Built an AI passage planner because I was tired of opening 6 tabs before every passage — would love captain feedback
USCG Unlimited Tonnage Master here. I'm the captain of a US Flag container ship for a living and run a small ASA sailing school when I'm home. Spent the last few months building something for myself that I figured I'd share.
Every time I plan a passage I have six tabs open — Windy, OpenSeaMap, Active Captain, Google for customs procedures, the marina's own website for VHF channel and harbor master contact. Wanted one tool that pulls it all together and gives me a plain-English briefing instead of just data.
So I built seabriefai.com. It does daily weather briefings for sailing, fishing, racing, power, and paddling — but the part I actually find useful is the passage planner. You pick two marinas, it gives you a real tactical write-up: "Wind shifts from ESE to S around 01:37z, then backs SW by dawn. Beat windows mid-day. Reef early at 18 for cruising comfort." Plus a chart map, hour-by-hour conditions, and port info for both ends.
Not trying to replace anyone's chart plotter. Different use case — pre-departure planning and crew briefings.
If anyone here is curious enough to try it and tell me what's broken or wrong, I'd genuinely appreciate it. I built this for myself but if it's useful to other captains I want to make it better.
