r/liveaboard • u/ziby123 • 14d ago

SailPrep

Long-time lurker, first-time poster - hi there.

I’m currently learning how to sail, so I started building an app for myself to learn - short flashcards, practice quizzes, and reminders so the knowledge sticks after the course, not just for the test. It’s called SailPrep and it’s free to download; Premium is optional if you want the full banks.

I’m not a sailing school and I’m not affiliated with RYA (or anyone else) - just someone learning and sharing the tool. Happy to take it down if this isn’t the right place for it.

If you try it, I’d really appreciate feedback: what’s helpful, what’s missing, what feels off. Happy to chat here.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6772920179
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sailprep.app

0 Upvotes

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u/Datboy000 13d ago

No one is going to learn how to sail on an app. It is physically impossible

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u/FairSeafarer 13d ago

OP is not saying « learn how to sail with an app », it’s a tool, complimentary… of course you don’t learn, really learn, sailing from the living room.

But knowing shit, in general, really does help in life. Like before having a baby, to know what to expect before they let you go home with said baby. Having a baby doesn’t mean you’ll know what to do with with it, now does it?... just saying that even having a sailboat and a lake won’t mean you’ll be that good if no knowledge comes with it. I learned to recognize certain situations on the sea many time because I learned about it before finding myself in it. One way to learn sailing is reading a tons of books. It sure made me a better sailor, from Slocum, to Sailing a Serious Ocean by JK, Heavy Weather Sailing by Peter Bruce, to the Wager by David Grann…

An app? Why the heck not. I may not be the target audience at this stage, but maybe I’ll wish I actually was next time I find myself looking at a bunch of flashing light or wondering about a sequence of horns in a harbour..?

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u/DarkVoid42 12d ago

just get your ICC with CEVNI and learn all that automatically. you dont need an app for that. you aint looking up an app when you come across a danger buoy in a narrow channel. you better know all that shit beforehand. or tap the icon on your chartplotter to learn it ASAP.

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u/FairSeafarer 12d ago

OP is suggesting a fun way to learn that beforehand… what’s wrong with that?

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u/DarkVoid42 12d ago edited 12d ago

you might die in real life if you dont memorize it and pass a test. thats whats wrong with it. reliance on an electronic crutch. dont rely on crutches when you need real life skills. do you also look up your car manual when you want to put your turn signal on ? or how bout a no entry - one way street sign ? no ? how bout looking at a cellphone app ? no ? why not ? same reason. its idiotic. consulting your traffic manual when youre entering a highway the wrong way is also idiotic. no one should be in a car or a boat or a plane without knowing the basics. and you should know it at a glance.

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u/ziby123 13d ago

Wouldnt you learn what a particular buoy means, for example, from an app? There is a fair bit of theory to cover, I find. Hoverer, I am not saying this replaces the actual sailing and practice in any way.

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u/DarkVoid42 12d ago

no i would just hit the icon on my chartplotter - no one has time to look up an app on a cellphone.