For the Tech Savvy Boater: Top 10 Boating Apps
The App Store has everything for the tech savvy boater, from navigation, charting, weather reports, down to the boating basics. Don’t forget to bring your smart phone or tablet on board! Here are a few of our favorites to use while out on the water.
1. BlooSee
Take the ocean further…in your pocket! Explore information on anchorages, dive sites, marinas, hazards and so much more. Navigation station with position, speed and course, layer wind forecast on top of maps.
Instant access to 24-Hour assistance on the water, to the world’s largest on the water towing fleet. In the unlikely event that you will need it, the BoatUS Towing App provides GPS coordinates for when you need on the water support. Oh and did we mention? Boatbound comes with free BoatUS towing!
Not just for the novice boater, the Boaters Pocket Reference is a combination of boating information and nautical calculators. Caters to all levels of boating expertise with a wide variety of content including 457 illustrations, photographs and a plethora of charts and graphs.
4. Boat Essentials – USCG Safety Gear
This is the first gear list that takes into account the type of boating you will actually be doing, whether it be the wide open seas or a small lake. This app can be set up to give you just what you need along with items that boating experts have determined are extremely useful.
5. WindGuru
This simple, basic, useful and free app can provide you with worldwide coverage of current wind strength and direction.
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.
7. Float Plan
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.
8. Boat Ramps
A free app from TakeMeFishing.org for trailer boaters. Find the locations of and directions to more than 35,000 boat ramps nationwide.
9. Pro Knot
Don’t know how to tie a bowline? What about a fisherman’s knot? Get step-by-step instructions with large illustrations, on how to tie over 30 different knots.
10. Whale Alert
For all you whale lovers, Whale Alert benefits right whale conservation and the maritime community by depicting active right whale areas. Other features include recommended routes, areas to be avoided and near real-time warnings of the presence of North Atlantic right whales.
Source: BoatBound.co