With everyone having a smartphone and technology constantly evolving, it’s no wonder that there are dozens of great apps for the savvy boater. Check out our list below for some of the best apps to improve every boater’s experience!
One push of a button connects you to the nation’s largest network of on-water towers! BoatUS dispatch will know where you are based on your phone’s GPS locator. Because your profile is stored in the app, our dispatch will also know who you are, what boat you’re most likely on, and whether you have a BoatUS Towing Membership.
Jeppesen Plan2Nav
Jeppesen Marine has developed the ultimate navigation and planning tool for today’s “mobile” society. From passionate, experienced boaters to casual travelers, Plan2Nav helps you receive more enjoyment from your time on the water, everywhere around the world.
Hundreds of pages of boating information on your iPhone,iPod Touch or iPad! The Boater’s Pocket Reference caters to all levels of boating expertise with a wide variety of content including 800 illustrations and photographs and a myriad of charts and graphs. Boater’s Pocket Reference is a popular and useful printed book and the app is even better.
Among several free apps available, one of the best is myLite Flashlight and Strobe. It provides a strong LED beam as well as a variety of lighting effects on the screen. One of those special effects is an SOS signal, just in case you ever need it.
This may be the most downloaded navigation app. It provides access to all Navionics charts plus NOAA raster charts that imitate paper charts. The coolest are add-on modules. Nav Module lets your device be the chart-plotter. Others allow automatic routing based on boat details and setting depth safety parameters. Purchase Navionics Gold or Platinum charts to get SonarCharts to upload your sonar data and automatically update your charts.
Boat Essentials – USCG Safety Gear
Boat Essentials-USCG Safety Gear is a simple checklist app to help you identify the safety items you are required to have onboard your boat and make suggestions on other items that will make your boat safer and more comfortable. Can be used for all powered and non-powered boats operated in the United States and territories waters. This app also contains features to help you maintain your boat, buy supplies for your boat, and to notify you of important dates.
AyeTides provides this important information for nearly 10,000 locations worldwide in tables and interactive graphs. You can check what will be going on today or well into the future. AyeTides also tells you when the sun and moon will rise, and how the moon affects the tides.
For all you Salty Dogs and Surf Dudes, probably the best weather site is now available from your iPhone. Wind, wave and weather data can be accessed for almost 3000 spots around the world, from wherever you are in the world.
Used in conjunction with the website to load charts to your app account, it enables your iPad to function not just as a navigation device but also as one armed with the data professional fishermen use to find fish. From online you can download weather, sea surface temperatures (SST), altimetry, chlorophyll and current to your account for access by the app. Then set your course for the exact spot where currents, sea surface-temperature breaks, chlorophyll concentrations and altimetry changes align to create killer fishing holes.
Easily plan and view routes with this free app. Highly accurate and detailed maps with shaded depth contours and inter-tidal zones. Plan your trips around points of interest, see weather conditions, temperatures, dew points, wind direction/speeds. With the touch of a finger, search through marinas for marine service and find the phone number, hours of operation, and amenities and services available.
An easy add on to your safety gear. The Float Plan app takes a traditional, extremely useful concept into a few quick and easy steps.
Find boat ramps right in the palm of your hand! Our free Boat Ramp app features more than 35,000 boat ramps and marinas across the country to help you find a place to launch or dock your boat.
Images and sources: boatboundblog.com, boatingmag.com, and howstuffworks.com
(image source via proclipusa.com)
Related Articles:
Do you have any other questions about boating without owning or the Carefree Boat Club location?
Let us know via our contact form or on Facebook or Twitter.
#CarefreeBoatClub
