When it comes time for a sailing vacation or even a delivery trip on a friend’s boat, one of the great things about smartphones and tablets is that you can pack a ton of useful apps into a tiny device. Even better, they allow you to effectively bring your own nav system along on a boat whose chart plotter or choice of cartography might prove difficult to use. But calling it good with navigation assistance would be short-selling your phone or tablet. Here’s a look at some apps, broken down by category, that stand ready to help make your next getaway by sail an even better experience.

Accommodations

If you’re a veteran cruiser, you’re likely familiar with ActiveCaptain, which is a Garmin-owned app that connects countless users with information on almost 18,000 marinas, just shy of 13,000 anchorages, and more than 146,000 reviews of different marine-related ­businesses around the world. The free app is compatible with Android and iOS platforms; gives access to points-of-­interest information such as fuel-dock prices or marina reviews, as well as location and contact information; and includes access to the ActiveCaptain Community, which delivers user-written feedback and reviews on water-related businesses and experiences. Community information can be displayed as a layer atop Navionics cartography (another Garmin-owned brand; see below), giving you additional navigation and decision-making information when plying unfamiliar waters.

Scoring a night’s marina berth or dock space can sometimes be tricky. This is where Snag-a-Slip can be a highly valued virtual crewmember. The app is designed to help connect boaters with marinas and privately owned slips in North America and the Caribbean. Users input their particulars such as boat length, beam, draft and preferred dates, and then the app helps filter the options. Payments are done via credit card, and the app, which doesn’t charge a booking fee, guarantees to match a marina’s advertised rates. The app can also put cruisers in direct contact with the owners of private slips. Snag-a-Slip works on both Android and iOS platforms.

Go Fish

Fishbrain is a free app that works on both Android and iOS platforms, allowing anglers to record their catches and (optionally) share their location information. It also features its Species Recognition tool, which helps visiting cruisers ID their prizes. The app includes information on where the fish are biting and what kind of bait is attracting strikes, and its Fishing Forecast employs user data to help you plan your day. Fishbrain purportedly boasts more than 10 million users and features a social side that allows you to connect with other anglers. A paid version of the app—dubbed Fishbrain Pro—includes access to all shared catch locations, private-group conversations, and crowdsourced contour information via C-Map social maps.

Keep in Touch

While not a boating-specific piece of software, WhatsApp allows users to make phone and video calls and send texts using a smartphone’s internet connection rather than local cellular towers. Provided you have a way of accessing a Wi-Fi network, say, at a marina, this can save significant money and eliminates the hassle of dealing with SIM cards. WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption, which ensures that the only people you call or text can hear or read what you’ve sent. This is particularly useful when using unsecured marina hotspots. Additionally, Android and iOS users can send photos, videos and voice memos, as well as documents (up to 100MB in size) using a few screen taps, and the app also supports group messaging (up to 256 users per communication), making it easy to securely keep in touch with family and friends.

Take a Hike

Many sailors, myself ­included, look forward to heading ashore for a hike as soon as the anchor is made fast. AllTrails leverages its community of 20 million users to give you at-a-tap access to more than 100,000 trails, including directions to trailheads, user-­submitted hike reviews, and crowdsourced photos. Hikers can access relevant maps and use their phone’s GPS to avoid getting lost (not that that would ever happen to an intrepid mariner), track their stats, and set filters to find, say, dog- or kid-friendly hikes. Alternatively, adventurers can opt for AllTrails Pro, which allows them to download maps for offline use, receive off-route notifications, and enjoy real-time map overlays.

Long trusted by outdoor enthusiasts (including myself), Gaia GPS turns your Android or Apple phone into a chart plotter for terrestrial adventures. The app is loaded with handy features, including its Discover tab, which helps visiting sailors connect with great nearby hikes. But its best feature is its ability to leverage your phone’s GPS to provide location information atop pre-loaded topographical maps, even when cellular service isn’t available. Hikers can access up-to-date weather forecasts via the app, and they can measure distance, altitude and elevation change with a few simple screen taps. The app offers three membership levels—free, member and premium member—that unlock different levels of downloadable topo and satellite maps.

Stay Well

No one likes to dwell on thoughts of medical emergencies, especially while off sailing, but the reality is that things can, and do, go pear-shaped. First Aid: American Red Cross, which is available for Android and iOS platforms, gives step-by-step instructions for navigating a menu of medical emergencies. The app includes pre-loaded content that can be accessed offline, and—for times when cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity exists—it also includes a handy hospital finder. The app is integrated with 911 services, and it includes informative videos that can help the crew brush up on their first-aid skills, as well as quizzes that help cement this knowledge base.

There’s more help ­available as well. If you or another crewmember falls ill, WebMD can help diagnosis the problem. The app’s Symptom Checker allows sailors to select their ailments and learn about care options, and its Doctor Directory can be a great resource for finding (and making appointments with) doctors and specialists. Users can leverage the app’s Medication Reminders to help them take their daily meds, even when time-zone shifts or vacation brain is at play, and its Drug Interaction Checker helps ensure that users don’t accidentally serve themselves an unsafe cocktail of prescription medications. WebMD works with Android and Apple devices, and it can be a useful source of second opinions if you’re cruising in areas where language barriers exist.

