Sailboats USA 🇺🇸

Navionics Boating

Full-featured Navionics experience on Android — same charts, same functionality as iOS. The single best Android navigation app for most sailors.

OpenCPN for Android

The Android port of OpenCPN — free, open source, and supports the full plugin ecosystem including weather routing, AIS, and instrument display. Uses free NOAA charts. Best full-featured free navigation option on Android. Requires more setup than commercial apps.

Aqua Map Marine

Excellent free NOAA charts with paid premium features. Good Android alternative if you're not using Navionics. Clean interface; AIS overlay; anchor alarm.

C-MAP

Professional chart provider with detailed worldwide coverage. C-MAP charts power many commercial chartplotters. The mobile app brings the same chart quality to your phone. Strong worldwide chart coverage — a good alternative to Navionics for European or international waters.

Garmin ActiveCaptain

Free Garmin companion app for Android. Syncs with Garmin chartplotters; marina reviews; waypoint management.

qtVlm for Android

The Android version of the powerful qtVlm navigation and weather routing software. Full-featured; GRIB weather routing; OpenCPN-compatible charts. Designed for serious offshore routing; steep learning curve. Also available on iOS.

qtVlm Navigation & Weather Routing

Extremely powerful navigation and weather routing software available on all major platforms. Full GRIB weather routing, polar diagram support, OpenCPN-compatible charts, and instrument display. Designed for offshore passage makers and racing sailors who want deep weather routing capability. Free — but not open source.

Expedition

The industry standard for performance sailing and offshore racing. Used by America's Cup teams, Vendée Globe competitors, and serious offshore cruisers. Polar diagram performance analysis, detailed weather routing, GRIB file support, instrument integration. Expensive but considered the best routing software available for serious sailing.

TimeZero (MaxSea)

Professional navigation software from Furuno's parent company. Excellent 3D chart display, high-quality worldwide chart coverage, weather routing, and radar integration. Popular in commercial and professional marine applications; suitable for serious bluewater cruisers.

Coastal Explorer

Windows-based chartplotter software focused on US coastal cruising. Clean interface; supports Garmin, Navionics, and NOAA charts; AIS; instrument overlay. A solid mid-range option for sailors who want a dedicated Windows navigation application.

OpenPlotter (Linux / Raspberry Pi)

Complete marine OS for Raspberry Pi — includes OpenCPN, Signal K server, PyPilot autopilot, MAIANA AIS, and WiFi access point in one ready-to-flash image. The most capable free navigation platform for a dedicated nav station computer at the lowest possible cost.

Navionics Web App

Full Navionics chart access in any browser — no app required. Routes and waypoints sync with the iOS/Android app. Excellent for passage planning at home on any computer.

NOAA Chart Viewer

NOAA's official online chart viewer — view and download all official US nautical charts at no cost. Essential for US coastal and offshore passage planning. Charts updated regularly.

OpenSeaMap

Open source nautical chart layer built on OpenStreetMap data. Crowdsourced depth soundings, marina information, and hazards. Free to use and download. Good supplement to official charts, especially for marina and anchorage information.

PredictWind Offshore

PredictWind's web platform provides the full weather routing and GRIB download experience on any browser. Plan passages on your home computer and sync GRIB files to the app. See the Weather section below for full PredictWind details.

SailFlow — Marine Forecasts

The go-to app for local wind and coastal weather. Powered by a nationwide network of coastal weather stations reporting in real time — excellent for precise, on-the-water wind details for day sailing and racing. Pulls from NOAA, NWS, AWOS, ASOS, and CWOP data sources. Wind graphs, current observations, and 7-day forecasts.

Best for: Real-time local wind conditions, day sailing decisions, coastal racing, verifying forecast models against actual station data

Windfinder

Reliable wind, wave, and tide forecasts at thousands of spots worldwide. Animated wind map; station observations; 10-day forecast. Free with optional Plus subscription. Good global coverage — especially useful for Pacific Northwest and international sailing destinations where SailFlow coverage may be thinner.

NOAA Marine Weather

Official NOAA marine forecasts — the authoritative source for US coastal, offshore, and high seas forecasts. Marine zone forecasts, wind and wave data, and buoy observations. Always check NOAA before any offshore passage — it's the legal and official forecast source for US waters. The website is always the most current.

Passage Weather

Free browser-based weather routing tool for offshore passages. Enter departure and destination; Passage Weather generates wind, wave, and current forecasts along the route using GFS model data. Simple, no-frills, and surprisingly useful for passage planning without paying for PredictWind. No app — browser only.

Buoyweather

Surf-focused but excellent for sailors — detailed swell and wave period data from NOAA buoys plus multiple forecast models. Particularly useful for understanding sea state and swell direction, which wind apps often under-represent. Free.

Weather4D (iOS / Mac)

French-developed premium weather routing app with excellent GRIB visualization and routing capabilities. Strong alternative to PredictWind for passage planning. 3D weather visualization; multiple models; routing optimization. Popular among French and European offshore sailors; strong worldwide following.

PocketGrib

Dedicated GRIB weather file viewer for sailors. Download and display GRIB files from multiple sources on an interactive map. Works offline with downloaded files — essential for offshore sailing with limited satellite connectivity. Pairs well with OpenCPN for passage weather overlay.

Tides Near Me

Simple, accurate NOAA tide predictions for US waters. Shows tide height graph for any NOAA station; nearest station auto-detected. The fastest way to get a tide table on iPhone.

NOAA Tides & Currents

The official NOAA tide and current prediction website. Accurate predictions for thousands of US stations; tidal current tables; real-time water levels from tide gauges. The authoritative source — use it to verify any app.

Argo — Boating & Navigation

Navigation app with strong tide and current integration. Community-sourced hazard reporting, marina ratings, and anchorage information. Good social/community features alongside standard navigation functions. Free to use.

Navionics Tides & Currents

Navionics includes integrated tide and current predictions on the chart — click any area to see tidal arrows and predictions. Included with the standard Navionics subscription. One of the most convenient ways to check tides while looking at your chart.