Getting Started
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ReadyHelm is where you keep your boat's full record — maintenance, service history, safety checklists, equipment, and documents — in one place, and share exactly as much of it as you want with crew, family, or your boatyard.
Creating an account
You can sign in two ways:
- Sign in with Google — one click, no password to remember.
- Email + password — enter your name, email, and a password on the sign-up screen.
Every new account starts on the Free plan (see Your Plan & Upgrading).
Forgot your password? Use Forgot password? on the sign-in screen. You'll get an email with a reset link that's valid for one hour. If you originally signed up with Google, this also lets you set a password for the first time.
Welcome: owner, crew, or both
After you sign up, First Mate welcomes you aboard and asks what you'd like to set up first:
- Boat Owner. Track maintenance, documents, and service history for your boat. This takes you to adding your boat (below).
- Crew Member. Log hours toward a captain's license and help out on a boat you don't own. Search for the boat by boat name or owner email and click Request Access. The owner gets your request to approve. If the boat isn't on ReadyHelm yet, you can invite the owner to join (see Timeline & Your Crew).
Pick one or both. Anything you skip can be picked up later from the Finish setting up your account banner on Home, so nothing blocks you from using the app.
Some new accounts get guided setup instead: First Mate asks I have a boat or I crew on someone else's boat, takes your boat's basics, asks where it lives, and lets you choose a simple or full Home. See Simple Mode & Guided Setup.
Adding your boat
You have two ways to add a boat:
- First Mate. Upload documents you already have (a HIN plate photo, registration, insurance, a survey, receipts, and more) and First Mate fills in the boat's details for you to review. See First Mate.
- Enter details. Type in the basics yourself: name, make, model, year, type, engine hours, and location. As you type the make and model, ReadyHelm suggests matches from boats it already knows. The suggestions are optional, and anything you type is kept as-is.
If you don't have a boat and only want to track your certifications, choose Skip — I don't have a boat, just track my certifications.
The HIN
Every boat is identified by its Hull Identification Number (HIN), the alphanumeric code stamped on the hull, usually on the starboard transom. HINs are permanent and belong to the boat, not any one owner, so ReadyHelm uses them to keep a boat's history together across ownership changes.
You don't need the HIN to get started. Leave it blank and the boat is created right away, with its HIN shown as "Pending." Add it later from Edit vessel. Everything you've logged in the meantime moves over to the real HIN automatically.
When you do enter a HIN (up to 12 characters, capitalized automatically), what happens depends on whether ReadyHelm has seen it before:
- Brand-new HIN. The boat is linked to you as its owner.
- HIN with no current owner (for example, logged by a boatyard before you signed up). The boat is assigned to you, along with its existing history.
- HIN already owned by someone else. ReadyHelm sends a transfer request to the current owner instead of taking the boat over. You'll see "Claim submitted" and get access once they approve it.
Adding more boats
Once you have at least one boat, use + Add New Vessel from the vessel switcher at the top of the sidebar (or the vessel name dropdown on mobile). You get the same First Mate / Enter details choice.
How many boats you can add depends on your plan. See My Account, Plans & Upgrading. If you're at your limit, you'll see an upgrade prompt instead of the add-boat form.
Finding your way around
The left sidebar (desktop) or the header and bottom icons (mobile) are your main navigation. The 🔔 bell at the top of the sidebar shows notifications (see Messages & Notifications).
At the top, available from anywhere:
- 🏠 Home. Your whole fleet at a glance (see Home & Vessel Summary).
- 💬 Messages. Conversations with your crew and boatyard (see Messages & Notifications).
- First Mate. Chat with the AI assistant about your boats (see First Mate).
Crew Corner (covers all of your boats):
- 🕐 Timeline. Everything with a date, across your fleet (see Timeline & Your Crew).
- 🧭 My Trips. Every trip you're on, plus crew invites waiting on you (see Captain's Log).
- 🎓 Safety & Certs. Your certifications and emergency info (see My Account, Plans & Upgrading).
- 👥 Your Crew. Everyone with access to your boats, and crew requests to approve (see Timeline & Your Crew).
- 🛟 Float Plans. Safety check-ins across your fleet (see Float Plan).
- 🟠 Berths. Your moorings and slips (see Berths: Moorings & Slips).
- 🏁 Racing. Club race seasons you've registered for, and finding new ones (see Racing).
Vessel (the boat selected in the vessel switcher):
- 🏠 Vessel Summary. This boat's status at a glance.
- 🗂️ Vessel Records. Sharing & Ownership, Insurance, Registration, Ratings, Identifiers, Specifications, and Documents (see Vessel Records).
- 🔧 Equipment. Your gear inventory (see Equipment).
- ⚓ Checklists. Before/After Trip, custom checklists, and the USCG safety checklist (see Checklists).
- 📝 To-Do. Freeform tasks (see To-Do Items).
- 📋 Service Log. Maintenance tasks and service history (see Maintenance Tasks & Service Log).
- 💰 Expenses. Fuel, dockage, and other running costs (see Expenses).
- ⚓ Captain's Log. Trips, crew hours, and USCG sea-service tracking (see Captain's Log).
On mobile, the header keeps search, messages, First Mate and the bell, and the ☰ menu holds My Account, the Pro portal, the User Guide, Give feedback and Sign out.
At the bottom of the sidebar, 📖 User Guide opens this guide and 💬 Give feedback reports a bug, requests a feature, or asks for help (see Giving Feedback). Your name is shown below it. Click it to open My Account (see My Account, Plans & Upgrading).
If you're also part of a business on ReadyHelm Pro (a boatyard, mooring service or brokerage, for example), 🧰 Pro portal at the bottom of the sidebar (in the ☰ menu on mobile) switches to it without signing in again. Your boats stay on this account. See the Pro Portal guide.
If you own more than one boat, use the vessel switcher to move between them. Everything in the Vessel section updates to that boat.
Some items only appear if your plan includes them. Others show an upgrade prompt when you open them.
Installing ReadyHelm on your phone or computer
ReadyHelm can be installed like an app. In your browser, use Add to Home Screen (iPhone/iPad: Safari's Share menu; Android: Chrome's menu) or the Install icon in the address bar (desktop Chrome and Edge). It then opens in its own window with the ReadyHelm icon. The installed app loads its screens even when your connection is patchy, but you still need to be online to load or save your data.
Common questions
Do I need my boat's HIN to start using ReadyHelm?
No. Leave the HIN blank and the boat is created right away, with its HIN shown as Pending. Add it later from Edit vessel, and everything you've logged moves over to the real HIN.
What happens to my boat's records when I sell it?
The record belongs to the boat's HIN, not to you, so it stays with the boat. You hand it over with Transfer under Vessel Records → Sharing & Ownership, the new owner confirms, and you can keep read access as a Viewer (see Vessel Records). A verified history report helps a buyer see what's been done.
Is there a ReadyHelm app for iPhone and Android?
ReadyHelm runs in the browser and can be installed from it like an app: Add to Home Screen on iPhone, iPad and Android, or the Install icon in desktop Chrome and Edge.