A page-by-page guide to managing your boat's maintenance, equipment, and compliance.
Vessel Ready works in any browser, but adding it to your home screen gives you one-tap access — just like a native app. No app store needed.
Open app.vesselreadyapp.com in Safari. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow at the bottom of the screen). Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen. Tap Add in the top right. Vessel Ready now appears on your home screen as an app icon.
Open app.vesselreadyapp.com in Chrome. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Tap Add to Home screen (or Install app if prompted). Tap Add to confirm. The Vessel Ready icon will appear on your home screen.
Open app.vesselreadyapp.com in Samsung Internet. Tap the three-line menu at the bottom right. Tap Add page to, then choose Home screen. Tap Add to confirm.
Open app.vesselreadyapp.com in Chrome or Edge. Click the install icon in the address bar (a small monitor with a down arrow), or click the three-dot menu and choose Install Vessel Ready (Chrome) or Apps > Install this site as an app (Edge). The app opens in its own window and appears in your Start menu or Dock.
Open app.vesselreadyapp.com in Safari. Click File in the menu bar, then Add to Dock. The app icon appears in your Dock for quick access.
Register with your email and password. You'll be taken straight to boat setup.
Enter your boat name, type (sailboat, catamaran, motor yacht, etc.), and cruising area. For sailboats, you'll also select your country and enter length and tonnage, as safety requirements vary by these.
Choose your propulsion type and set initial engine hours. If you have a generator, tick the box and enter its hours too. This creates equipment entries with hour meters that track service intervals. Catamarans automatically get twin engines (Port and Starboard). Motor yachts can choose between single or twin engine setups.
Your main dashboard shows your maintenance status at a glance, organised into sections:
At the top you'll see warnings for any certificates or inventory items approaching their expiry date. Alerts appear at 90 days, 30 days, and 7 days before expiry. Expired items are highlighted in red. This covers flares, fire extinguishers, first aid supplies, liferaft service dates, EPIRB batteries, CO detectors, and any other items with expiry dates set.
When tasks are first imported (e.g., after adding equipment from the catalog or toggling safety items), they appear here for your review. For each task you can choose: Start from today (activate the task with today as the baseline), Done recently (if you've already done this task, enter when), or Not applicable (remove it from your schedule). Once reviewed, tasks move to the next section or become active. Use Confirm All to move all reviewed tasks forward in one click.
Tasks that have been confirmed but still need a starting point. Set the date (or engine hours) when you last completed each task so the system can calculate when it's next due. Use Activate All to move all baselined tasks to active status at once.
Active tasks that are past their due date. These need your attention. The red badge shows how many are overdue.
Active tasks due in the next 90 days. The green badge shows how many are coming up. Plan your maintenance around these.
A chronological log of everything you've completed. This builds your vessel's service record over time, valuable for insurance, BSS exams, and resale.
Each record now shows a coloured Result badge — green Passed, amber Issue found or Temporary repair, red Could not complete (with the reason). When a follow-up task was created from a record, a → Created follow-up link appears so you can jump straight to it. Old records without a result show as Passed by default.
Use the Filters to narrow by equipment, category, who did the work, or date range. Click Edit on any row to fix a date, hours, cost, result, or notes. Click Delete to remove an entry — you'll see a green confirmation banner and your filters stay applied so it's clear which entry was removed. Any inventory used by the task is automatically returned to stock.
Use + Log Service on the Service History page (or on an equipment's History tab) to record work that wasn't tied to a scheduled task — for example a repair you had done at a marina. You can attach a photo at the same time you create the record — no need to save first and edit afterwards. Save and Delete buttons are protected against double-tap on slow connections, and identical ad-hoc entries posted within a minute of each other are treated as one to prevent duplicates.
Photo thumbnails on service records, task detail pages, and equipment history tabs now open in a full-size lightbox — tap any thumbnail to view it; close with the × button, by tapping the backdrop, or by pressing Escape.
Not sure whether to add a task or log service? When you tap + Add on an equipment detail page, a short prompt asks what you want to do — Schedule a maintenance task (recurring, with an interval) or Record completed service (one-off or already-done work with no repeating schedule). Pick the right option and the correct form opens automatically.
