VesselTwin FAQ: what boat owners ask about keeping a boat record

VesselTwin is a private digital record for a boat you own. It keeps maintenance history, manuals and documents, parts, photos, measurements and expenses together, organized around the boat itself instead of a binder, a camera roll and a pile of text threads. The Today view puts overdue and due-soon work at the top, by calendar date or engine hours. It runs on the web and as an iPhone and iPad app, and the Free plan covers one boat with the whole record.

RelatedBoat maintenance appWhy it was built

Honestly, the best one is the one you are still using after the first season. Look for three things: it records each job with the date, engine hours, cost and photos; it keeps manuals and receipts next to the work they explain; and it shows what is due next without you rebuilding a spreadsheet. VesselTwin was built by a boat owner around exactly those three things, and you can start on the permanent Free plan for one boat, with no card.

RelatedWhat a maintenance app should do

Add your boat. A name is enough, or start from a public model page and pick up the factory specs. Then drop in what you already have, such as a few manuals, last season’s invoices and photos of the engine room, in any order. Log the next job when you do it, and Today starts showing what is due next. The record is useful from the first entry; you do not need to finish the binder before it helps.

RelatedBrowse public model pages

Start with what you reach for most: the engine and generator manuals, your most recent survey and the invoices from the last haul-out. Those give VesselTwin the equipment and service history to work from, and it can read them and suggest details for you to review. After that, log each job as it happens instead of reconstructing years at once. A few honest entries a month beat a heroic catch-up weekend every spring.

RelatedKeeping boat manuals

Yes. The same record is available in a browser at www.vesseltwin.io and in the VesselTwin app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. Ask, which answers questions from your own manuals and shows the page it used, is in the iPhone app. Troubleshoot works in both. The iPhone app also saves new captures when you have no signal and syncs them once you are back in range. The web app keeps some drafts and queued photo uploads on your device and retries when the connection returns, but other changes need a connection.

RelatedGet the iPhone and iPad app

The full record works in Chrome on Android, and you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app: open www.vesseltwin.io in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu (⋮), choose Add to Home screen (on some phones, Install app), and confirm. VesselTwin then appears with its own icon. The web version keeps some drafts and queued photo uploads on your device and retries when the connection returns, but other changes need a connection. iPhone and iPad already have a native app.

Yes. Sign in at www.vesseltwin.io in any modern browser and you get the full record: maintenance, documents, parts, expenses, sharing and Troubleshoot. In Chrome or Edge you can also install it from the install icon in the address bar, so it opens in its own window. Keep a connection while you work: the web app keeps some drafts and queued photo uploads on your device and retries when the connection returns, but other changes need a connection to save.

Mostly for people who own a boat and want its history in one place: weekend boaters, sailors, anglers, cruisers and owners who do their own work. It suits sailboats, center consoles, cruisers and trawlers, pontoons, ski and wake boats and classic boats alike. The people around the boat, whether a co-owner, captain, crew, mechanic or surveyor, can be brought into the record with exactly the access they need and nothing more.

Yes, and it is one of the best reasons to use it. Log each job with the date, engine hours, the parts you used, what they cost and a before and after photo. Your own work sits in the same history as yard work, with its source noted, so a mechanic, a surveyor or the next owner can see what was done and when instead of taking your word for it. You did the work; keep the proof.

RelatedBuilding a service history

Yes, boat by boat. Each boat has its own record, with captains, crew and advisors added in the role that fits them, and mechanics sent single jobs by secure link. Owner Pro covers more than one boat under one account. Tools built specifically for multi-boat operators, such as readiness views, inspections, issue queues and fleet reports, are offered as a pilot you can ask about. They are not a self-serve plan today.

RelatedPlans and pilot offers

If you work on other people’s boats, the owner can send you a work packet: a secure link with the details, photos and documents for one job, without exposing the rest of the boat’s record. You do not need the app or an account to open it. The link expires on a date the owner sets, up to 30 days, and the owner can revoke it sooner at any time. A shop inbox, estimates and repeat-vendor workflows for service businesses are a separate pilot that shops can request.

RelatedPlans and pilot offers

A seller can give a buyer, broker or surveyor read-only access to the boat’s record for as long as the conversation lasts, and end it whenever they choose. That lets a serious buyer read dated service history, invoices and photos instead of leafing through a shoebox. A well-kept record supports a marine survey but does not replace one, and records kept from the start of ownership carry more weight than ones assembled the month before listing.

RelatedRecords for resale

Record each job when you finish it: what was done, the date, engine hours, who did it, the parts and the cost, plus a photo or two. VesselTwin keeps those entries in one dated, searchable timeline per boat, beside the manuals and receipts that explain them. Routine service, repairs, inspections, upgrades and seasonal work all go in the same history, so it reads like a logbook rather than a list of reminders you once set.

RelatedThe boat maintenance log

Yes. A recurring job can come due on a calendar interval or at an engine-hour reading, which is how most engine and drive manuals specify service. Keep your hours current when you check them, and Today moves anything overdue or due soon to the top: oil that is a few days late, rigging due for an inspection, or an impeller due at the next hour mark. Both kinds of interval sit on the same list.