The Great Outdoors

One of the coolest aspects of chartering in new waters is the opportunity to identify unfamiliar birds. The ­trouble, of course, is identifying unknown species. Enter iBird Pro, a paid app that includes a deep database of all birds in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Palau, as well as its Photo Sleuth feature, which leverages the app’s onboard artificial intelligence to match user-­captured bird images with their identities. The app delivers detailed illustrations of each species in its database, and its search engine allows birders to cross-reference characteristics such as their GPS location or a bird’s song type with the app’s database to identify nearby flyers. Moreover, the app also contains more than 4,000 bird songs, and its Birds Around Me feature lists usual suspects using your device’s location information.

Aside from staring at campfires, few activities are more hardwired into the human brain than stargazing. Star Walk 2 delivers a real-time virtual map of the night sky. Android and Apple mobile-device users can just point their phone at the sky, and the app leverages gyroscope and GPS information to match stars, planets, comets and constellations with its real-time map. The paid app’s Visible Tonight and What’s New features keep stargazers appraised of upcoming events in time to enjoy them with friends and family. Users can also leverage the app’s clock-face icon to virtually see the sky at different dates and times (past, present and future), and they can also find—and learn more about—deep-sky objects such as meteor showers. Additionally, the app can be used to learn more about planets, or even to track down the International Space Station.

Among sailors, it’s fair to say that whales rank highest on the list of charismatic megafauna species, even if it’s not always so easy to identify them by a cursory glimpse of a fin or a tail vanishing beneath the brine. WhaleGuide can help by offering detailed descriptions and some 850 photos of 68 species of whales and dolphins; in-app purchases can unlock an additional 560 images and 80-plus video clips. The for-pay app, which is available for Android and Apple platforms, offers descriptions of each species’ behavior, typical diving performances, regional habitats and usual hotspots (across 100 countries), as well as fun facts and figures. WhaleGuide’s Finder feature helps users identify whales using their device’s GPS ­coordinates and a few observed details, and it can also be used as a pre-cruise primer on what one might hope to encounter while sailing.

Map Time

Situational awareness ranks high on C-Map: Boating’s priority list, and the app is designed to give users at-a-glance info about what matters now. The app delivers an uncluttered appearance, and it auto-adjusts its color palette and contrast to ensure that its cartography, which is sourced from official hydrological offices and constantly updated, is readable. The app is free, but users who are cruising outside cellular coverage will want to upgrade to the app’s premium version so that they can download and store charts on their mobile device. The app’s Autorouting feature makes it easy to chart a course to Port B, and its Tracks feature leaves a trail of electronic breadcrumbs astern, making it simple to retrace your voyage. AIS targets (from within a 54-nautical-mile radius) can be overlaid atop chart views, and points of interest and weather information can also be accessed from within the app. Users can personalize their charts with images, notes and their choice of measurement units, and they can share their favorite (or recently discovered) anchorages with friends. It’s available for Android and iOS platforms.

On a personal note, I’ve long trusted Navionics to serve as my personal nav station, both for racing and cruising. The Navionics Boating app is available for Android and Apple devices, and gives mariners access to a wealth of Navionics vector cartography and unadulterated NOAA charts. Creating routes is a matter of tapping the screen and selecting waypoints, and the app’s crosshairs function makes it easy to explore chart features or add points of interest. Users can pair their mobile device with a Wi-Fi-enabled AIS receiver (or a chart plotter that’s networked to an AIS receiver) to overlap AIS targets atop cartography. ActiveCaptain Community information (see above) can also be accessed through the app. The Community Edits feature gives users access to points of interest. The app also provides angling information, such as its SonarChart feature, but it’s the app’s dock-to-dock Autorouting feature that helps remove navigational guesswork. Additional features include access to weather and tide information; Plotter Sync, which wirelessly transfers chart layers, routes, and waypoints between mobile devices and B&G or Raymarine chart plotters; and Connections, which helps you track your boating buddies.

To be clear, the MarineTraffic app isn’t a ­replacement for AIS information or an actual AIS receiver/transceiver, nor should it be relied upon to determine safe crossing distances, but it does provide information on nearby AIS-equipped vessels. Users can track vessels and glean ­insight into their arrival and departure information, and the app’s Access Plus 24 feature (which requires an in-app purchase) lets users look for ships and vessels that are far ­outside their geographic area using satellite AIS information. The app also provides access to some 2.5 million images of ships and points of navigational interest such as lighthouses and harbors, and users can upload their own imagery to this database. Additionally, the app provides wind forecasts and a route-planner function, and its Augmented Reality tool helps sailors identify vessels and points of interest using the ­device’s camera.