Whenever you save, edit, or delete a service entry — or attach a file to one — a green confirmation banner appears briefly at the top of the page so you can see at a glance that it worked. The same banner shows after completing a task, activating reviewed tasks, or removing an attachment. It auto-dismisses after a few seconds and tidies the URL behind the scenes, so the message won't reappear if you bookmark or share the page.
The Maintenance Dashboard always shows the latest state — even when you tap the browser's Back button after logging a service. If you've ever seen a stale "No service history yet" message after just saving, that's now fixed: the dashboard refetches itself when you return to it, on iOS Safari, Android Chrome, and as a home-screen app.
When you have a Racor (or similar) fuel filter and log its vacuum readings, the dashboard shows a dedicated health card so you can see filter status the moment you log in.
For each fuel filter with readings, the card displays: the status badge (NORMAL, RISING, WARNING, or CRITICAL), the equipment name (linked to its detail page), the current vacuum in inHg, a trend arrow (↑ rising / ↓ falling / → steady), and a "Last 3 readings" trail showing the recent history oldest→newest. Multiple filters (e.g. primary on the engine, secondary Racor 500MA) each get their own row, sorted worst-first.
CRITICAL — latest reading ≥ 10 inHg. Engine fuel starvation likely under load. Replace the element before next use.
WARNING — latest reading ≥ 7 inHg. Plan a filter element swap soon and order a spare if you don't have one.
RISING — latest reading is still below 7 inHg, but jumped more than 2 inHg since the previous reading. Inspect the bowl for water or debris — a swap may be coming.
NORMAL — filter restriction is within a healthy range for the readings on record.
The arrow compares the latest reading to the one before it. A red ↑ means restriction is climbing (not good). A green ↓ means restriction is falling — useful to confirm a filter element swap has worked. A neutral → means the reading is stable.
Open any equipment with fuel filter readings and go to the Overview tab. The "Latest" reading callout changes colour to match the current alert level and shows a short action hint (e.g. "Plan a filter element swap. Latest vacuum is 7.2 inHg…"). Other meters (e.g. voltage, coolant pH) keep the original neutral blue styling.
On the equipment's Overview tab, scroll to the Meters section. Choose or type the meter name Fuel Filter Restriction, enter the vacuum reading in inHg (use a vacuum gauge on your Racor bowl), and tap + Log Reading. The dashboard widget updates immediately on your next visit.
Click ✓ Complete next to any task on the dashboard, or open the task and use the log form. Enter the date, current engine hours (if hour-tracked), who did the work, cost, and notes. Then choose a Result — see Maintenance Outcomes below for what each option does.
Not ready to do it today? Use the +7d or +30d buttons to push the due date forward. The task stays visible so you don't forget about it.
Tasks can be due by calendar (every X months) or by engine hours (every X hours), or both. When you complete a task, the next due date is calculated automatically based on the interval.
You can change the frequency of any task by clicking Edit interval below its name. Set the number of months and/or engine hours between services, then click Save. The next due date will be recalculated automatically. Leave a field blank to remove that type of interval.
Catalog tasks at the same service interval are merged into a single task with numbered step-by-step instructions. For example, instead of separate "change oil filter" and "inspect belt" tasks both due at 200 hours, you'll see one "200-hour / Annual service" task with steps 1, 2, 3, etc. This keeps your dashboard clean and groups related work together.
Some tasks are tailored to your boat type. For example, canal boats get a tunnel light test, while sailboats, catamarans, and motor yachts get a deck light test instead. The system automatically assigns the right tasks when you set up or change your boat type.
When you log a service against a task, a Parts used panel appears automatically. It fetches the relevant inventory for that task and groups it into three sections:
Tick what you used, adjust quantities with the + / − controls, and save. Ticked parts are automatically deducted from inventory and remembered as defaults for next time. A Could not complete outcome skips both — no stock is taken and nothing is saved, since the work didn't happen.
The same three-section grouping applies when you open a task's detail page and use the Search inventory to add more parts dropdown — on mobile devices the native picker shows clear section headers instead of an undivided alphabetical list.
Every task page includes an AI assistant that can answer questions about that specific task. It is not a general chatbot — its answers are grounded in the task details, the equipment, and your linked inventory.
