4 apps to make boating better
The rise of the smartphone has done wonders for boaters - it's mind boggling how many apps there are available to make your time on the water that little bit better. Here are four of our favourites.
Anchor Watch
With Anchor Watch, you'll be able to sleep easier than ever when anchored overnight.
Anchor watch is one of those apps that makes you think "why has no one ever thought of this before!" Its function is simple - to alert you when your boat moves too far from its anchored position.
It uses your device's GPS connection to monitor where you're boat is sitting on the water. If it moves outside of the pre-approved zone you set when you drop anchor, an alarm on your phone will go off. You can even set it up to automatically call a designated number, so if there are multiple people on board they can all be alerted. With Anchor Watch, you'll be able to sleep easier than ever when anchored overnight.
Marine Rescue NSW
For a safe boating trip, it's always a good idea to let someone know where you're going and when you expect to be back. With the Marine Rescue NSW app, that's exactly what you can do.
Marine Rescue NSW is the official volunteer rescue service in the state, and their app allows you to register your trip details with them, including a picture of your boat, the number of people on board, the expected hours on water and the planned location. You can even turn on a safety feature that records your location every 30 minutes. If you don't sign out at the end of your trip, the rescue services will know exactly how to find you.
Boating Australia & NZ
If you've not yet invested in a GPS chartplotter, using an app like Boating Australia & NZ can be a good substitute. The Boating Australia & NZ app features maps from Navionics, one of the leaders in the mapping space, with their maps found in a wide variety of chartplotters.
The app allows you to track your favourite routes, post waypoints, view map updates from community members and more. Dock-to-doc autorouting creates routes between docks in a flash while advanced live navigation features allow you to see an ETA to your destination, the distance to arrival, fuel consumption and more. It really is the app of all apps for boaters after a navigation solution.
VesselView Mobile
If you have a Mercury Marine SmartCraft engine on your boat, the VesselView app is a must have. It allows you to view live engine data like RPM, battery voltage, engine temperature, oil temperature and more. If a fault occurs, the app will give you detailed information about what's gone wrong but it also notifies you of scheduled maintenance dates to reduce the chance of that happening.
The full suite of features requires an add-on to your engine, the Bluetooth VesselView Mobile module. If you don't have the module you can still use the speedometer tool, a points-of-interest map and other useful features.
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