Finally! Share your sailing trips with crew via encrypted files. Works iOS to Android. As easy as sending a photo.
Finally! Share Your Trips with Crew Members
Ever finished a brilliant passage and wished you could share the complete logbook with your crew? Or needed to send your sailing records to the yacht owner? Maybe you just want to back up that once-in-a-lifetime voyage?
Good news, shipmates! mySailing Trips now lets you share complete sailing trips between devices – iPhone to Android, iPad to tablet, or anywhere you need your logbook to go.
How It Works (Dead Simple)
Think of it like sharing a photo, but you’re sharing an entire trip:
On Your Device:
- Swipe right on any trip in your logbook
- Tap the purple “Share” button
- Choose what to include (we’ll get to that in a sec)
- Set a 4-digit PIN – like your credit card
- Share it via WhatsApp, email, AirDrop – whatever you normally use
Your Crew Receives:
They get a file called something like Atlantic_Crossing_Blue_Moon_2024-06-15.msts (yes, it includes the boat name and date – pretty handy when you’re organizing files).
They tap it, enter your PIN, and boom – they’ve got the whole trip in their logbook. Takes about 30 seconds.
What Can You Share?
Here’s where it gets interesting. You’re not stuck sharing everything – pick and choose:
The Basics:
- Trip dates and ports
- Total miles and engine hours
- Weather notes
- All your logged events
Your Crew:
- Who was aboard
- Everyone’s duty hours (handy for professional crew)
- Watch schedules
The Boat:
- Yacht details and registration
- Owner information (useful for charter companies)
The Good Stuff:
- All your photos from the trip
- GPS positions
- Those brilliant sunset shots
Select what matters for that particular share. Sending to the owner? Include everything. Just sharing the route with a mate? Maybe skip the crew details.
Why Skippers Love This
“Sent the trip to all five crew after our Channel crossing. Everyone has the logbook now – no more ‘what was that anchorage called?'”
– James, Hallberg-Rassy 42
For Professional Crew:
Charter captains and sailing schools, this one’s for you. Share trip templates with incoming skippers. Export completed passages for the management office. Keep records organized without paperwork.
For Cruising Couples:
Both of you keep the logbook synced. You log on your iPhone, partner imports on their Android tablet. No more “whose phone has the latest entry?”
For Rally Participants:
Share your route with fellow rally boats. Compare passages. Swap GPX tracks for next season’s planning.
About That Security Thing
Now, I know what you’re thinking – “Is my data floating around on some server?”
Nope. Here’s the deal:
The file is encrypted – properly encrypted, not just password-protected. Think of it like those diplomatic briefcases in spy movies. Without your PIN, it’s just gibberish.
No internet needed. No cloud uploads. It’s peer-to-peer, skipper to skipper. You create the file on your phone, send it however you want, and the recipient opens it with your PIN.
We use the same encryption banks use (AES-256, if you’re curious). Your PIN gets run through something called PBKDF2 – basically means even if someone intercepts the file, they’d need about 10,000 years of computer time to crack it.
But here’s the important bit: Send your PIN separately from the file. Share the file via email, send the PIN via text. Or tell them in person at the marina bar.
Works Everywhere
iPhone to iPhone? Sure – use AirDrop.
iPhone to Android? Email works great.
Android to your iPad? WhatsApp, Telegram, whatever you’ve got.
When someone receives your file, their phone knows what to do with it. Tap the file, mySailing opens automatically, shows a preview, asks for the PIN, done.
Tested it with:
- Gmail attachments (works)
- WhatsApp file sharing (works)
- Telegram (works)
- AirDrop between iPhones (works beautifully)
- Saving to Google Drive then sharing the link (yep, works too)
GPX Tracks Too
For the chartplotters and navigation geeks:
You can also export your track as a standard GPX file. That’s the universal format that works with:
- Navionics
- OpenCPN
- Garmin BaseCamp
- Google Earth
- Pretty much any nav software
Want to analyze your route in detail? Export the GPX. Want to share with someone who doesn’t use mySailing? GPX works anywhere.
The GPX includes your full track with timestamps, waypoints, and speed data. Load it into your chartplotter for next season’s planning.
Smart About Filenames
Remember that filename I mentioned? Atlantic_Crossing_Blue_Moon_2024-06-15.msts
It automatically includes:
- Your trip name
- The boat name (if you’ve entered one)
- The start date
No more trip_export_final_v3_ACTUALLY_FINAL.msts nonsense. When you’ve got 20 trips shared in your Downloads folder, you’ll appreciate this.
Real-World Uses We’ve Seen
Delivery Skippers:
“I deliver yachts for a living. Now I send the owner a complete record when I hand over the keys – every hour logged, fuel consumed, everything. Professional and easy.”
Sailing Schools:
“Our instructors share the day’s sailing with students. They can review their maneuvers, see the track we sailed, remember what we covered. Better than any debrief notes.”
Cruising Communities:
“Our ARC group shares routes between boats. Someone finds a great anchorage? They share the trip. We’ve all got it logged.”
Personal Archive:
“I export every trip and save to Google Drive. It’s my backup. If I drop my phone overboard (again), I’ve got everything.”
The Import Part
When your crew gets your trip file, here’s what they see:
Preview Screen:
Shows them what’s in the file before importing:
- Trip name and dates
- Number of events and photos
- Crew count
- Whether yacht details are included
They can see exactly what they’re getting. No surprises.
Enter PIN:
They type your 4-digit code (or longer password if you’re security-conscious).
Import:
Tap the button. Done.
The app’s smart about it – if they already have some of that crew or yacht information, it doesn’t create duplicates. It just adds the new trip and updates any relevant details.
Tips from the Helm
Tip #1: Share immediately
Right after docking, share the trip while everyone’s still aboard. They’ll have it before they reach the car park.
Tip #2: Different shares for different folks
Owner gets everything. Crew get the trip minus owner details. Rally friend gets just the route and GPX. You choose each time.
Tip #3: Name your trips well
Descriptive trip names make better filenames. “Summer Cruise” becomes Summer_Cruise_2024-07-20.msts. “Falmouth to Cherbourg” becomes Falmouth_to_Cherbourg_2024-07-20.msts. See the difference?
Tip #4: Test it first
Share a trip to yourself. Send it to your own email, open it on the same device or another one you own. See how it works. Then you’ll be confident when sharing with crew.
Tip #5: PIN security matters
Use at least 4 digits, better yet 6. Don’t use 1234 or your birth year. But also don’t make it so complex you forget it – you can’t recover the file without the PIN.
What’s Next?
We’re watching how you use this feature. Some ideas we’re considering:
- Share multiple trips at once
- Share trip templates (empty trip with just the yacht and standard crew)
- Direct boat-to-boat transfer via Bluetooth
- QR code sharing (scan to download)
Let us know what would help you most. We built this feature because skippers asked for it. Keep the feedback coming.
Get Started
The trip sharing feature is in the latest version of mySailing Trips (v1.3.3+).
Already installed? Update via the App Store or Google Play.
New skipper? Download mySailing Trips – it’s free to try.
Open your logbook, swipe on a trip, and you’ll see that purple Share button waiting.
Fair Winds
This feature’s been in testing for months. We’ve shared trips across oceans (literally – our test crew includes skippers in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Pacific).
It works. It’s secure. It’s simple enough to use while the boat’s still rocking at anchor.
So next time your crew asks “can you send me the logbook?”, you can say “check your WhatsApp.”
Got questions about trip sharing? Drop them in the comments or hit us up on the contact page. Always happy to help a fellow sailor.