Where to drop anchor when the meltemi blows.
Moorline is a phone app for people who sail small boats in the Aegean and the Ionian. Each bay has notes on the bottom, the holding and the winds it shelters from. Each harbour has notes on water, fuel and what the berth cost last time. Sailors who were there wrote them.
In beta with testers on iPhone and Android, and free until 1.0. Sign up with the beta form to get a test build.
What's in it
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Anchorages, read against the wind
Every bay has a pin, the bottom (sand, weed, mud or rock), how the anchor held, and a ring that shows which wind directions it's sheltered from. Set the wind you expect tonight and the bays open to it go grey.
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Harbour notes from the last boat in
Where the water pillar is and whether it takes a token or a card. Whether fuel comes from a pump or a truck you call the day before. What a 10 metre boat paid for a night, and in which month.
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A date on every note
Every note shows the month it was written. Notes older than two seasons fade in the list, so you can tell a fresh report from an old rumour.
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Works with no signal
Download an area before you leave the marina. The notes, the photos and the base map stay on your phone, and so does the anchor alarm.
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An anchor alarm, free in every version
Draw your swing circle and go to sleep. If the boat leaves the circle, the phone sounds. It stays free, because nobody should drag onto the rocks for want of a subscription.
What it looks like
Screens from the current beta build, 0.10.
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The map with a north wind set. Bays open to the north go grey. -
One anchorage: the bottom, the holding, the depth, the shelter ring and the latest notes with their dates. -
A harbour: water, fuel, power, how you moor, and what the berth cost last time. -
The anchor alarm at night, in red so it doesn't spoil your night vision.
How it works
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Download your area
Before you leave the marina, pick the area you're sailing and download it. One area is free. Plus downloads them all.
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Set tonight's wind
Check the forecast you trust, then tell Moorline the direction and the strength. It doesn't fetch a forecast for you, and it won't guess.
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Pick a bay and read the notes
Open the bays still in colour. Read what the bottom is, where people dropped the anchor, and what went wrong for them.
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Leave a note on your way out
Two lines are enough: what the anchor held in, and anything you'd want to know next time. The month is added for you. I read every note before it goes live.
Made in Volos, by one person who sails
I make Moorline on my own, in Volos. I keep a small yacht in the Pagasetic Gulf and spend most summer weekends in the Sporades.
It started as a notebook. Which bays had good sand and which had weed the anchor skated over. Which ones went rolly when the afternoon wind backed west. Which harbours had water on the quay, and who you paid for the berth. Other sailors kept asking for a copy, so the app is that notebook, opened up so they can write in it too.
There's no team and no investor. I write the code, read every note before it goes live, and answer the beta testers myself.
What it costs
Everything is free while Moorline is in beta, Plus included. From version 1.0 the prices below apply, and beta testers keep Plus free for their first year.
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Moorline
Free
- Every anchorage and harbour note, in every area
- The wind filter for tonight
- Add your own notes and photos
- The anchor alarm
- Night colours for the cockpit
- One area downloaded for use offline
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Moorline Plus
€24 a year
- Everything in the free version
- Every area downloaded for use offline
- A passage plan up to five nights ahead, with its own wind for each night
- Private notes that only you can see
- Your log of nights at anchor, exported as GPX or CSV
Prices in euros, VAT included. Plus is bought inside the app and you cancel it from your phone's subscription settings. There is no monthly price.
Questions
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Can I navigate with it?
No. Moorline helps you choose where to stop for the night. Navigate with your chartplotter and your paper charts. The map in the app shows where a bay is, and it isn't fit for navigation.
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Where do the notes come from?
From sailors who anchored or berthed there and wrote down what happened, and from my own log of the Sporades. I read every note before it goes live. Each one shows the month it was written, and notes older than two seasons fade, so treat those with care.
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Does it give me a forecast?
No. You set the wind yourself, from whichever forecast you trust. Moorline then greys out the bays that the notes say are open to it.
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Which waters does it cover?
Greek waters only: the Pagasetic Gulf and the Sporades, the North Aegean, the Saronic and Argolic gulfs, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and the east Aegean, and the Ionian. Some areas have far more notes than others. The Sporades are the fullest, because that's where I sail.
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Does it work without a signal?
Yes, for any area you've downloaded. The notes, the photos, the base map and the anchor alarm all work offline. One area is free to download, and Plus downloads them all.
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What happens to my location?
It stays on your phone. The map and the anchor alarm use it, and I never receive where you are or where you've been. Your log of nights at anchor only leaves the phone if you export it yourself.
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Is it only for sailing yachts?
No. Motorboats, catamarans and open day boats use the same bays and the same harbours. Berth prices in the harbour notes come with the boat's length, so you can tell what applies to yours.
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Why can't I download it yet?
Moorline is in beta. Test builds go out by phone type to the people who signed up. Join the beta and you'll get an install link when the next build is ready.
Test the next build
Version 0.10 is with testers now, and 1.0 is planned for spring 2027. Tell me which phone you have, what you sail and where, and what I should fix first. It takes about two minutes.