The last time I looked on iTunes, there were over 140,000 apps for the iPad. The task of picking my favourite marine app seemed daunting, so I poured myself a large beverage and walked down the dock to ask my boating friends what fun apps they had found. We did not include navigation or tides, as we all agreed that it is hard to beat Navionics! Nor did we include weather, as that will be a blog all of its own. If an app was mentioned by three different boaters, then it made the list; many of these apps provide a free version, although I have included the price for the full version; here goes:
Boating Suite Log Book & Expense Log ($6.99) from Boating Café.com, was designed by boaters for boaters and is like six apps in one. You can manage everything from your fuel log, maintenance log, expense log, log book, to-do list and shopping list. It is an all-in-one app, and you can share your information via email. The Boater’s Toolkit ($1.99) by Poison Development is a one-stop, customizable program designed to make your recreational boating experience much more pleasurable and organized, it includes checklists, shopping lists, a speedometer and boat information. Float Plan ($2.99) by Siegleco, LLC stores the details about your vessel, crew and trip itinerary and then allows you to click a button to email that information to a person of trust.
Ship Shape Boat Lights ($1.99) by Speedwel l eBusiness Solutions Pty Ltd. is the first in a series of boating safety and education apps that help you learn to recognize nautical light signals in night and fog conditions. The Captain’s Toolbox ($4.99) by Expedition Research LLC is a great boat and seapersonship resource, including COLREGS, lights and shapes, chart symbols and flags. Navigation Rules ($3.99) by Double Dog Studios contains a complete copy of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGS). Nautical Flags ($0.99) by Pub 9 Nautical is well worth the price and contains the answers to any questions you have about flags, including a listing of the phonetic alphabet, the Morse code alphabet and flashcards to review and learn. Nautical Terms – Sailing, Boating and Marine Glossary ($0.99) is the perfect pocket reference for all things nautical. Boater’s Pocket Reference ($4.99) caters to all levels of boating expertise and is based on a very popular and useful printed book.
Ship Finder ($4.99) by Pinkfroot Limited is the original and most highly-rated ship tracking app. Ship Finder provides near real-time “virtual radar” AIS maps. It’s great if you simply want to know what boats are out there or want to see where your friends and family are. Features include ship routes, vessel name and information, MMSI, heading and photographs.
Now let’s talk about anchoring. Just remember that with these apps, the GPS and CPU will both continue to be active; they recommend that if you run these apps for an extended period, you plug it into a charger or computer so that your iPad’s battery will not discharge. Anchor Alarm ($7.99) by ChrisParsons is an easy to used app that lets you set and monitor your position relative to an anchor point. If your current position changes such that you are farther away from the anchor point than the distance you set in preferences, Anchor Alarm will sound an alarm. The app includes a setting that will keep your iPad awake so that the GPS will continue to have good position data. It also features a dark-coloured user interface so that if it wakes you up in the middle of the night, the dark-coloured interface won’t ruin your night vision – how smart is that?! Boat Monitor Remote ($4.99) by Boat Monitor allows you to track your boat’s position from anywhere when you leave it anchored or at the dock! You can also view your boat’s position on a satellite map of the moorage that also shows your anchor position and swing radius, and you can receive alerts if your boat drifts outside the safe zone. The company allows you to try before you buy at http://boatmonitor.com.
Those are my app choices for today, and yes, I did have to go back to my boat to refill my beverage…twice.
Happy Apps!
