Frequently Asked Questions

Open Boat Life is the global community for life aboard. Put your boat on the map, share photos and routes, join groups, and talk with other skippers and crew.

Open Sign up and create a free account, or log in if you already have one. You can then add a boat, join groups, and start posting.

Open Sign up. Use your name, email, and a password. You will be asked to agree to the Terms and the Privacy & GDPR policy.

Yes. Open Boat Life is free to use.

Sign in, open Dashboard or Fleet, and choose Add boat. Fill in the type, name, and other details, then click the map to set position. You can edit everything later.

Boat profiles and map positions you publish are visible on the public map. Photos, albums and group posts are only shown to signed-in members. Keep personal details you do not want shared off your profile.

Edit your boat and move the pin, or allow a location update when the site asks after login. Live tracking on a route can also update position as you go.

Yes. Add photos on the boat page and in Photos. You can organise them in albums and choose a cover image.

The map shows boats that members have placed. Filter by type, search by name, port or flag, and open a vessel for its profile.

No. Positions are provided by members and may be approximate. Do not rely on Open Boat Life for navigation, collision avoidance, or emergencies.

Each boat can keep GPS routes with speed, course, and events. Open live track on your boat to start a new route or continue an existing one. My routes lists the tracks you own.

Groups are topic rooms — for example maintenance or life aboard. Join a group to read posts, comment, and share tips or photos from your own boat.

Yes. Open a post, then Reply on a comment. Replies sit under the original comment so the thread stays easy to follow.

Open Messages from the header or your profile, or start a conversation from another member’s page. Unread counts show on the chat button.

Follow keeps you closer to a member’s posts in the feed. Like is a quick way to appreciate a post. You can see who liked a post from the likes list.

Open Profile from the menu. You can change your display name, photo, crew role, and bio.

Account details, boat and route data you enter, photos, posts, comments, and messages. We do not sell personal data.

You can delete boats and photos yourself from the dashboard and edit pages. To close the whole account, contact a site administrator.

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