Safety & Training The App Every Boater Should Have
It wasn’t long ago that a boater had very few safety and navigational resources available other than paper charts (usually out of date), reference books, satellite phones, and local knowledge. With the technology of Marine GPS and Electronic Charting, a whole new world has opened to even the most novice boater. In addition, the creation of incredibly informative and sophisticated APPS has provided even another layer of tools at one’s fingertips. For the boater, there are APPS for the weather including radar, wind speed and direction, precipitation, etc. Then there are APPS for sea conditions such as tides, wave height, direction of waves, and even time between swells. These are all very useful for both the recreational and commercial boater.
Jim Rich
However, when push comes to shove and you require practical or emergency assistance, there is one APP that I highly recommend every boater should have: “The United States Coast Guard”. In addition to a handy Emergency Assistance tab, there are nine other great educational options you can tap on: • Report pollution • Review safety equipment • NOAA buoys • Report suspicious activity • State by state boating information • File float plan • Report Hazard • Request safety check • Rules of the road In every category is a wealth of information! Of course, this is not to say you should give up your VHF, paper charts, manuals, weather forecasts, and especially common sense. I am a firm believer in redundancy when it comes to safety equipment and information. This APP is one of the best, and its free! Simply look for the “App Store” icon on your phone and tap to open. Then tap again on “search” and type “United States Coast Guard”. Tap once more on the Coast Guard icon, and you’re done. All the information above is at your fingertips! Until next time, safe and happy boating! Jim Rich, Safety and Training Officer
23
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator