reChain press kit.

Press release · October 2026

A yacht delivery skipper turns the Garmin inReach into a weather station.

With reChain, a pocket-sized satellite messenger receives full marine weather forecasts, shown on a map, far offshore and with no internet. The service was built by Jean-Charles Levenne, a professional delivery skipper, for his own passages.

Offshore, the weather changes fast, and a GRIB file downloaded three days ago is no longer enough to choose a route. Ways to update it at sea exist, but they are expensive or bulky: an Iridium GO! terminal, or a Starlink antenna that needs mains power. Yet many sailors already carry a Garmin inReach, which runs for weeks on a charge and works anywhere. Its only limit: it carries text messages of 160 characters.

“The problem was never the satellite network, it was the format,” says Jean-Charles Levenne. “Before reChain, I downloaded my GRIB files on the last bar of 4G before losing the coast. After that, no update for days. I had an inReach on board: what was missing was a way to get the weather through it.”

How it works

From the inReach, the sailor sends a weather request in the Saildocs format offshore sailors already know. Ashore, reChain fetches the GRIB file (GFS or ECMWF models: wind, pressure, waves, up to 7 days), compresses it and splits it into 7 to 20 satellite messages. The free reChain Grib app (iOS and Android) then rebuilds the file on the phone, offline, and shows it on a map. The service also works with ZOLEO.

More than weather

reChain also answers the other questions that come up on board, through an assistant connected to the internet: a repair, entry formalities in a new country, the nearest shelter. Ashore, family and friends follow the boat live on a free tracking page that shows the forecast wind around it, and can write to the boat.

A different way to sail

“reChain is not an alternative to Starlink, it is a different philosophy,” explains Jean-Charles Levenne. “Offshore, I want what matters: reliable weather and a link with shore, from a device that fits in a pocket and charges over USB. Being disconnected is part of the voyage too.”

reChain is an independent service built and run by JCskipper, the yacht delivery business of Jean-Charles Levenne. It is not affiliated with Garmin. Messages count toward the user's own Garmin plan. reChain is not a safety service and does not replace an EPIRB, a PLB or a DSC VHF.