Top ten App's for travelling sailors

Modern technology has made sailing and travelling around the world much safer. Keeping in touch with loved ones used to be a nightmare. Although mobile phones are great as soon as you go abroad the call costs for roaming are astronomical. The only solution is to get your phone unlocked and buy a local SIM card on arrival. Smart-phone's such as Blackberry, IPhone etc. rely on a "always on data connection", leaving these on overseas will cost you literally thousands of pounds a months.However there is a solution to portable Internet connection and that is the very much miss-sold Apple Ipod Touch. Marketed as a games console for teenagers it is in fact an iPhone minus the camera and GPS and for less then £150, with no monthly contract you are laughing. Connect to one of the millions of free wifi spots around the world, plug in a headset mike and with seconds you have access to the Internet or call anyone around the world for pennies with Skype.

With Skype make free calls or send instant messages to other users all around the world or with Skype credit make very check calls to mobiles and landlines (free App).

Wind Guru is one of the best weather sites on the net and still free. Details information on nearly every coastal location in the world with detailed information hour by hour. Very useful for dinghy sailors, windsurfers and kite surfers (free App).

 

 Imray's Rules and Signals is a handy reference guide for those swatting up for their Yacht Masters. It covers collision regulations, types of navigation lights, day shapes, sound signals, VHF and distress calls. It is very well illustrated and also tests your knowledge (£3.99 App).

 

 Marine Tides Planner 10 takes all the work out of calculating tidal ranges for that important harbour entrance or mooring. No longer any need to thumb through tombs of almanacs and do complex secondary port calculations. Covers 5, 000 ports and work off-line (£3.99). 

Iknot-boating knots made easy is an animated knot programme that covers all the basic knots you need for safe boating (£1.79 App).

 

Wind Meter is a clever little App that converts the sound from the built-in microphone to tell you the wind speed. Lots of fun but if you need a meter to tell you it's windy, should you be sailing! (£0.59 App). 

 

RYA Handy Racing Rules, is a electronic pocket guide to the latest racing rules. I say if you cannot beat them on the water, you can always protest on a technicality. (£1.19)

 

SailSim allows you to practice trimming your boat from the comfort of your warm armchair. See the effect of wind on all the elements of the boat. Very visual and great for improving your understanding of the interaction of all the boats controls (£0.59 App)

 

Nautical Terms, impress your mates and start talking like Captain Jack Sparrow with this guide to nautical words both past and present (£0.59 App).

 

Phases, give you information about the time the moon and sun will rise anywhere in the world as well as the current phase of the moon. Very useful for organizing watches and ships time mid-ocean (£0.59 App).