iLog Sailing Companion

Application: iPad 5.1 or greater
Function: Ship documentation, log and lists
Cost: $9.99
Rating: ****


Lists, lists, lists.  I think I am an organized person most of the time and I love to make lists.  Maybe it is the engineer in me that needs to keep things orderly. I started out using the sticky Post It notes and then I graduated to yellow legal pads to make my lists  These lists contain the many projects I had to complete on the boat. I have thought of making a database or some elaborate spreadsheet to keep track of everything.  There has to be a better way!

As many of you yacht owners know, there are many things to keep track of and document on your vessel.  While your out cruising you will want to keep a log of your travels not only for fun but also for insurance purposes.  There is a ton of regular maintenance that needs to be done on your yacht. How are you going to keep track of what needs to be done and when?  How do you keep track of all the spare parts and tools needed to maintain your yacht?  How do you keep track of all the specifications and equipment on your yacht?  How do plan and keep track of your yachts provisioning needs?

As you can see, there is alot to keep track of, and you thought this cruising life was going to be all beach bars, jump ups and island drinks.  Think again swab!

Luckily, the folks at EastCoast Marine have developed the iLog Sailing Companion app to handle all of these tasks and lists for you.

Features:

• Create, edit and save ships log entries
• Date, time, location, SOG, COG, engine hours, wind, weather, pressure, sails and maps
• Save Trips by date
• Schedule, track and save history of yacht maintenance
• Create user defined checklists and task
• Schedule task by time
• Record lists and location of spares, tools and equipment
• Provisioning planning
• Create Maintenance tasks
• Maintenance log
• Specifications including vessel, nav/comm, sails, rigging, engine, length, beam, make and model
• iCloud support
• Day and night mode

The main splash screen allows you to select the function that you want to perform. You can select from Log, Checklist & To Do Lists, Inventory, Tools & Spares, Specifications and Maintenance pages.

The Log section is nicely laid out and allows the recording of pertinent data you will need to document your trip.

Trip details and log entries include date, time, speed, GPS location, course, engine hours, wind, weather, pressure and sail details.

Buttons at the top of the app are very intuitive and allow for creation of new entries, editing the log, ending your trip or starting a new one. The Map button shows you a geographical view of all your trips.

Handy roller dials and drop down menus are used to easily select the desired data in each log entry.

A comments section would be nice here to write additional observations not covered in the other sections.

The perpetual log for all your individual trips is kept on the device and can be backed up.


The Checklist page allows the captain to create his own custom check lists.  List can include Engine start, Oil change, Diesel bleeding, Safety briefing and Winterizing to name a few.

Numerous checklists can be created with their own unique list of tasks.  The tasks can be used over and over again.  Check boxes allow you to mark off the items on the list as they are completed.

To Do Lists can be created to remind you of tasks that need to be completed on your boat. Throw away those sticky notes and record all these item in the To Do List section.

Inventory Tools and Spares allows you to create a list of the needed spare equipment that your have on the boat. This inventory list will help you manage what spares you have and where they are stored on your yacht.

A complete list of your yachts Specifications can be recorded in the app for reference. The extensive Vessel list includes builder, designer, model, LOA, beam, draft, displacement, etc.

The General section included fuel, water, solar, wind, fridge, hot water and bilge pump ratings, capacities and quantities.

A Nav/Comm sections covers, HF SSB, VHF, chartplotter, instruments, autopilot, radar and other navigation equipment.

The Rigging section lists the halyard lengths and types.

The last section is to help in performing Maintenance tasks.  This section allows the captain to set up, track and manage all the regular maintenance required for the yacht's engine and other systems. Tasks can be set up at defined or reoccurring intervals. The parts and tools for the job can also be listed for reference. A complete history of all your maintenance is saved for reference.

As you can see, keeping track of all this information, equipment, tasks and maintenance that needs to be performed on a yacht is a big job.  This app simplifies these tasks and keeps you organized at the same time. 