Play It Safe

Wise mariners set GPS-based anchor alarms so that they can deal with anchor-dragging hiccups before they devolve into full-blown problems, but this can sometimes be tricky on an unfamiliar chart plotter. Android users can stay a step ahead of the odds with Anchor Watch, which lets a skipper create a GPS-based geofence. Should the boat start to drift beyond the scope of its virtual anchor rode, the app trips a customizable audible alarm on the phone; the app’s professional version can also send email and instant-­message alerts. Likewise, the app will also trip an alarm if the phone loses GPS reception. Two cautionary notes: The phone needs to be placed in an area with strong GPS reception (the app displays its real-time signal strength), and apps that constantly monitor a phone’s GPS location need to be fed a steady diet of DC power, so plan accordingly.

Named simply Coast Guard, the US Coast Guard’s app is one that all mariners should have handy, both for domestic charter trips and for cruising their home waters. The Coast Guard’s app allows Android and Apple users to create float plans; locate NOAA buoys; report navigational hazards, pollution or suspicious behavior; or just brush up on the rules of the road. Sailors can also learn about local boating regulations from state to state, cross-­reference their onboard safety kit with the USCG’s checklist, get weather information from nearby NOAA buoys, and learn more about the safety regulations. The app also allows sailors to ping the USCG for emergency help via its Emergency Assistance button.

Two More Handy Apps

Money might enable overseas travel, but it can also pose headaches when exchange rates and money transfers are required. Xe Currency & Money Transfers can help with both of these issues by letting travelers check current rates of more than 130 currencies and track the transfer of their monies. Users can easily add recipients, and they can also set the app to alert them of currency fluctuations. Additionally, the app provides charts showing 10 years’ worth of rate history, which can be useful when choosing when to convert US dollars.

One good rule of the road for mariners on vacation or simply sailing from here to there involves not paying through the nose for cellular data. This is where WiFi Finder shines. The app, which works on both Android and iOS devices, allows you to research fast Wi-Fi hotspots (both local and global), and its offline functionality allows you to download this information as a map for later use. Users can filter hotspots by venue, such as hotels, cafes, etc., and the app also works in offline mode, which can further diminish your reliance on overseas cellular data.

David Schmidt is CW’s ­electronics editor.

Apps-at-a-Glance

ActiveCaptain: garmin .com; free, with in-app purchases

AllTrails: alltrails.com; free or $30 per year for the professional version

Anchor Watch: peckish-sloth.com; from $6

C-Map: Boating: c-map.com; free, with in-app purchases

First Aid: American Red Cross: redcross.org; free

Fishbrain: fishbrain.com; free, with in-app purchases

Gaia GPS: gaiagps.com; free, with in-app purchases

iBird Pro: ibird.com; $15

MarineTraffic: marinetraffic.com; free, with in-app purchases

Navionics: navionics.com; free, with in-app purchases

Snag-a-Slip: snagaslip.com; free

Star Walk 2: starwalk.space/en; from $3

Coast Guard: uscgboating.org; free

WebMD: webmd.com; free

WhaleGuide: ocean-pix.de; $10

WhatsApp: whatsapp.com; free

WiFi Finder: etrality.com; $5 for three months or $10 per year

Xe Currency & Money Transfers: xe.com; free

The post Smartphone Apps for Sailing appeared first on Cruising World.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone in January 2007, sailors may not have fully appreciated the coming jugger-naut. Thanks to the device’s graphically rich touchscreen interface, cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS receiver, solid-state sensors and onboard storage, smartphones quickly revolutionized navigation. A growing number of apps give navigators access to information that rivals a vessel’s hard-wired instrumentation. Better yet, if you climb aboard a buddy’s boat or head off on a sailing vacation, you can have your go-to e-tools ready in your pocket. Here’s a roundup of today’s best navigation and sailing apps, and a look at their most important features.

When it comes to working with onscreen charts, it’s important to be able to easily create routes and waypoints, and measure ranges and bearings. These tasks are simple with i-Boating: Marine Charts and GPS (for iOS devices) and i-Boating: Marine Navigation Maps & Nautical Charts (Android compatible), created by Bist. Users can choose between “lite” and “professional” versions, the latter of which allows you to download charts for numerous areas; the lite version allows only cartography downloads for a single map quadrant. Once cartography has been imported, users can touch and hold objects on the app’s vector cartography to launch an app-based “object query” to help identify, for example, buoys or lighthouses. I-Boating draws from a library of primarily vector charts that are created by official cartography sources (such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Canadian Hydrographic Office), and backfills any uncovered areas with NOAA raster charts. (A raster chart is essentially a reproduction of a paper chart viewed on a display screen, while a vector chart pulls data from various sources and is compiled electronically.) Route planning is a matter of dragging and dropping the chart, and adding waypoints as needed. Once a route has been created, the app displays the distance and bearing between waypoints, and, critically, the app also supports offline navigation so it continues to allow you to navigate using previously downloaded charts in locations lacking cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.

Long a trusted name in electronic cartography, C-Map created its Embark app to deliver user-friendly navigation with an uncluttered screen view. All displayed cartography is smart, meaning it automatically adjusts its coloring and contrast to enable full readability in daytime, nighttime and full-sun settings. Users can further customize their screen views by selecting between the app’s “classic” view and its more-detailed “contour” view, the latter of which is popular with anglers. Route planning is a matter of tapping the screen, naming routes, and letting the software generate distance information; users can input their anticipated velocity made good, or VMG, and the app automatically estimates how long it will take to sail the route. Finally, Android and iOS users can upgrade to the app’s premium version to receive automatic identification ­system and weather information, and to download and access charts for use offline, the latter of which is especially helpful when cruising outside cellular coverage.

Considered the gold standard for electronic cartography, Navionics recently compressed its suite of apps into a universal Boating Marine and Lakes app, which includes access to the ActiveCaptain Community (sailor-sourced information on a variety topics), and works on all Android and iOS devices. Sailors can enjoy a two-week trial before hitting the app’s subscription paywall, but once signed up, they can access features including Navionics’ Dock-to-Dock Autorouting, which creates bespoke routes based on user-specified conditions and vessel parameters; Community Edits, which provides localized information such as fuel prices; Plotter Sync, which allows B&G and Raymarine customers to update their plotters’ cartography libraries, and exchange waypoints and routes with their mobile devices. Anyone who cruises with a sounder can create high-definition bathymetric data using the app’s Sonarchart Live feature. Additionally, the app features a clever crosshair feature that helps users identify objects, soundings and navigational concerns on its vector cartography.

Historically, NavX Studios’ iNavX app worked only with iOS devices, but this changed with the company’s latest version, which now also runs on Android devices. In all cases, users download the app and high-resolution NOAA raster navigational charts for U.S. waters, and in-app purchases allow users to buy cartography from third-party vendors including Blue Latitude, Explorer and Navionics. In addition to port-A-to-port-B navigation and route planning, users can view GRIB weather overlays, subscribe to Theyr Premium mobile weather, and display real-time NMEA instrumentation data using their mobile device’s Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. The app also works with third-party AIS receivers and transceivers and GPS receivers, and it allows users to create anchor and AIS alarms. Additionally, sailors can measure the bearing and distance between any two points on iNavX’s displayed cartography, and the app allows users to import and export data in KML or GPX formats, both of which are popular for exporting routes and waypoints to third-party viewers such as Google Earth.

When it comes to ­incorporating cutting-edge technologies, Pocket Mariner’s SeaNav US deserves attention for its use of augmented reality. SeaNav US works on iOS platforms, and provides access to proprietary charts online as well as offline, if they’ve been previously downloaded. The charts are derived from NOAA’s official Electronic Navigational Charts, available for all U.S. waters. Setting waypoints and planning routes is straightforward, but it’s the app’s ability to increase users’ situational awareness via augmented reality that’s most interesting. Using the device’s camera, the app delivers a real-time video feed that’s overlaid with informational tags denoting, for example, nearby AIS targets (courtesy of the Boat Beacon app) or aids to navigation. Additionally, users can tap objects, such as a buoy or bridge, in the app’s chart-plotter mode to access higher-level information, or, if the goal is to declutter the screen, they can deactivate graphical layers such as contour lines.

TZ iBoat from TimeZero is available only in the Apple App Store for iPads—not iPhones—but this powerful navigation tool comes from one of the leaders in computer-based navigation software, and gives sailors the ability to navigate on their choice of raster or C-Map vector cartography. Navigators can enhance their chart views by photo-fusing them with high-resolution coastline satellite imagery, and the app allows users to navigate in either 2D or 3D perspectives. In addition to drawing on the iPad’s internal sensors, TZ iBoat can be networked with a vessel’s external GPS and AIS receivers and transceivers to bolster accuracy and display nearby AIS targets atop the displayed cartography. Finally, for sailors who cruise with a Furuno DRS4W wireless radar, the app interfaces with this sensor’s wireless, real-time radar feed, and data can be displayed atop vector cartography.

Safe and Aware

To be clear, Marine Traffic ship positions for Android devices and Marine Traffic–Ship Tracking for Apple devices do not deliver the same level of real-time information as an AIS receiver or transceiver. Instead, these apps deliver updated information from the privately operated MarineTraffic AIS service to users’ smart devices. While this information should not be trusted for navigation, it’s useful for accessing information about nearby AIS-equipped traffic, including each vessel’s name and 16-digit maritime mobile service identity number, which enables direct helm-to-helm communications using digital select calling-enabled VHF radios. Both apps provide global real-time and forecasted wind information, and users can unlock next-level functionality, including an augmented-reality feature that helps identify AIS-equipped vessels.

