current navigation charts, notices to mariners, local harbor or bar guidance, and the conditions you observe.
2. Weather, data, and visualization limitations
Weather data and forecasts may be inaccurate, delayed, incomplete, unavailable, or outdated. Source issue times, valid times, observation times, and retrieval times describe different things. Cached or previously retrieved information may remain visible with its available timing and status information. Station reports do not establish conditions everywhere along a journey, and a successful download does not verify a product’s currency or accuracy.
Application-generated summaries, descriptive sea-state interpretations, trends, and comparisons are transformations of source data. They are not official NOAA advice, forecasts, or warnings. Historical changes are not extrapolated into future conditions. Tidal-current predictions apply to identified stations and bins and are not live measurements or a current field between sites.
3. Reference lines and location displays
The app automatically calculates illustrative reference geometry to help organize weather observations near selected locations. Reference lines are not recommended navigation tracks and must not be used as a track to steer. The coastline dataset and calculation do not establish depth, under-keel or bridge clearance, absence of rocks or other hazards, channel access, compliance with restrictions, or avoidance of traffic. Narrow channels and small coastal features can be absent or inaccurate. Displayed harbor approaches are exempt from the selected offshore cruise offset.
GPS and projected reference-leg displays can be inaccurate, delayed, interrupted, or unavailable. They do not establish a vessel’s reliable position or monitor hazards, and the service does not undertake continuous weather, vessel, or emergency monitoring. Appropriate navigation instruments, communications, and independent verification remain necessary.
4. Acknowledgment and assumption of risk
Marine activity, including recreational sailing and offshore travel, carries risks of serious injury, death, property damage, and other loss. You acknowledge these inherent risks and the information limits described here. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you accept responsibility for your use of the service and your own marine decisions. This does not require you to waive rights or claims that applicable law does not permit to be waived.
The first-use acknowledgment communicates the service’s informational role and user responsibilities. It is not a representation that a checkbox, notice, or these terms eliminate liability.
5. Reasonable use and third-party materials
Use the service lawfully. Do not interfere with operation, attempt unauthorized access, bypass access controls, introduce malicious content, or overload this deployment or its data providers with automated requests.
Public and third-party data, imagery, maps, hosting, and software have their own applicable terms, licenses, and notices. Preserve source attribution and do not imply NOAA or other provider endorsement. These terms do not take away existing rights in public-domain data or grant rights to third-party material beyond its applicable permissions.
6. Availability and changes
The operator may change or discontinue features or availability. There is no promise of continuous access, offline availability, compatibility with every device, or detection of service outages before a user sees them. Revisions to these terms are posted here with an updated date; material changes may also be identified in the service. Applicable law governs whether and how changed terms apply.
7. Warranty disclaimer and limits of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the service is provided “as is” and “as available.” The operator and contributors disclaim warranties of accuracy, completeness, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and navigational suitability, whether express or implied.
To that same lawful extent, the operator and contributors are not responsible for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive losses arising from use of or inability to use the service, data errors or delays, service interruptions, or reliance on its displays. Any other exclusion or limitation applies only to the extent allowed by applicable law.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability, consumer protections, statutory remedies, or other rights that applicable law prohibits excluding or limiting. These provisions do not promise that liability has been eliminated.
8. Governing law and disputes
To the extent permitted by applicable law, these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Nevada, United States, without applying conflict-of-laws rules that would select another jurisdiction’s law. Applicable federal law and mandatory rights or protections that apply to you remain in force.
You may contact the operator to seek an informal resolution. Doing so is voluntary and does not replace legal rights, deadlines, or remedies. Where a contractual forum provision is permitted, disputes concerning these terms or the service may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in Nevada. This provision does not override a mandatory right to bring a claim elsewhere or a court’s jurisdictional requirements.
9. Privacy, severability, and contact
The Privacy Policy describes the service’s data handling. If a provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to the extent permitted by law; no provision should be interpreted to remove a nonwaivable right. Contact the individual site operator at andrewcarlisle95@icloud.com for service or privacy questions. Do not send passwords, authentication codes, or unnecessary precise location data.