What are you using as a yacht management system? Do you use an app like this or have you developed your own spreadsheets?

~~~Sail On~~~ /)
Mark

YachtWorld App - Find Your Next Yacht

Application: iPad
Function: Yachts for Sale, Yacht Brokerage
Cost: Free
Rating: *****


What is the perfect boat for you? Are you looking for a runabout to pull the kids on the weekend, a cabin cruiser to do the Great Loop, a day sailor to race at the local yacht club or a world class cruiser to carry you around the world?  In the past I have taken to the Internet in attemps to find my future cruising yacht. I have pursued the many yachts on Boats.com, YachtWorld, BoatTrader, BoatQuest and iBoats. All of them work pretty much the same and many have the same boats listed on them.

The YachWorld app is fairly new on the market and it is now easier than ever to locate the yacht of your dreams.

Features:

• Add boats to your favorites
• 12 different categories of yachts
• Advanced search features
• Search by Keywords
• Save your search criteria
• View your most recent searches
• Editorial Showcase
• View images in full landscape mode
• Email a listing to a friend
• Contact the Broker
• Share a listing to Facebook

The YachtWorld app's main screen has several soft keys across the bottom to assist you in searching and saving your search criteria.

 

The Search screen allows you to enter your search criteria to find your perfect yacht. The Saved button lists your saved search criteria.  Recent displays a list of the most recent listings that you have viewed.  Favorites is a list of yachts that you have marked with the Star as your favorites.  Searches are saved with the Save Search button on the top right of the display.  The search criteria can be cleared with the Reset button.

You can start your search criteria by simply typing the make or model into the search bar. To refine your search, start selecting the search options of New, Used, Power or Sail, Type, Year, Dollar Range, Boat Length and Location for your search. Each of these have easy drop downs for selecting a range for the values.

You will want to check out the Editorial Showcase.   This is a list of elite world class yachts that are truly among the worlds best. You will want to spend some time checking these out even if they might be out of your price range. I know they are way out of my league.

This is definitely a must have download. If your anything like me, once you buy a boat your already looking for the next one.  I find myself spending hours looking at boats. Is this some kind of sickness? If it is, I don't want the cure. I enjoy it too much and I hope you do to.

~~~Sail On ~~~ /)
Mark

Apple iBooks for your Boating Manuals

Application: iPad, iPhone
Function: eBooks, PDF reader
Cost: Free
Rating: ****


Boats these days come with alot of complex equipment on board to help us get to where we are going.  The bigger the boat, the more equipment we usually think we need.  All this equipment needs to be set up, maintained and repaired.  That is why we all have an onboard library of instruction and parts manuals for this equipment. 

It is the sheer bulk of these manuals that is the real problem. Most of us probably have multiple binders chocked full of instructions, installation and parts manuals.  There are manuals for the diesel engine, transmission, generator, GPS, chart plotter, solar charger, hydraulics, autopilot, instruments, electrical panels, inverter, VHF, TV, CD player, SSB, computer, WiFi, cameras and assorted other electrical gadgets. 

There happens to be an app that you can utilize to help manage all of this information.  The Apple iBooks app will allow you to not only download great books to read on your travels but it will also allow you to save and organize all these instruction manuals in a searchable PDF file format.  Collecting your manuals in PDF format is not only easy but it will save you a ton of space and weight on your yacht.

Downloading PDF from the Internet

Most manufacturers have their instructions manuals in PDF format. Search the web for your manuals and download them onto your iPad or iPhone. Once it shows up on the screen tap it to show the Open in iBooks and Open In options on the top right of the screen.  Select the Open in iBooks option to send a copy to iBooks. All imported PDF files go in to the PDF collection. You can then select Edit in iBooks to move it to the collection of your choice.

User Interface

The main screen of the iBooks app includes the library of your downloaded e-books from the iBook store and downloaded PDF files. The two buttons on the top left allow you to access the Apple iBook Store and lists your Collection of books and PDFs.

 



Adding  and Editing Collections

Tapping the Collections button brings up the list of your books and PDFs. To create a new collection tap on the New button in the bottom of the pop up. Tap the Edit button to change the text, rearrange or delete a collection.  Here I have created collections for Engine/ Mechanical, Camera, Computer, Electrical and GPS/Com manuals. The two format buttons are shown on the top right side of the screen. The collections can be viewed in bookshelf or tabular formats.

Moving or Deleting Collections

The collections can be edited if you want to change the name or move them to another collection. Tap the Edit button on the top right of the screen. In the Edit mode select the PDF with the radio buttons on the left then select Move or Delete. In the Edit mode you can also change and edit the name of the PDF file by tapping on the appropriate line.

PDF Viewing Options

Pages of the PDF can be listed in a thumbnail view allowing you to easily select the page you want. Pages can also be bookmarked to quickly bring up a list of only the bookmarked pages by tapping the bookmark icon on the upper right of the screen.

Importing PDFs with the DropBox App

Apple does not have a good way to handle files on the iPhone and iPad.  I use the Dropbox app to keep my files and manuals up to date and synched. You can use the app on your iPad or iPhone and the Dropbox client program on your PC or MAC. You will have to create an account at Dropbox to use the app. This will give you 2 GB of online storage that you can synch with all your devices.

Files that are added to your Dropbox on your PC are immediately available on your Dropbox app on your mobile devices.

In the Dropbox app select a file from the menu on the left to download to your iPad.

 

Once the file is downloaded select the Download icon in the top right menu. Tap the Open in iBooks selection to download it into iBooks. The downloaded PDF will now show up in the iBooks app.

 

 

 

Exporting Files to Dropbox

 

Dropbox makes it easy to export picture, movies or screenshots from your iPad's Camera Roll.  Select the Files menu from the top left of the screen. Next select the + icon to open the Camera Roll.  Select the photo or movie and hit the Upload button.  The file will now be available to all your other devices in using Dropbox.

