The Marine OS blog
Field notes for modern marinas
Operations playbooks, compliance deep-dives, and industry research — for the people who run marinas.
Best Boating Apps in 2026: Navigation, Weather, Tides, Safety
The best boating apps in 2026 by job: navigation and charts, marine weather, tides, anchor alarms, AIS traffic, trip planning, and marina booking, with free options for each.
Best Marine Weather App: Windy, PredictWind, NOAA Compared
The best marine weather apps in 2026: Windy, PredictWind, NOAA marine forecasts, Buoyweather, and browser departure scanners. What each does, what is free, and which numbers matter on the water.
Best Tide App for Boaters: Free and Paid Options Compared
The best tide apps in 2026: Tides Near Me, AyeTides, chart-app tide stations, and free NOAA predictions. How tide data works, what is worth paying for, and reading tides for boating.
How Far Can a Boat Travel in a Day? Real Numbers by Boat Type
How far a boat travels in a day: sailboats 40-70 nm on a daylight hop or 120-150 nm around the clock, trawlers 60-90 nm, planing motorboats 150-250 nm. The math and what limits it.
Boat Safety Checklist: Required Equipment and Pre-Departure
A complete boat safety checklist: US Coast Guard required equipment (lifejackets, fire extinguisher, signals), recommended gear by trip type, and the 5-minute pre-departure routine.
Maritime Route Planner: Port-to-Port Routing Tools Compared
Maritime route planners compute port-to-port courses over shipping lanes with canal and strait choices. The tools compared: enterprise APIs, web planners, and browser tools with distances and voyage times.
Boat Trip Planner: How to Plan a Day or Weekend on the Water
A practical boat trip planner: choosing the destination, route and timing, the weather window, fuel math, food and safety, the float plan, and the tools that do the math for you.
Sailing Distance Calculator: Sea Miles Between Ports, Done Right
How sailing distance calculators work, why sea miles beat straight lines, verified distances for known routes (Miami-Nassau 192 nm, Rotterdam-Singapore 8,439 nm), and time at your speed.
GPX Boat Routes: Export, Import, and Move Routes Anywhere
How to move boat routes between apps and chartplotters with GPX files: routes vs tracks vs waypoints, exporting from planning apps, importing to Garmin and other plotters, and common failures.
Intracoastal Waterway Trip Planning: Routes, Miles, and Timing
Planning an ICW trip: how the Intracoastal Waterway works, statute-mile markers, daily distances, bridge and depth realities, season timing for snowbirds, and the tools cruisers actually use.
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