iPhone Apps

Runaway · Mar 20, 2011

A few that I have found helpful include:

Radarscope which ties into weather radar giving you real time storm tracking information.

Charts and Tides is a nice app to turn your iPhone into a chart plotter. Great if your boat doesn't have one, or as a backup, or if you are sitting at the office dreaming up the next sail and want to see if there's a good anchorage in the area.

Buoydata ties into NOAA buoys near you, or you can save favorites, quick and easy.

Ship Finder relays AIS information. Good to know who might be coming through the shipping lane you're about to cross. It's also just interesting to see where ships are moving to and from.

I've played around with Wind Meter as well, but not sure how accurate it is aside from at the dock with little other ambient noise.

As simple as the electronics on my boat are the iPhone has given me a lot of good information to help navigate. Look forward to hearing what others are using!

heart of gold · Mar 20, 2011

I downloaded the Navionics Marine app, it is very cool and a good backup to a chart plotter and am trying out "Sail Timer".

Capt. Kermie · Mar 20, 2011

gpd955 said:
And if you haven't downloaded the SBO app and can do so, I highly recommend it!!

Well I can't even find anything called SBO using the search function at the app store. I need a translation for what those letters mean.

I do have Navionics, Charts & Tides, Knot Guide, AyeTides, Boaters Reference, Navigation Lights, Nautical Chart Symbols, and ExpertVideos sailing vids.
I'd like to get more, even SBO if I can find out what it is.

Capt. Kermie · Mar 20, 2011

SBO

All this time I have had my iPod and did not know about SBO, I can't believe it! Well I have it now!

emergpa1 · Mar 20, 2011

Capt. Kermie said:
All this time I have had my iPod and did not know about SBO, I can't believe it! Well I have it now!

Well, i have been wanting to post something related to your question since christmas, and this prompted me to do it.
Christmas morning, I unwrapped what i thought was a "geewhiz" gift from my wife...an iPad.Boy was I wrong about the "GeeWhiz part, it is much ,more than that! Much to my surprise I discovered that it puts a new level of power and information at the fingertips of anyone who uses books, magazines such as Good Old Boat, web sites and forums such as what you are on now, or the internet to help further their sailing endevors. Now i know this is not an iphone, but bear with me a second.
The superlative power of this device to manage you data, cannot be overstated. To be more pertinant to our needs, as a tool to manage the information you would like to have at your fingertips it is a transformational device. it is as a power saw to a handsaw, a winch to the old block and tackle and tie-off.
I never go anywhere without it, and here is why: All in the size of a magazine, I can have an entire library at my fingertips, including all the good old boat, don casey, internet search, PDF files, etc, right at my beck an call. and not only that, but just by highlighting a word with my finger, i can search the entire library, or the intenet, with a single touch. The entire published knowledge of the world; written, video, sound bite, or anything else you can imagine, right there. Searchable, archivable, and quickly retriveable. You have to try it to believe it. And....everything that you put onto your pad, is also on your phone. So next time you are sitting in a doctors office, you can browse the entire library of good old boat, the forum, whatever book you happen to be reading, etc.
Also, back to the topic at hand.....one of the handiest apps is GROGS KNOTS...
see pics below
happy sails
keith

CCrane2299 · Mar 20, 2011

'Angry Birds" will waste a considerable amount of time while you should be doing something productive....

jconnor3 · Mar 20, 2011

I loaded InavX and now have all charts in color detail like I could not have imagined. It is simply amazing and the Ipad slips over my pedestal perfectly. I don't even use my plotter any longer. The cost for all charts of the US east which includes Florida where I sail was $49. It is GPS driven and not cell driven. I can drop my cellular support and still have the use of the app. It updates beautifully with changes. Included are various things like anchor alarms etc. All gauges can be displayed as well as weather reports and alerts. I do think that this will revolutionize our needs for charts and portability of all of it to the cockpit. Oh and you must have the 3G for the chip for GPS.

Tim R. · Mar 21, 2011

I like the following apps on my Droid: Navionics(when on OPB), Ship Finder and Pandora.

PHitchcox · Mar 21, 2011

Navionics, Tides, Nav Rules, and Sailboat Discussion Forum (SBO's). Having fun setting up waypoints on Navionics and then sharing via Google Earth.