 



 

The iBooks and Dropbox apps are very easy to use.  Once you get all the PDF manuals downloaded you can leave your many pounds of bulky binders at home the next time you head out. This may take some getting use to, but it makes alot of sense.  I know some of you just like to feel the paper in your hands and will want to keep your binders.  Many of you have already become comfortable reading digital media with your Kindles and iPads, so it should not be a big stretch.

The best part of this whole process is that you will have freed up alot of space on your boat.  There should be room for at least a couple more cases of soda, beer, wine or alternate beverages.  Take the leap, go digital!


~~~Sail On~~~ /)
Mark

Whale Alert - Ship Strike Reduction of Right Whales

Application: iPad, iPhone
Function: Whale Traffic Avoidance
Cost: Free
Rating: ****

The ocean is a big place but you might be surprised at the amount of ocean going traffic of big commercial ships, ferry boats, cruise ships and pleasure boats in some areas.  One thing we have to be mindful of is that we are not alone at sea. We share this marvelous eco-system with the ocean's creatures, in particular Whales.

The Northern Right Whale is the most endangered of the large whale species. It is thought that only several hundred are still in existence. There are several species of the right whale and all are identified by large heads which can make up to one-third of their total body length. The northern right whales lives in temperate Atlantic or Pacific waters, often near the coast.  Many live and migrate along the eastern Atlantic coast of the United States.  To keep this leviathan safe and multiplying, an effort was started to help preserve this species.

The Whale Alert app uses a cutting edge real time detection systems located on buoys to sense the vocal calls of right whales. This app notifies mariners of whale traffic and to use the Traffic Separation Scheme in the shipping lanes leading through the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and to and from Boston Harbor.

Features:

• NOAA Charts
• Whale Alerts
• Right Whale listening buoys
• Dynamic Management areas
• Areas to be avoided
• AIS or Internet connection
• Seasonal Management Areas
• Mandatory Ship Reporting Areas
• Event log

Anyone with an AIS receiver can receive these alerts.  The transmitted AIS message can also be displayed by the app. The app will then change the color of the buoy where the call was recorded to Yellow alerting you to whale traffic in that area.  Ship operators should then slow down to 10 knots and watch for right whale traffic in that area.  The buoy will remain in the Yellow alert status for 24 hours if there are no other confirmed detections. NOAA Whale Alert site has more information on the right whale and more details about the Ship Avoidance program.

How the system works:

 

The whale warning system is a collaboration between the Cornell University, USCG and NOAA. Special sound detecting buoys have been placed in known whale breeding grounds to listen for the whale calls. The app shows areas in green in the Whale Alert app on the main chart. This indicates that right whale calls have been received within a five-mile radius of this area. 

The calls are recorded and then passed via satellite to Cornell University’s Bio-acoustics Research gurus. These guys then verify that it is indeed a right whale call. 

The technicians can then trigger a message that is transmitted over the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to warn mariners. 

The Whale Alert app has four soft keys in the upper right side of the screen that are used to access the other screens and settings.

The top GPS Location button will center the map on your current GPS location. This will lock your vessel to the center of the map.  The map will then follow your vessel.  To stop following, press the button again.  Manually panning over the chart  will also stop the follow vessel feature.





The next button is the small italics i Info button. Click this to view all the rules and regulations pertaining to the area. 

Vessels using the deep water natural gas ports are required to slow to 10knots to reduce the possibility of striking the right whales.

Seasonal management areas have been defined and also require vessels greater than 65 ft slow to 10 knots.

Commercial ship of 300 gross tons are required by the rules to report in when approaching these areas. There are also specific areas that ships must avoid.

The Home button will take you back to the default view of  Massachusetts Bay near Boston.  This is the only location where the right whale buoy AIS data is available.

The Wrench button is where you can adjust the setting for the app.  Settings include the ability to turn sound alarms on and off. 

The app has the ability to switch between getting the alarm notifications from your on board AIS system or from the Internet.  Contrast settings can also be changed to red or black for night time viewing.

So if your sailing in the Boston area you may want to have this app handy.  It would be cool to  see where the whales are and maybe catch a glipse of one. 

This is just another way that technology has been used to preserve an endangered species.  We all like to be good stewards of our environment.  Who would have thought by using an app we could save the world!  Well, at least a little part of it.


~~~Sail On~~~ /)
Mark

Happy Holidays!

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz oh what a relief it is.  Some of you may remember that Alka Seltzer commercial. Due to some over zealous celebrating I was in need of a few ibuprofen this morning to ease my throbbing head.  Don't feel sorry for me, it was all self induced due to a little too much Captain Morgan last night.  We went out with some friends, had a great meal and celebrated another trip around the sun.  We brought in the NEW YEAR with style and my designated driver, thanks honey, got us home safely.

It is hard to believe 2012 is in the history books and 2013 is upon us. I am not much for new years resolutions but I do try to be a better husband, father, friend and citizen of this world each year.

 

Some of you were not on our Christmas list, so I thought I would include a shot of the family.

I hope you had a great 2012 and my sincere wish for you and your family is that all your WILDEST DREAMS come true in 2013!

Life is Short, Attempt to have an interesting one /)
Mark