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Tap through the boat in the order you walk it and YachtGrade builds its checklist and route from your answers.
When you add a boat, YachtGrade opens its setup list. The part that matters most is Walk the boat. You tap through the boat the way you really walk it, say what is in each place, and YachtGrade builds that boat's checklist from your answers. This guide goes through the list and the walk one screen at a time. Adding the boat itself is covered in another article.
The setup list is titled Set up with the boat's name, and it shows how many steps are done and that it is "saved as you go." The steps are:
Each finished step gets a check mark and the next one is tagged Next. Tap any step to open it, in any order. Under the list, the main button reads Continue with the next step's name, and Save and finish later takes you back to the boat and keeps your place. Nothing is lost by leaving. Use All steps at the foot of any step to get back to the list.
Open Walk the boat. The note at the top says "Every check follows this route. Start where you normally start." That is the whole idea. The order you walk the places in becomes the order every check on this boat follows, so a tech never doubles back through the cabin.
"Not on this boat" is how a boat says it does not carry something. There is no N/A answer in YachtGrade. The checklist is built from what is aboard, so equipment the boat does not carry never turns into a question.
Missing a place? Tap Add a place under the list and type its name. Places belong to your company's list, so a new place is there for your other boats too. If you would rather talk, Talk through it lets you say where things are, like "the generator is in the lazarette." It shows what it heard, and you can tap Undo. With no signal it tells you to tap your answers instead.
Anything with no usual place waits under Not placed yet, below the places. Pick a place for it from the menu, or tap Not on this boat.
Engines and outboards get extra care. Each one has a data plate. Take a photo of it and YachtGrade reads the make, model and serial number when the photo uploads. Check what it read, then save. Under Still to confirm on the places list, a unit that is still waiting on its photo says needs a data plate photo.
Boats often carry more than one engine, and the checklist has to tell them apart. Engines, outboards and generators have a Which one row of buttons: Port, Center, Starboard, and for four across Port outer, Port inner, Starboard inner and Starboard outer. Tap one to choose it, tap it again to clear it. That label names the engine on the check and in the report.
After Finished the walk you land on A few more things, which has two tabs. Toys adds tenders and other toys kept with the boat. Documents shows Insurance and Registration. For each, tap Take a photo of it or Attach a document. YachtGrade reads when it expires, and you check the date before you save. Attaching a file needs signal. With no signal, take a photo instead and it waits on the phone. For manuals and other papers, tap Add document. Documents are often easier at a desk, so tap Save for later and come back. The full story is in boat documents and renewals.
Safety gear records what expires aboard and when. Owner and berth records the owner and where the boat is kept. Both have a skip link for now, so you can do them later. When the walk is finished, tap Finish setup. If you try to finish before the walk is done, the button reads Finish the walk first.
On a boat added since the walk shipped, starting its first check takes you to Walk the boat first, which says "A quick walk records what is aboard and builds its checklist." Tap Start the walk. The reason is plain: without the walk, YachtGrade would not know what the boat carries or which way you walk it, and the check would not fit the boat. Once the walk is done, the check opens normally. The hold applies only to that first check, and boats added before the walk existed are not held up. See how the checklists are built for what happens next.
Can I do the walk in more than one visit?
Yes. Every tap saves as you go. Tap Save and finish later, or just leave, and the setup list shows where you got to.
What if I tapped the places in the wrong order?
The route is set by Done here, which puts that place next on the route. Opening a place to look at it does not move it. Go back to a place and tap Done here when you want it to take its turn.
The first check will not start. Why?
The boat's walk is not finished. Tap Start the walk, go through the places, and tap Finished the walk. Only the first check on a recently added boat waits.
The boat does not have something on the list. What do I tap?
Tap Not on this boat. There is no N/A answer. The boat's equipment profile decides which questions appear, so the checkpoint never shows up.
A data plate photo could not be read. What now?
YachtGrade says it could not read it. Type what the plate says, or tap Take it again for a clearer photo.
What happens with no signal?
Photos are saved on the phone and read when you are back in range. Attaching a document file needs signal, so take a photo of the page instead.
When the walk is done, the equipment screen is where you keep it current. That is covered in equipment, engine hours and parts. For running the first check itself, read how to run a boat inspection on board.
YachtGrade was designed by a USCG 100-ton captain who spent five years managing, detailing, running and selling boats in South Florida, after four years building IT systems for businesses. Who built it →
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This describes how the current YachtGrade app works. It is general guidance, not a survey and not a substitute for one.
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