Sail Far Live Free

Apple's iPad is quickly becoming a very versatile onboard tool able to serve up the functions of several more traditional pieces of boat gear and marine electronics. While I've highlighted many of my favorite iPad apps  and uses for sailing , I haven't yet blogged about useful iPad accessories for boating and sailing. Enter the iPad 2 Telescope from Brando , an iPad add-on that extends the viewing range of the built-in camera. The telescope accessory comes with a special iPad backplate and attachable lens. The lens adds 6X optical zoom capabilities and features manual focus by rotating the bezel. iPad 2 Telescope accessory Why on Earth would you want a telescope accessory for your iPad? Theoretically, the iPad telescope could serve as a back-up to your binoculars, which should be in every cruiser's inventory for making landfall, spotting ships, reading navigational aids, and much more. But don't go dumping your expensive Fujinons just yet. iPad 2 Telesc

I've often said that one of my favorite aspects of sailing is the ease at which you can unplug yourself from the complexities and over abundance of technologies. However, I'm also a bit of a gadget junkie and have become very fond of my iPad, even while on the boat. What follows is a list of my favorite apps for sailing. All are available in Apple's app store (and likely in the Android market too) and work on both an iPad and iPhone. 1) Navionics HD: While expensive compared to most apps, Navionics HD is an outright bargain when compared to tradition chartplotters. The bathymetric charts are beautifully detailed and include the option of overlaying Google Earth, Bing aerial photos or topographic terrain maps for land. Functions include tracks, route planning and guidance, speed data and many other goodies you would expect from a gps plotter.  You can view my more in depth review of the Navionics app here . 2) Sail Master: This is a simple app, but it loo