Maritime Master Skipper

Maritime Master Skipper is a free day skipper theory app that turns small-craft navigation into something you can see, try, and understand. Instead of static pages, it gives you interactive tools and clear calculators that let you work through real chartwork methods with your own numbers, so the theory sticks before you ever leave the pontoon.

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Whether you are preparing for a day skipper level shorebased course, refreshing your coastal navigation before the season starts, or stepping up from crew to skipper, the app walks you through the same techniques used at the chart table, from plotting a dead reckoning position to shaping a course to steer across a tide.

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Learn Navigation the Practical Way

Practise position fixing, dead reckoning, and course to steer with interactive worked examples that respond to the values you enter. Change the tidal stream, adjust your boat speed, and watch how the plot changes. That feedback loop is exactly what you need to understand chartwork properly instead of memorising it.

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Tidal tools cover tidal heights, tidal streams, and the tidal stream atlas, while the compass deviation tool shows how errors are applied step by step, from true to compass and back again.

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Clear Calculators for Core Skills

Solve speed, time, and distance problems, estimate arrival times, work out set and drift, correct your compass, find true wind, and convert units in seconds. Every calculator is built to show the method as well as the answer, so you can check your own workings against it while you revise.

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Rules, Buoyage, and Signals

Revise the COLREGs with full rule text, learn IALA buoyage for both Region A and Region B, and brush up on day shapes, sound signals, VHF channels, and radio frequencies. An emergency procedures quick reference rounds out the seamanship knowledge every skipper needs at their fingertips.

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Weather and Passage Planning

From the Beaufort scale and sea states to cloud types, weather fronts, and the Coriolis effect, Skipper covers the meteorology that appears in every theory paper. Passage planning and pilotage guides show you how the pieces fit together, and a full nautical glossary keeps the jargon under control.

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Works Offline, Respects Your Privacy

Everything works completely offline, so you can revise on the train, at anchor, or anywhere in between. There are no accounts, no ads, and no tracking, and the app is free to download and use.

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Who It Is For

Perfect for day skipper and coastal skipper students, crew stepping up to navigate, powerboaters and sailors alike, and experienced hands who want a structured refresher. All tools are simulations for study and revision only, not for real-world navigation.

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Part of the Maritime Master Family

Going further? Maritime Master OOW covers professional watchkeeping theory, Maritime Master Radar is a radar and ARPA practice simulator, and Maritime Master IALA Buoyage drills buoyage until it is second nature.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Maritime Master Skipper really free? Yes. The app is free to download, and every tool and reference inside is free to use, with no ads and no subscription.

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Will it help me pass a day skipper theory course? It is designed as a study companion for day skipper level shorebased theory, covering navigation, tides, COLREGs, buoyage, and meteorology. It supports your course rather than replacing one.

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Can I use it to navigate on the water? No. Every tool is a simulation for learning and revision. Always use official charts, tide tables, and approved instruments for real navigation.

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Download Maritime Master Skipper free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and build your confidence before you go afloat.