‘If you are a professional sailor, you’ll have a lot of instruments in addition to apps at your fingertips. However, if you are a leisure boater and want to enjoy a spot of yachting, there are few apps that you might find particularly helpful,’ says Natalya, an experienced sailor who loves combining her passion for all things tech-related with life on deck. ‘Apps can help you learn so you no longer have to feel like an amateur. In fact, when my husband and I founded Boataffair, we were always discussing the different apps and websites that could help our customers.’ We set Natalya the task of selecting five apps for life on the high seas. This is what she chose.
Marine Traffic
The Marine Traffic app is as fun as it is useful. It tracks ships and yachts around the world. Cruising the French Rivera and wondering if there are any famous mega yachts around? Simply go into the live option and have a look who is in the ‘neighbourhood’! Tapping a ship's icon shows its name and speed; tapping again brings up data about the ship (size, speed, type, destination, etc.) Another cool function is self-submission: all you need is a device with connectivity and GPS function and you can submit your own details and see your boat on the map.
MyRadar Weather Radar by Aviation Data Systems
Weather conditions are essential to boating. When you’re cruising around and suddenly see the wind change, do you continue or go back to the marina? The MyRadar Weather Radar app is a highly accurate, free app, which has been downloaded 17 million times and has a 5-star rating in the App Store. It can show you real time winds, temperature shading and if you enable NWS Warning, it will push out alerts of dangerous weather.
Knot Guide
I love watching how other boaters in marinas moor their boats with different knots. It seems so effortless. My knowledge was limited to two simple knots until I discovered the Knot Guide app: it features over 100 different knots with easy-to-use steps illustrated steps. I now enjoy impressing people with my range of knots.
Harba App
The Harba app makes your sailing trip much easier. It offers an easy overview of the harbours and marinas in Europe and allows you to easily reserve berths or mooring in advance, as well as pay marina fees once you dock. It means you can be more spontaneous and check quickly whether a certain marina or port will have a berth for you to dock. Boataffair partners with Harba App and our clients love it.
PackPoint Travel Packing List
This is a real gem of an app and a huge time saver. The PackPoint Travel Packing List App allows you to set where are you going and whether you’re travelling for leisure or business. Then it helps you organise a list of things you’ll need to pack. I love the weather feature; the app will suggest the weather conditions for your trip and help you pack accordingly. This makes it getting ready for your boating trip easy and fun, especially if you’re going on a longer sailing holiday and not just a day out on a boat.
May 2018