The four buttons at the top of the Understand This Task panel give you instant one-tap answers to the most common questions:
Each quick-help button uses 1 AI credit.
Below the quick-help buttons, there is a text box where you can type your own question about the task. This is for anything the standard buttons don't cover — for example:
Type your question and tap Ask AI. While it thinks, the button is disabled so you can't accidentally submit twice. The answer appears below and stays on screen. The last 3 questions and answers remain visible so you can scroll back without losing context.
Custom typed questions use 2 AI credits each. The credit count on screen updates after every answer. If you don't have enough credits the app tells you before doing anything — no silent failures and no wasted credits.
When you ask a question, Vessel Ready shares the following context with the AI — it answers based on this data, not general internet knowledge:
If a consumable like engine oil or a fuel filter is linked to more than one piece of equipment (for example, shared between your main engine and generator), it still appears in the parts context with its single shared stock count — so the AI can tell you whether you actually have enough onboard.
There are two separate places to attach files on a task — they serve different purposes:
Every task detail page has a Work Instructions & Documents section, positioned just above the Log Service form. Use it to attach reference material you want to hand before starting work — manufacturer procedure extracts, wiring diagrams, torque specifications, safety data sheets, or photos of how something was last assembled.
To attach a file, tap the drop zone or drag a file directly onto it. Supported formats are PDF, JPG, PNG, and WEBP (up to 20 MB each). Files appear in the list immediately without a page reload:
These attachments are tied to the task itself, not to any individual service record. Attach a manual extract once and it will be there every time you open that task — ready for the next scheduled service without any extra steps. Completion photos and invoices you add in the Log Service form stay separate, building up your per-record evidence trail below.
Every completion — from the dashboard quick-complete to the task detail log — asks for a Result. Choose the one that honestly describes what happened.
The task was done and everything checked out. The due date advances normally. Inventory is decremented. A green Passed badge appears in service history. This is the default.
The inspection was completed but something needs attention. The due date still advances (you did carry out the inspection), but an amber Issue found badge flags the record. Use the optional follow-up panel to create a corrective task immediately.
You made a fix, but it's not a permanent solution. The due date advances, an amber Temporary repair badge is recorded, and you can create a follow-up task to schedule the proper repair.
The work didn't happen — parts not onboard, waiting for a specialist, lifted out, or similar. The due date does not move. Inventory is not decremented. A red Could not complete badge is added to service history so you have an audit trail, but the task stays exactly as urgent as before. Pick a reason from the dropdown (Awaiting parts, Needs specialist, Weather, Lifted out, Deferred, Other) to remind yourself why.
When result is anything other than Passed, a Create a follow-up task checkbox appears. Tick it and fill in:
The follow-up appears immediately on your dashboard under Needs Attention. Open it and you'll see an amber callout showing which task triggered it and when, so there's never any confusion about where it came from.
Your service history now shows a coloured badge on every record:
When a follow-up task was created, the service history row also shows a → Created follow-up: [title] link so you can jump straight to it.
The equipment page tracks the major systems on your boat. Vessel Ready includes a catalog of 377 entries across 22 categories — engines, generators, transmissions, watermakers, heating systems, toilets, and more.
Select a category (e.g., "engine") and choose your specific model from the dropdown (e.g., "Volvo Penta D3-110"). The system automatically creates the correct service tasks with manufacturer-specific part numbers and intervals. It also populates your spare parts inventory with the right filters, impellers, belts, and anodes.
Equipment with hour meters (engines, generators) will track hours. When you complete a maintenance task linked to that equipment, the hour reading is recorded in your service history. Hour-based intervals (e.g., oil change every 200 hours) are calculated from the meter reading. Outboards default to calendar-based scheduling since most don't have hour meters. If your outboard does have one, you can enable it from the Equipment page by ticking "Has hour meter".
For equipment not in the catalog, add it manually with manufacturer, model, and serial number. You can still create custom maintenance tasks and link parts to it.
Upload photos of your equipment, labels, serial number plates, and wiring diagrams. These are invaluable when ordering parts or explaining issues to engineers.
