At Woodard Marine, we like to play as hard as you do. We’re located in one of the greatest areas for boating in the world - sandwiched between the Great Lakes to the west and the North Atlantic to the east. We’ve seen some changes in boating since 1960, but we’ve kept up with the times, and we’ve all downloaded some amazing boating apps lately. We wanted to share the best ones for iOS with you.
This incredibly intuitive boating tool shows you wind speed, surf and wave height for your coastal zone in the United States. This boating app gets all its info from the National Weather Service, (NOAA) so you know it’s legit. Unfortunately, the Boating Weather App does not show forecasts for inland waterways or rivers, but at $1.99, it’s a real winner when you hit the coast.
The intuitive controls are nice and responsive on this boating app/game. It takes into account bait, location and technique. You'll hook a fish easy enough, but the reeling in is harder. With seven fishing locations, 12 tournaments, 9 different types of bait and tackle, and dozens of species of fish, Flick Fishing is a fun (and addictive) time waster for when all the real fishing is done for the day.
At $18.99, it’s a little up there for a boating app; but it’s so extensive it’s worth the price. Truly, this encyclopedia covers every boating situation you can think of. It pays to know what you’re talking about on the water, whether it is the physics of how boats actually function, nautical terminology, the science of sailing, boat maintenance, navigation, or boat handling in inclement weather, this guide covers almost every aspect of powerboating and sailing in over 500 entries.
This app is huge with hundreds of pages of boating info, charts, graphs, illustrations, photographs and a whack of general knowledge on safe and fun boating. Boater’s Pocket Reference is great for new boaters and old hands alike, and at only $4.99 it’s a must have for any iOS device.
The International Game Fish Association is the perfect boating tool for fishing fun. You can pit yourself against IGFA angling World Records, plan trips, identify the fish you caught easily and measure it against the world’s greatest for $8.99. We particularly like the IGFA Species ID section that covers record game species, ID descriptions, habitat information, geographic distribution, and fish anatomy.
Speed is a boating tool that uses the location data from your GPS to provide an accurate representation of how fast you're traveling.
Clear and easy graphics with an inbuilt compass and odometer/trip meter - all for 3.99 - make this app a no-brainer. With support for miles, kilometers (trip to Canada?) and knots, Speed is a fantastic road, sea or air speedometer app for a very low cost.
If you are boating - or boasting afterward - a great way to impress is to know how to tie a great Rolling Hitch or classic Reef knot. The iKnot boating app makes learning boating (and climbing) knots easy with clear animations and easy to read explanations.
When the weekend comes, and you’ve been hard at it all week, whatever you are into on the water (or land) you always need your phone with you. Why not choose one - or all - of the above apps? The team here at Woodward Marine have their favorites, what’s yours?