When it comes to ensuring full compliance with the law while also keeping a protective eye on your surrounding wa-ters, the United States Coast Guard‘s self-titled app bills itself as both a mobile resource and a tool. Android and iOS users can read up on boating laws and regulations in different states, brush up on rules of the road, determine mandatory and recommended safety gear, and even request a vessel safety check from the USCG Auxiliary service. Additionally, sailors can access up-to-date weather information from NOAA weather buoys, file search-and-rescue-friendly float plans, and even report out-of-place aids to navigation, spills or suspicious behavior directly to the USCG. Finally, the app includes a bright-red emergency-assistance feature to request help. However, this isn’t a substitute for an EPIRB, or personal locator beacon.

How’s the Weather?

While sailors of yore likely spent significant parcels of time looking for mare’s tails and other cloud formations to forecast approaching storms, modern sailors are typically better served by consulting a real-time, high-definition Doppler radar feed, such as the one offered by MyRadar NOAA Weather Radar, developed by Aviation Data Systems. This app—which is available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play store—gets its raw data from NOAA and the National Weather Service, and then crunches this information using the company’s proprietary software. Users can explore macro- and micro-level forecasts, and they can opt to display cloud, wind and forecast levels. Sailors choose between free and professional versions of the app, with the latter providing an advertisement-free experience, detailed hurricane tracking, and access to unedited Nexrad Level LL radar information for more than 150 U.S.-based Doppler radar installations, including Alaska, Hawaii and, when it’s available, Puerto Rico.

New Zealand-based PredictWind‘s two products, PredictWind app and PredictWind Offshore app, deliver a huge amount of utility. Coastal cruisers using the PredictWind app get access to weather information from NOAA’s Global Forecast System (GFS) and from the European Union’s European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF); additionally, they can access PredictWind’s proprietary, high-resolution forecast models (PWG and PWE), which are based on GFS and ECMWF data (respectively), using either the device’s cellular or Wi-Fi connection. Alternatively, the PredictWind Offshore app works with satellite or single-sideband connections to deliver compressed data files that can be viewed in its built-in GRIB viewer, as well as satellite imagery. Additionally, these apps can access Predict Wind’s departure-planning and weather-routing tools, and they can also access Global Maritime Distress and Safety System weather forecasts.

David Schmidt is CW’s electronics editor.

A Portable Nav Station

Smartphone GPS receivers and solid-state sensors do an impressive job of dropping location pins onto charts, but sailors can increase their accuracy, situational awareness and safety margins by downloading Garmin’s Earthmate app (and the corresponding NOAA charts), and pairing it with a Garmin inReach Mini satellite communicator. The 3.5-ounce, water-­resistant (IPX7-rated) inReach Mini operates on Iridium’s Short Burst Data network to give users global access to email and SMS communications, and—in the event of an emergency—the ability to contact the privately operated GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center, which operates around the clock. InReach Mini devices share GPS information with paired ­smartphones via a Bluetooth connection. Navigators can plan and track their trips using the Earthmate app, set waypoints, and get critical data including their real-time latitude and longitude, speed over ground and compass information. And, for cruisers who like to take the dink ashore and climb the tallest hill, inReach Mini devices ­generate distance, ­elevation and maximum-speed information.

Vendor Information

• Aviation Data Systems: myradar.com; free, in-app purchases available
• Bist: free, in-app purchases ­available
• C-Map: ­800-424-2627; free, in-app purchases available
• Garmin: 800-800-1020; $380, plus airtime costs
• Pocket Mariner: $20
• PredictWind: ­970-470-8694; free, ­in-app purchases available
• Navionics: free, in-app purchases available
• NavX Studios: $5, in-app purchases ­available
• TimeZero: subscriptions from $40-$120 per year
• United States Coast Guard: free

The post Navigation Apps for Sailing appeared first on Cruising World.

I was raised aboard keelboats, and there was little danger of my parents’ Catalina 27, or later, their C&C 37, flashing their keels at the sun on a breezy day. But our yacht club’s aging Blue Jay fleet was a different proposition. I’ll admit it: I wasn’t particularly fond of windy days when I was a junior sailor and learning the dinghy-sailing ropes aboard these cold-­molded trainers.

Wind likely involved capsizing and swamping, and I can still remember eyeing the deciduous trees along Interstate 95, en route to class, for evidence of scary breeze. While I knew there was no substitute for on-the-water experience, my 10-year-old self would have welcomed an opportunity to improve my skill set without the threat of struggling to right a capsized Blue Jay in Long Island Sound’s questionably clean waters circa 1986.

Fortunately for me, Lasers and big boats soon followed (as did stricter environmental regulations), and I learned to love big-breeze days. But even at the not-so-wise age of 10, I understood why some junior sailors opted for tennis lessons the following summer.

The world has changed significantly in the three decades since, and one important evolution for aspiring and already-­salty sailors alike has been the arrival of increasingly sophisticated sailing software that’s available for smartphones, tablets and PCs. While nothing will ever replace hard-won miles, today’s generation of sailing applications, simulators and learn-to-sail multimedia tools are designed to help smooth out sailing’s learning curves — ideally in conjunction with real-world instruction and practice — when your busy schedule permits, rather than when Mother Nature allows. Here’s a look at the kinds of software-based platforms that are available and the sorts of lessons they can help to teach and reinforce.

