Computerized Boating

    

    Phones and tablets have become a huge part of our life and that doesn't stop with boating. When we go on a cruise we each carry a phone and we have 2 iPads on board. My 1st Mate generally brings her laptop to take care of business items as well. When we bought the boat it came with an iPad Pro that the owner used along with an additional iPad as all of his navigation equipment.  While this is fine, I feel that regular "land based" electronics have limitations. The main limitation is the ability to hold up to the tough marine environment. That equates to 2 things. First, the screens on phones and tablets.  The screens can't always handle the heat and direct sunlight. A piece of marine electronics can generally be mounted in an open boat and is designed to handle water, sun & humidity. The internal workings are similar but it's the screens & the "sealed" components. Marine electronics are "sunlight" readable. In other words, when you are in direct sun (which you will be much of the time) you can view the screen. Most phones and tablets cannot. In addition the screens on phones & tablets can turn dark and even overheat when the sun beats down on them, rendering the device useless until it cools down. Phone screens crack when dropped. Everything hits the deck of a boat sooner or later.

    Now where does the phone & tablet really shine?  Communications of course, but still a cellphone is no substitute for a VHF Marine radio.  It is not uncommon to be out of cell phone range. When I worked for TowBoat US we went on a few calls that were initiated by cell phone but the boater had no VHF on board which many times made it difficult to talk to the skipper and gather position data or information about their current condition.  VHF does have it's limits too. It is a "line of sight" type of communication, therefore the higher the antenna is mounted the farther the signal can travel. That is important to know. You can hear that when monitoring the VHF and you hear the one boat talking but you cannot hear the other.  The second is most likely out of your VHF's range.

    Still, the phone and tablet are extremely useful in modern cruising.  There are several apps that I use to plan and pull off any trip.  The most used apps are by far are weather apps.

Predict Wind app is a favorite. It gives you a ton of information showing it relative to your current position. Daily Briefings which summarize the information for sea & wind conditions as well as air temperature & tides. Tables & Graphs show all the information side by side wind & wave predictions in an animated form that shows intensity & direction. Wind Map & Wave Map are animated maps that predict 7 days. Hitting the play button shows how the direction and intensity changes.

My Radar app shows just what the name implies, precipitation radar as well as "land based" weather forecasts.  I plan on the installation of a radar later but the electronic version is very long range.

Marine Weather app is of course an old stand by but I have found that it can be difficult sometimes to decipher the forecasts and doesn't always seem as accurate as it is not updated quite as often.

BoatUS app can be extremely helpful as it also has weather forecasts, marine weather. If you are a member it has your membership info in it & you can "Request a Tow". A feature I really like is the Hurricane Icon in the upper right, it will list the active hurricanes and storms with their respective track info.  It also lists discounts!

Dockwa is an app we have recently started using as many of the marinas require you use it to make a reservation.  You can store your boat information in it & make reservations easily on line.

NEBO is a neat app that we have free access through with the AGLCA (Americas Great Loop Cruiser's Association). It tracks your trips in real time & sends you reports.  It shows other NEBO registered boats and if they are underway or anchored. There is a pay version & a unit you can purchase for your boat that probably does a better job as I have had it "drop out" portions of my trip, but still a neat app.

ANCHOR PRO is also a useful (free) app that alerts you if your anchor drags.  You have that function on your GPS but it's nice to have a back up.

  Tide Data Free is an app I use virtually every day. There are tons of free tide apps.  I especially love being able to check a date and place in the future to see when the best tides are.

The list goes on & on & there is no way to list every app.  The best thing is to try them & see if the work for you.  These are just a few that i use frequently. We use a tablet on our boat not only for email, but also as a 2nd station through Bluetooth connection to our Simrad.  It saved me from having to purchase 2 units.

Please feel free to comment if there is an app you think is helpful, I always love to check them out!