The Scan nameplate photo button opens your device's standard file picker — you can take a new photo or choose an existing one from your camera roll or gallery. Useful if you photographed the engine plate earlier in the season and want to scan it without returning to the engine room. The AI reads the manufacturer, model, and serial number from the image and pre-fills the equipment form.
Any equipment can track custom meter readings over time — not just engine hours. Common uses include fuel filter vacuum (inHg for a Racor or similar), battery bank voltage, coolant pH, exhaust back-pressure, and water-maker output TDS. Each reading is stored with a timestamp and optional notes, giving you an append-only history you can review on the Overview tab.
To log a reading: on the equipment detail page, scroll to the Meters section, enter a meter name (e.g. Fuel Filter Restriction), value, and unit, then tap + Log Reading. Multiple meters can run simultaneously on the same equipment — for example an engine tracking both its hour meter and its fuel filter vacuum.
When the meter name is Fuel Filter Restriction, readings are automatically evaluated against health thresholds and the results appear both on the equipment page and in the Racor / Fuel Filter Health widget on your Maintenance Dashboard.
Every equipment detail page has a Print / Export button in the header. Clicking it opens a panel where you choose exactly what to include: Tasks, Service History, and/or Inventory / Parts. Fine-tune which columns to show using grouped checkboxes, then:
The inventory table in the print view includes a LOW badge (red) whenever quantity is below the minimum, so pre-departure parts checks are obvious at a glance.
If you have several pieces of equipment to add at once — perhaps when setting up a new boat — the Batch Scan page saves repeating the single-photo flow. Find it via the Batch scan button on the Equipment list page (Pro subscribers only).
Batch scanning uses 5 AI credits per photo, the same rate as single-photo scanning. The credit count updates after each scan so you can see your balance as you go.
Both tasks and equipment can be organised into categories. Vessel Ready ships with a set of built-in defaults (Engine, Electrical, Plumbing, Safety, etc.) and you can add your own to fit your specific boat.
On the Add Task, Edit Task, or Equipment Edit form, click the ⚙ Manage categories link next to the category dropdown. This opens the Manage Categories page where you can type a new category name and tap Add. Your new category appears immediately in the dropdown on every relevant form for that boat.
On the Manage Categories page, click Rename on any custom category to change its name. If a built-in category isn't relevant to your boat (e.g. you don't have a watermaker), click Hide — it disappears from dropdowns without deleting any existing records. You can always unhide it later.
Custom categories with no tasks or equipment assigned to them can be permanently deleted. If a category is still in use, Vessel Ready will tell you and suggest hiding it or reassigning the existing records first. Built-in default categories can be hidden but never deleted.
The Manage Categories page has two tabs — one for Task categories and one for Equipment categories. They are managed independently, so you can have a "Tender outboard" equipment category without it appearing in task category dropdowns.
Track what spare parts you have on board and where they're stored. When you add equipment from the catalog, the correct spare parts are automatically added to your inventory.
When you add equipment from the catalog (e.g., a Volvo D3-110), the correct oil filters, fuel filters, impellers, belts, anodes, and air filters are automatically added to your inventory with the right part numbers and manufacturer. They start with quantity 0 — just go through and enter how many you have onboard and where they're stored.
Update quantities and storage locations directly in the inventory table. Each row has its own save button — no need to delete and re-add items. A blue banner at the top tells you how many auto-added parts still need their stock levels set.
Minimum quantities are pre-set based on your cruising area. Canal boats get minimums of 1 for each consumable (you're never far from a chandlery). Coastal and tidal cruisers get minimums of 2 (you could be days from a parts supplier). You can always adjust these to suit your own preferences.
When parts drop below minimum stock, a red warning appears on both the inventory page and Maintenance Dashboard. Click through to the Order List for a printable, copy-to-clipboard summary of everything you need to reorder — ready to paste into an email to your chandlery.
When you complete a maintenance task, any parts you tick in the Parts used panel are automatically deducted from your inventory. The quantity you enter in the + / − controls is what gets deducted — so if you used 2 filters, enter 2 and both are taken off the shelf count. No manual stock counting needed.