As with many multi­media offerings, it’s tricky to find a perfectly shaped category for many of the products. But in general terms, they can be described as games, sailing simulators and technology-based instructional courses.

Given the worldwide popularity of interactive and educational video games, it’s little surprise that multimedia tools such as ­Sailaway have approached sailing instruction with a gamelike environment in which players can improve their knowledge, “race” other players online and even test their newfound navigation skills using real-­world ­weather conditions that the game incorporates through GRIB files that it auto­matically downloads.

“You can learn the basics: tacking, jibing, trimming sails, race tactics and navigation,” says Richard Knol, Sailaway’s developer. “The game uses all the buoys and lights from ­openseamap.org, and in the future, we’ll add navigating by the stars because we made sure the game already displays all the celestial positions in the right place.”

At present, Sailaway, which launched last April, is available for both Windows and Apple’s OS X operating systems, and the UK-based firm is planning a simplified ­mobile app for both Android and iOS platforms. The app will ­allow players to keep watch over their virtual vessel while they’re away from their computer.

“These races or cruises can take days or weeks or months” to complete, says Knol. “The boat will continue to sail while you are offline. You can receive email updates about its progress, but you’ll need to check the real-world weather forecast to set out the optimal route.”

If becoming a more capable overall mariner is your goal, there’s no lack of help on the digital horizon. Some of the offerings include the American Sailing Association’s Sailing Challenge, as well as ColRegs: Nav Lights & Shapes and Top Sailor, all of which are Android- and iOS-friendly.

“By using gamification as an education tool, the person retains much, much more of the content,” said Lenny Shabes, ASA’s founder, speaking in a promotional video on the company’s website. “It’s good for the brain cells because it stimulates them as you’re learning and having fun, and then when your brain calls upon the information, it’s there, just like when the radio plays an old favorite song of yours.”

The distinction between sailing simulators and learn-to-sail apps and software can be a fine line, but typically, simulators are focused on creating a realistic experience for seasoned sailors, and how-to sailing software and apps are more focused on teaching curriculum to newer skippers. While both can serve as teaching platforms, simulators such as North U Sailing Trim Simulator(PC and mobile friendly) or Stentec Software’s Sail Simulator 5 (Windows only) are designed to help ­replicate a performance-­sailing environment.

Some of these apps are designed to help instill valuable background and rules-of-the-road knowledge, while others are designed to hone performance-minded skills. For example, ColRegs: Nav Lights & Shapes is a reference tool that sailors can study prior to stepping aboard, and which provides four areas of curriculum: navigation lights, day shapes, COLREGS (the common term for International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea) and a self-test function that quizzes one’s knowledge of lights and shapes with multiple-­choice questions. Top Sailor takes a step toward the performance-sailing spectrum and graphically simulates onboard sailing situations while also including tutorials for beginners and the ability to race six different artificial-­intelligence skippers that range in skill and experience from greenhorns to racecourse experts; the app also includes variable weather and various navigational challenges.

Once you’ve mastered these lessons, North U Sailing Trim Simulator helps you fine-tune your sail-trimming skills using a virtual J/35 sailboat and data from North Sails Design Suite (the computer-­animated design tool used by North sailmakers to create sails). Users can adjust wind speed and can also change their sail-­trimming vantage points to any place on or off the boat, giving them a ton of viewing angles to determine if their sails are flying efficiently.

Continuing in this same vein, Sail Simulator 5 uses so-called six-degrees-of-­freedom equations to simulate the way a particular vessel responds to the acceleration forces of waves. Users can select a specific vessel, ranging from an Optimist dinghy to a Volvo Open 70, to race against friends and the online community, and the software adjusts the virtual boat’s performance to match its real-world design characteristics.

“The better you understand the physics of sailing and train with your boat, the faster you will be,” says Wouter Kuik, Stentec Software’s director and owner. Sail Simulator 5 can output NMEA instrumentation data to a virtual computer port, which can be configured to talk with third-party PC navigation software such as Rose Point or Nobeltec’s TimeZero, allowing users to create virtual routes and practice navigating to virtual waypoints using their real-world PC navigation software. Technology-based education, such as the curriculum offered by NauticEd, bridges elements of these different multimedia tools while also incorporating an electronic logbook to document real on-the-­water practical experience, with the long-term goal of helping students build yacht-­charter-qualifying resumes.

“We provide an easy access to a 21st-century sailing education,” says Grant Headifen, NauticEd’s founder, who says the program’s goal is to train sailors, new and old, to become confident and competent to whatever level they desire.

Headifen says NauticEd’s algorithm assesses each student’s progress and suggests the steps that should be taken next to advance and grow. It might suggest, for instance, more on-the-water experience, additional instruction or more theory courses. While all the experts are quick to point to the importance of logging as much actual sailing experience as possible, they also acknowledge that some aspects of boating are particularly well-suited to the virtual learning environment. For example, theoretical concepts such as the points of sail, rules of the road or COLREGS, as well as navigation, can all be learned (or reviewed) using either books and traditional media or today’s modern interactive multimedia tools. More advanced concepts, such as optimal sail trim or docking, are significantly easier to digest when user input yields instant onscreen results rather than just a turned page.

“It’s a great choice for learning to sail because you don’t have to be afraid to make mistakes,” says Knol about Sailaway. “You can run the tutorials as often as you like; simply click the ‘Please help me’ button after you’ve run aground or made crash jibes or pulled a line just to see what happens.”

Critically, while sailing simulators can do a good job of teaching concepts, they don’t provide sailors with a tactile sense of boathandling and feel, referred to sometimes as vessel awareness. Nor do they foster a real-world appreciation for the relationship between wind angles, wind speed, sea state and crew comfort and safety. And they don’t instill the proper leadership skills for times when the sky grows dark and people get seasick or scared.

“We don’t think you’re ready to charter with two weekends of instruction,” says Headifen about rote novices. “But after 50 days of sailing, 25 of which you’re master of the vessel, at that point, every yacht-charter company will accept you.”

While my 10-year-old self didn’t appreciate sailing’s broader horizons enough to consider eventual charter trips, I suspect I would have preferred using software that incorporated the real-world weather files to learn about heavy-air sailing rather than battling capsized and waterlogged Blue Jays. Fortunately, my days sailing those beaters were relatively short-lived, and now I love fresh-airs aboard seaworthy boats.

And if I want to relive those capsizing days? Well, there’s probably an app for that.

– – –

David Schmidt is Cruising World’s electronics editor.

The post Log on and Learn to Sail appeared first on Cruising World.

The American Sailing Association (ASA), which offers education and charters through hundreds of global affiliates, has created a pair of mobile apps and a trip-booking website useful to game sought out by enthusiasts regardless of their nautical expertise.

For details, log on to the website, www.asa.com/sailing-challenge-app.

ASA has also released a new version of its Go Sailing app, which connects people interested in sharing the experience. A user-friendly solution for skippers needing crew and sailors wanting to sail, Go Sailing has developed a community of users on the U.S. West Coast and is adding regions regularly.

For details log on to the website www.gosailingapp.com.

Also, Find My Charter is an online service that helps members of the American Sailing Association find captained, crewed, bareboat and flotilla charters in sought after global destinations, including the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. ASA members also receive $100 credit when they book with Find My Charter.

For details, log on to the website www.asa.com/find-my-charter.

The post Broaden your Horizons with ASA appeared first on Cruising World.

Go Sailing has released a nationwide version of its innovative social networking app which connects people interested in sharing the experience of sailing. A simple and user-friendly solution created for skippers needing crew and sailors wanting to sail, Go Sailing (formerly Kroocial) launched in the San Francisco Bay Area in March 2013. Having quickly developed a large community of passionate users in Northern California, Go Sailing was introduced in the Los Angeles area in July 2016 and now offers a much improved version for both iOS and Android to sailors across the country. The app is available to download for free, and no membership is required.

Go Sailing is a free, location-based social networking app that makes sailing accessible to everyone from novices to salty dogs, and promotes a healthy and active lifestyle. In addition to several behind-the-scenes improvements designed to enhance the user experience, the nationwide version of Go Sailing includes three new valuable features:

• A map helps sailors easily discover trips, crew or sailing events both nearby or in another geographic location nationwide;

• In addition to sailing trips, V3 supports sailing-related social events. Whether it’s a sailing seminar or a dock party, sailors can find social events in their local community or in a geographic region they are visiting; and,

• The new Go Sailing app allows sailors to send private messages, letting them easily connect with their friends, or introduce themselves to skippers or other sailors.

Go Sailing is a gift to the sailing world from the American Sailing Association (ASA), America’s sail education authority. “Go Sailing already connects thousands of people who love sailing with a simple tap of their mobile phone,” said Lenny Shabes, ASA’s Chairman of the Board. “Further cementing it as the focal point for the sailing community, we’re looking forward to seeing Go Sailing connect thousands more sailors across the U.S. and, ultimately, millions of people around the world interested in sailing more, attending sailing-related events and making more like-minded friends.”

Existing key features of the Go Sailing app allow users to easily: • Post a sailing trip in order to find crew and make new friends; • Discover sailing trips / events nationwide and join as crew; • Learn to sail by taking an introductory Go Sailing experience; • Communicate with crews, skippers and friends; • Keep track of trips, certifications and more.

For more information, visit www.gosailingapp.com.

About Go Sailing

Go Sailing is a free mobile app presented to the worldwide sailing community by the American Sailing Association as a public service. Developed to make the sport accessible to everyone, Go Sailing removes the barrier to entering the magical world of sailing. Since its inception, Go Sailing quickly developed a large community of users in California, and now aims to connect the millions of sailors around the world looking to do more sailing with skippers everywhere looking for crew, as well as to new friends and sailing-related social events.

