BoatDock Start a float plan
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How it works

How BoatDock works

A float plan, made easy to hand over

A float plan is the information a rescuer would need if you did not come back: the boat, who is aboard, where you went and when you were due. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's float plan form asks you to leave it with "a reliable person who can be depended upon to notify the Coast Guard, or other rescue agency, should you not return or check-in as planned", and not to file it with the Coast Guard. BoatDock keeps that plan for you and gives the person ashore a link instead of a piece of paper.

Your dock

Your dock is private and opens with a link only you hold (no account or email). In it you save your boat (name, registration, colours, radio, gear on board) and the people who go out with you (name, age, phone).

Each trip

  1. Make a float plan: boat, people aboard, leaving from, going to, route, leave time, due-back time, and a grace time (for example 30 minutes).
  2. Copy the trip's shore link and send it to someone ashore yourself, by text or email. Optionally they add a calendar reminder for your due-back time plus grace.
  3. On the water, if you will be late, open the trip and tap +30 min, +1 hour or set a new time.
  4. Back on the dock, tap Back at the dock.

What the shore link shows

  • Due out before your leave time.
  • Out on the water from your leave time until your due-back time. It counts from the planned time even if you forget to tap "Cast off".
  • Late during the grace time.
  • OVERDUE after the grace time, with the steps: try the phones on the plan, then call the Coast Guard or 911 and read them the plan.
  • Back at the dock or Trip cancelled once you close the trip.

Limits you should know

  • BoatDock does not track your position and does not alert anyone. If nobody looks at the link, nothing happens.
  • You need a phone signal to check in or move your time. Out of signal, the link keeps counting toward OVERDUE, which is what you want if something is wrong, and is why a sensible grace time matters.
  • A calendar reminder file is a snapshot: if you move the time, the person's saved reminder does not move, but the link does.
  • In an emergency on the water, call for help directly: VHF channel 16 or 911.