Are Smartphones good for Sailing

[LONG_KEELER]

or have they taken something away from it ?

Personally, I felt ordinary mobile phones were ok but I'm not so sure about Smartphones.

 

[Stemar]

Mine is a useful backup to my GPS & plotter, but it doesn't have to be. If I don't want to use it, it just stays in my pocket.

Oh, and, it's my best source of up to date weather forecasts, so I'd say, yes, mine's good for sailing.

 

[Greemble]

Yes, they're great.
Just don't go off shore or anywhere there's no signal...

 

[Sandy]

I usually find people staring for hours at their phone rather then looking at the amazing planet they are crossing. No idea what they are doing, probably looking at a chart while trying to work out where they are.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I use a Samsung tablet(but must have gps) with Navionics, also copied to my smartphone for backup so can get weather forecasts etc.

 

[Momac]

or have they taken something away from it ?

Personally, I felt ordinary mobile phones were ok but I'm not so sure about Smartphones.

Good for what ?
Making phone calls ?

 

[FWB]

Charts, gps, tidal curves & currents, synoptic charts, satellite weather views, rain radar, various webcams etc. What’s not to like?

 

[Porthandbuoy]

They’re great, just don’t rely on them.

 

[justanothersailboat]

I can't press rewind and experience times without them - though if I could, being slightly impractical myself, I'd probably pick some time between the invention of chronometers and the invention of less-than-room-sized radio sets. However, I can say there seems to be a huge difference in how different people use the same phone today. I imagine it's possible the sailor of the past needed to learn to cope with not knowing things; I'm sure the sailor today (at least within network coverage) needs to learn to cope with not knowing things RIGHT NOW. I am convinced enough of the intractability of my ignorance than I can just about deal with this most of the time. Also, a waterproof phone tough enough to survive repeated high-speed trips to the cockpit sole is MUCH cheaper than a plotter.

 

[billskip]

Good for what ?
Making phone calls ?

The thread title says good for sailing......I find they tend to sink with a mast and a rudder attached....

 

[Momac]

The thread title says good for sailing......I find they tend to sink with a mast and a rudder attached....

So are dumb phones more buoyant?

 

[Concerto]

Smartphones are great to have on board. They add another way to access information. Virtually all my videos are shot on my phone and I photograph the chartplotter as my log as it records far more information in one place than all of the other instruments. Then using Google maps in satelite view to see the harbour you are about enter can certainly help in checking how a berth looks in the wind conditions. The one big problem is a damp screen or fingers as this renders the touch screen useless.

 

[SaltyC]

I agree with Concerto, they have there benefits, a camera readily to hand, easy access to weather (within signal), they generally have Google maps and location (very rough), you can choose to have Navionics and tidal apps.
So they can be useful but my opinion having short battery life and being non waterproof they are another additional source of information not the ONLY source of information.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

There was something special about not being contactable from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

Whether humans are designed to take as much information as they are currently is an unknown . Hopefully we won't end up like some rugby and football players with early dementia . As mentioned, as long as we apply a measure of discipline in their use it's all good.

 

[Concerto]

I agree with Concerto, they have there benefits, a camera readily to hand, easy access to weather (within signal), they generally have Google maps and location (very rough), you can choose to have Navionics and tidal apps.
So they can be useful but my opinion having short battery life and being non waterproof they are another additional source of information not the ONLY source of information.

I never loose battery power as I changed all my reading lights to LED with USB's. A cable from the quarter berth light is connected whenever the battery gets low.

For coastal sailing, you are rarely out of signal in popular areas. Some areas in the northern and western islands have poor signal, but along the south coast I only lost signal crossing Lyme Bay. The only other problem I found was the Isle of Man is not part of the UK and incurred additional charges.

 

[Crisby]

I agree with Concerto, they have there benefits, a camera readily to hand, easy access to weather (within signal), they generally have Google maps and location (very rough), you can choose to have Navionics and tidal apps.
So they can be useful but my opinion having short battery life and being non waterproof they are another additional source of information not the ONLY source of information.

Regarding water resistance the last few generations of iPhone have all been rated at IP68 so no problem in the rain/spray or even a brief dunking, so even more useful on a boat!

Chris

 

[Bobc]

There was something special about not being contactable from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

You can always turn it off and put it in the chart table and ignore it.

That's what I tend to do when on passage.

 

[johnalison]

I don’t think there is much that a smart phone can do to enhance my sailing. I can get all the navigation, tide, and weather information from other sources. I do have a smart phone but don’t have anything on it related to sailing. I get weather and other information from my laptop or tablet, and navigation is on the more reliable plotter. The arrival of handy mobile phones in the ‘90s was itself the biggest boon to sailors, making it possible to meet up with friends, when previously the only way of contacting was through harbour offices, and it freed us from having to look for public phones to reassure anxious relatives at home (ignoring link calls).

 

[jwilson]

Once left a winter mooring in mist on someone else's boat for a short trip across Carrick Roads in Falmouth. After about 100 yards the fog got thicker, turned on plotter to find the owner had taken out the chart card and taken it home!

"What course have you been steering?" I asked thinking just go reciprocal. "Not sure...."

My phone with Google Maps was very useful.

 

[Concerto]

Regarding water resistance the last few generations of iPhone have all been rated at IP68 so no problem in the rain/spray or even a brief dunking, so even more useful on a boat!

Chris

I agree my iPhone is waterproof but the touch screen does not work when it is wet or your fingers are wet. The same applies to touch screen instruments.