The post Charter News: “Go Sailing” Connects Sailors with New App appeared first on Cruising World.

Have you ever wanted to explore the world’s oceans and sail to faraway lands but don’t have the time or the boat to do it? Now you can, without ever leaving your desk! Sailaway Ocean Sailing Simulator will allow you to sail between islands, or around the world.

The simulator offers a world-wide ocean sailing experience, calling on users to raise sails, pull winches and adjust trim while underway on a full scale model of the world’s oceans. Explore new places, or sail in familiar waters and track your progress on the world map, or zoom in close to see small coves and bays, complete with buoys and lights to help navigate safely. Wind, fog, rain and more are all simulated according to real-time weather data provided by NOAA, so check the weather before you head out to know exactly what conditions you’ll be sailing in.

Even novice sailors will be able to learn the basics with the help of the computer to get your boat underway. Don’t want to spend a month crossing an ocean? Set a course and let the computer help navigate while you are offline!

Sailaway will be available for download on November 3rd. For more information check out their website at www.sailaway.world.

The post Explore the Ocean From Home appeared first on Cruising World.

Dockwa, an award-winning mobile app company that has revolutionized the leisure boating and marina industry through a seamless reservation platform, announced today that it has expanded operations internationally. Launched in May of 2015 exclusively in the New England region, Dockwa’s innovative unified booking platform will now connect boaters and marinas in real time from coast to coast. Boaters simply download the app, explore, reserve, and securely pay at one of the 200+ marinas in 16 states and the Bahamas within Dockwa’s growing network, in a matter of minutes.

With the functionality of OpenTable and the sleek design approach of Hotel Tonight, Dockwa is the most convenient way for leisure boaters to book their transient reservations for docks and moorings at a marina, yacht club or shipyard. Dockwa provides a solution to the antiquated booking process that has existed through phone reservations, voicemails and lengthy web forms that have hindered real time communication for boaters as well as operations and revenue potential for marina operators. With Dockwa, Boaters simply download the app, explore, reserve, and securely pay at one of the 200+ marinas in its growing network, in a matter of minutes. Marinas confirm the reservation, collect payment, and deposit the customer’s information into their intelligent database with a single click.

In October of 2015, Dockwa’s innovative platform was recognized by the Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatUS,) via the launch of an exclusive partnership made available to the association’s 500,000 plus members. As an exclusive BoatUS benefit, members using the Dockwa app or choosing to book online at Dockwa.com do not have to pay booking fees when arranging dockage at any of the BoatUS Participating Marinas when a discount is applicable, within the growing Dockwa network. This member perk is in addition to the exclusive BoatUS Participating Marina transient slip discount currently offered to BoatUS members, typically 25%. When signing up for the first time with Dockwa, all BoatUS members have to do is enter their membership number and both discounts are automatically applied to future bookings.

In addition to a boating reservation platform, Dockwa is the only service of its kind to offer a unified booking and marketing platform for marinas. Dockwa allows Marina operators the ability to improve their operations in a number of innovative ways, including; a user-friendly web-based dashboard that lets operators review and confirm reservation requests, customer relationship tools, management capabilities and an easy and secure method for collecting payment. The ability to aggregate and store customer information into an online database also creates opportunity to optimize operations and boost traffic and revenue.

For more information on Dockwa, read our review, or visit the Dockwa website.

The post Dockwa Goes International appeared first on Cruising World.

The Boating Safety Mobile app was not designed to replace a boater’s marine VHF radio, which the Coast Guard strongly recommends all boaters have aboard their vessels. The app was mainly designed to provide additional boating safety resources for mobile device users.

The app is available on the Apple and Google Play online stores.

Features of the app include: state boating information; a safety equipment checklist; free boating safety check requests; navigation rules; float plans; and calling features to report pollution or suspicious activity. When location services are enabled, users can receive the latest weather reports from the closest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather buoys as well as report the location of a hazard on the water.

The app also features an Emergency Assistance button which, with locations services enabled, will call the closest Coast Guard command center.

The app is self-contained, so personal information is stored on the phone and is not sent to the Coast Guard unless the user chooses to send it. The Coast Guard does not track a user’s location, and the app does not track a user’s location unless the app is being used.

The app was developed over a two-year period with BastayaPR, a non-profit organization in Puerto Rico.

For more information on the app, please visit http://www.uscg.mil/mobile or download the app for Android or Iphone.

National Safe Boating Week, which takes place May 16 – 22, is an annual event that encourages all boaters to practice safe boating. For more information on National Safe Boating Week as well as general boating safety information, please visit http://www.safeboatingcampaign.com/ and http://www.safeboatingcouncil.org.

The post U.S. Coast Guard Debuts New App appeared first on Cruising World.

Tacking Battle is available for $1.99 on Google Play and the App Store.

Tacking Battle

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