Tip — link parts to equipment for smarter pickers: On any inventory item's edit page, tick the Linked equipment checkboxes. Once linked, that part rises to the top of the parts picker for every task on that equipment — and stays out of the way for tasks on other equipment. For example, linking your oil filter to your main engine means it appears immediately under "This engine's inventory" whenever you log an oil change, instead of being buried alphabetically among every other item on the boat.
Use the search bar to find parts by name, part number, manufacturer, or alias. Filter by storage location to see what's in a specific locker, by equipment to see parts for a particular engine or system (multi-link aware — shared parts appear under each linked equipment), or by status (Low stock, Needs setup, etc.). Saved locations appear as suggestions when you set where a part is stored.
Photograph parts and their packaging. When you're in a foreign chandlery trying to match a filter, a photo is worth a thousand words.
Safety-critical items like flares, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and CO detectors have expiry dates. When you set an expiry date on an inventory item, the Maintenance Dashboard will warn you as the date approaches — at 90 days, 30 days, and 7 days before expiry. Expired items are highlighted in red on both the inventory page and the dashboard.
The Marine Parts Intelligence System helps you find the right parts, including aftermarket alternatives that may be cheaper or more readily available.
Enter an OEM part number (e.g., a Volvo Penta or Yanmar number) and the system will show you compatible aftermarket equivalents from brands like Sierra, WIX, MANN, and others. This is especially useful when you're abroad and the OEM part isn't available locally.
When you view a task's detail page, any OEM part numbers mentioned in the instructions are automatically cross-referenced. You'll see "Also known as" suggestions with aftermarket alternatives, so you can find what's available at your nearest chandlery.
Vessel Ready checks what safety equipment is required or recommended for your vessel based on your country, boat type, length, and cruising area.
The safety equipment page shows all required and recommended items for your vessel configuration. Required items are mandatory under the applicable regulations. Recommended items are strongly advised but not legally required.
For recommended items, you can click + I have this to mark the item as onboard. This automatically creates the matching maintenance tasks on your Maintenance Dashboard — for example, marking lifejackets as onboard creates a monthly lifejacket check task and an annual service task. Click the green Onboard button again to remove the item and its associated tasks.
Safety tasks are organised into three layers:
Monthly quick checks (Layer 1): CO alarm test, smoke alarm test, lifejacket check, fire extinguisher check, nav lights check, bilge pump test, and VHF check. These take minutes and catch problems early.
Annual deep inspections (Layer 2): Battery replacements, flare expiry checks, lifejacket servicing, and a comprehensive annual safety review covering all lifesaving and fire-fighting equipment.
Expiry-based reminders (Layer 3): Items with expiry dates (flares, extinguisher service tags, liferaft certificates, EPIRB batteries, CO detectors) trigger dashboard warnings as expiry approaches.
Track your vessel's certificates, licences, and compliance documents — from your BSS certificate and boat insurance to a flag-state registration or USCG documentation — all in one place.
Click + Add Certificate and fill in the name, category, and dates. You can also upload a scan or photo (PDF, JPEG, PNG, or WebP up to 15 MB) so the document is always accessible from your phone. After saving, click Edit on any certificate to update any field — no need to delete and re-enter to fix a date or swap a document.
Each certificate can be categorised — Vessel documentation, Licence, Insurance, Tax / admin filing, and more — so your list groups logically when you have many documents. Additional fields let you record:
Set an expiry date and a renewal cadence (Annual, Every 2 / 3 / 5 years, or a custom number of months). A renewal reminder task automatically appears on your Maintenance Dashboard ahead of expiry — the lead time is configurable per certificate (default 60 days, so you have plenty of time to arrange renewal). Once you complete the renewal task, the next one is scheduled automatically based on the cadence you chose.
You can also set a custom reminder window — tighten it for a simple annual fee you can sort in a day, or lengthen it for a survey or regulatory document that needs months of preparation.
Each certificate shows a status badge: Current, Expiring soon, or Expired. When an expiry is approaching, a warning also appears at the top of your Maintenance Dashboard — at 90 days, 30 days, and 7 days before expiry. Expired certificates are highlighted in red on both the certificates page and the dashboard.
Certificates are grouped by category on the list page when you've categorised them, making it easy to scan the full picture at a glance.
Access via the Edit Boat link on your dashboard.