Bill Roosa · Mar 21, 2011

Hey guys, is there an 8 track app?
Seriously I use my cell phone as an alarm clock when I have do those "over the bar" or "bridge opening" operations or have to leave at some random time in the middle of the night to get there for some reason.
So what do you folks do when (not if BTW) the salt water gets to your info source and you don't have weather, tides, AIS, wind, ....... ? I was always taught to never only have one source of navigational information! With the new (and apparently singular) info phones as a source of nav info we would seem to be going down the road to "it's as reliable as a compass" type thinking. We already see this with GPS.
Is this wise?

serge0227 · Mar 21, 2011

IPads

I too received an IPad for Christmas and am still in awe with all the stuff I can do on it. I have the SBO app and of course I loaded the Navionics App which is a great back-up chart plotter or for planning cruises when at the office. Does anyone know of a good log book, as I would like to do away with paper and keep everythign in one place. I have downloaded a couple but they have not been exactly what I am looking for. Something more simple, more like a ships log where it logs items, whether navigation data or just my blog by date and time. I have tried SailBook (the most promissing but utilized metric measures) Boating Suite and gtgLog which are more suited for the IPhone.

Thanks,

miguelgdelrey · Mar 21, 2011

more apps

wind meter, anchor alarm, sailor, raicing rules, moon phase, tideapp, starmap, windfinder, windguru, sailowners.

FlbkRoxie · Mar 21, 2011

Which is better?

We will be getting an ipad soon and want to download a chart plotter app. Which is better, Navionics or iNavX? Navionics is cheaper, but reviews saw the software has flaws and that the charting is inacurate. INAV is a lot more expensive but has very favorable reviews. Is it worth the extra money?

Paladin27 · Mar 21, 2011

On Android, I like the following:
ZPDashboard Pro as a heads up speed, bearing, time, etc display
Navionics of course for maps
Marine Weather Pro by Bluefin
My Tracks by Google for recording my trips
Weatherbug for detailed weather forecasts
Rainy Days for a great, fast full screen weather radar

ancientmariner · Mar 21, 2011

Paper charts, magnetic compass, VHF radio. Okay, I have a GPS which I use for speed, distance, heading and bearing. I am prepared for it to misbehave/die at any time, and check it regularly against the previous items.

I am waiting for someone to talk about virtual launching into virtual water.

Yes, I am a curmudgeon.

rcaw · Mar 21, 2011

gpd955 said:
Capt., it's the iPhone app version of sailboatowners.com. It is a great app that has come in handy and has seriously decreased my productivity at work.

Search "sailboat discussion forums" and it should be the only thing that comes up. If you have an iPhone and don't have this app, you are really missing out. It is one o the reasons I gave up on my BlackBerry!

Sorry to be so dense here but I still can't find this, should search this site or the app store on apple?

FlbkRoxie · Mar 21, 2011

It is in the app store. Go to it on your phone or use iTunes. It's Sailboat Discussion Forum. Good luck!

David in Sandusky · Mar 21, 2011

Apps and comments

Navionics Great Lakes - we used this as a back-up to our charting GPS, paper charts, and harbor guides this summer on our trip to Mackinaw and back. We saw no inaccuracies compared to our GPS or eyeball, and were checking it often on entry to ports. We are dreaming/planning a trip to New Zealand and Bora Bora next year, and Navionics Australasia gave us good charts that seem to compare well with the raster copies of official charts on the NZ web site. Setting up waypoints or routes was not as easy as using the PC software for the GPS.

AccuWeather was our most used app for its excellent radar picture. We had reception good enough to use it 10 miles out into Lake Huron, and in every anchorage except Baie Fine, and the Benjamins.

Weather Bug gave good independent forecasts to compare with NOAA and the Canadian official forecasts.

Tides. We have it, but not much chance to use it in the Great Lakes. Did use it while chartering from Bristol, RI, to Martha's Vineyard and back summer before last, and it seemed to work well.

Star Walk for the incredible stars far from ambient light.

Compass is a new feature on our 4G iPhone, so we have not yet tried it out.

Kindle for reducing the weight and bulk of books for a 6 week trip.

Maps as another source of satellite pictures, and local roads when ashore.

iWant for local restaurants and other services.

Facebook for letting friends and fmily know what's up.

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