If your cruising plans change (e.g., moving from canal to tidal waters), update your cruising area here. Your maintenance tasks will be re-evaluated to match the new requirements.
For UK canal boats, set your next BSS exam date so you can track when it's coming up.
Tick the boxes for equipment your boat has — nav lights, VHF (fixed or handheld), horn, anchor, bilge pumps, calorifier, water filters, and more. When you confirm an item, the system automatically creates the relevant maintenance tasks. For example, ticking "has nav lights" creates a monthly navigation light check. You can also mark equipment on the Safety Equipment page using the + I have this buttons.
Enter your water tank capacity to receive water system maintenance tasks with dosage instructions calculated from your tank size, based on SCMG guidelines.
Choose your preferred currency for displaying costs. Options are GBP, USD, CAD, and EUR. This is set automatically based on your boat's country during setup, but you can change it any time.
Choose between metric and imperial units. This affects how lengths and fluid volumes are displayed throughout the app:
Metric: lengths in metres, fluid volumes in litres (e.g., "3.5L 15W-40").
Imperial: lengths in feet, fluid volumes in US quarts or gallons (e.g., "3.7 US qt 15W-40"). Small volumes show as quarts; larger volumes (4+ quarts) show as gallons.
Vessel Ready has four tiers: Free Trial (14 days, full product), Owner ($29/month USD, 1 boat), Pro ($39/month USD, crew + analytics), and Fleet ($99/month USD, multi-boat). Visit the subscription page to compare tiers and upgrade.
Vessel Ready is currently in beta. Core maintenance tracking, service history, attachments, reminders, and follow-up tasks are the focus. Please report anything confusing, unreliable, or inconsistent. Vessel Ready does not replace owner/operator judgment, manufacturer instructions, surveyor advice, or regulatory/commercial compliance checks.
Offline mode warns you and preserves form data, but full automatic offline sync is not implemented yet.
Questions or feedback? hello@vesselreadyapp.com · The About this beta page covers what's intentionally out of scope (no SOLAS, commercial, or class compliance) and a reminder to verify regulatory and safety content locally.
Nine quick steps to shake out the core flow. If anything feels confusing or unreliable along the way, jot it down and email hello@vesselreadyapp.com.
Vessel Ready is in active beta. The list below is what's intentionally limited or out of scope today — if you hit any of these, it's a known boundary, not a bug. Anything not on this list that doesn't behave as you'd expect is worth a quick note to hello@vesselreadyapp.com.
If you lose connection mid-task, the app shows a banner and keeps your typed form data on screen so nothing is lost. It does not queue changes to send automatically when you come back online — you need to reconnect and tap Save again. Useful in marinas, but not yet a true offline-first experience for cruising in remote areas.
The daily digest sends from hello@vesselreadyapp.com with full SPF, DKIM (2048-bit), and DMARC published — the gold-standard authentication setup. Even so, fresh sending domains build their reputation gradually with Gmail, Outlook/Hotmail, iCloud and the rest. If your first digest lands in Spam / Junk, please mark it "Not spam" once and add the address to your contacts — placement should improve within a few days.
Vessel Ready is built for private pleasure craft — UK narrowboats, cruising sailboats, and private motor yachts roughly 30–57 ft. It is not certified for SOLAS, MGN-280 / MCA Coding, IMO classification, USCG inspected-vessel regimes, or any commercial passenger-carrying use. If you operate commercially, treat Vessel Ready as a personal record-keeping aid, not a compliance system.
Country-specific safety lists, BSS categories, certificate intervals, and other regulatory references in the app are best-effort guidance compiled from public sources. Always confirm the current rules with your authority (BSS, MCA, RYA, USCG, Transport Canada, your flag-state registry, your insurer) before relying on them for an inspection or renewal. We update the lists as rules change, but yours is the final word for your vessel.
When a task result is Issue found, Temporary repair, or Could not complete, you can spawn a follow-up task with a workflow state (Open / Awaiting parts / Awaiting specialist / Weather-blocked) and a due date — see Maintenance Outcomes. There is no separate work-order entity yet with quotes, parts orders, labour billing, or contractor assignment. Follow-up tasks are the work-order workflow today.