VesselTwin keeps the due list for you, so you do not have to remember it. Overdue and due-soon work sits at the top of Today whenever you open the record on the web or iPhone. Because intervals can run on engine hours as well as dates, the list stays honest about work that comes due through use, not just the calendar. Check Today before a weekend on the water and you will know what needs doing first.

Yes. VesselTwin includes seasonal lay-up and spring commissioning checklists you can work through on the boat. Tick off what you did, write down what spring needs, and log the jobs as you go. When the cover comes off, you start commissioning from your own notes from last fall instead of from memory, and the season’s work ends up in the boat’s history rather than on a sticky note.

At minimum, record the date, engine hours, what was done and why, who did it, the parts with their part numbers, and the cost. The details that pay off later are the ones people skip: a before and after photo, the invoice, the reading that prompted the job and how it turned out. VesselTwin keeps each of those attached to the entry, so the log can still answer a question years after the job.

RelatedMaintenance log guide

Start with the manufacturer’s schedule in your manuals. VesselTwin can read them and suggest service items for you to review. Public model pages add what other owners of the same model have chosen to share, such as known issues and real-world intervals. Treat both as input to your own judgment and your mechanic’s, not as a replacement for the manual, and check how public knowledge is sourced on the content standards page.

RelatedPublic model pagesContent standards

Yes, with Owner Pro. Each boat gets its own email address, shown in your Inbox. Forward yard invoices, parts receipts and service emails to it from your VesselTwin account email (collaborators who can edit that boat can forward from theirs too), and they wait in your private Inbox. Nothing is added to the record until you review it. PDF, photo, Word and text attachments are accepted, and mail from any other address is turned away.

RelatedOwner Pro details

Upload a PDF, or scan a paper manual with your phone, including multi-page documents. VesselTwin files it on the boat, can make its text searchable, and can read it to suggest specs, equipment and service items. Nothing is saved until you review it. The manual you need at the fuel dock is then on your phone, not in a drawer at home.

RelatedBoat manuals and documents

Yes. Snap a yard invoice or upload a receipt and VesselTwin reads it and suggests the service items, parts and equipment it found, for you to confirm before anything is saved. Reading documents uses an allowance that every plan includes; the Free plan also has extra reads for setting up your first boat. Typing entries in yourself is never limited, so you are never stuck waiting on an allowance to keep your record current. Owner Pro can also take them by forwarded email.

RelatedPlans and allowances

Add parts to the boat with their part numbers and notes on what actually fits, then link each part to the job that used it and the receipt it came from. The next time a mechanic asks for the number, you can find it in seconds instead of searching a glovebox. Public model pages also collect parts-compatibility notes from owners of the same model, which helps when the original part is discontinued.

RelatedPublic model pages

Yes. Log haul-outs, yard bills, parts and upgrades as expenses on the boat and attach the receipt. Costs recorded on maintenance entries sit beside the work they paid for, so you can see what the boat actually costs to run. Expenses are part of the record on every plan, including Free, and they stay with the boat’s history.

Yes. Photos can be organized by zone, such as the engine room, helm or bilge, so you can find the right one later. Before and after photos on a maintenance entry are often the most useful evidence you have when a mechanic, surveyor or buyer asks what was done. They also help you remember how something was wired before you took it apart.

Yes. Measurements are part of the boat record, so you can compare this season’s reading with last season’s instead of trusting memory, and give a mechanic or surveyor the numbers behind a decision. Recording engine hours alongside your work also keeps hour-based service intervals accurate, and the measurements sit in the same private record as everything else on the boat.

Send the mechanic a work packet for the job: a secure link with the relevant history, photos and documents, which they open without installing anything or creating an account. The rest of the boat’s record stays private. The link expires on the date you set, up to 30 days, and you can revoke it sooner at any time. A work packet can have up to twenty active links at a time. Captains and crew who are aboard every week can instead be added as collaborators, each with a role that matches what they actually do.

RelatedSharing service history

Yes. Invite a co-owner, captain, crew member, advisor or read-only viewer, and give each person a role that matches what they do. A co-owner can work in the full record, but you remain the account owner; co-owner access does not transfer ownership of the boat record. Sharing with collaborators and vendors is included on every plan, including Free.

No. A work packet opens from a secure link in any browser, so the shop sees the job details, photos and documents without downloading an app or signing up. The link covers that one job, not your whole boat. It expires on the date you set, up to 30 days, and you can revoke it sooner at any time. That keeps the conversation focused on the work and keeps the rest of your record private.

Yes. You decide who has access and for how long. You can end a collaborator’s access at any time from the boat’s access settings, whatever their role. Work packet links are scoped to one job, expire on the date you set (up to 30 days) and can be revoked sooner at any time, so a mechanic is not left holding a permanent window into your boat.

No. Everything in the record works by hand: logging jobs, adding parts and expenses, filing documents and photos, and seeing what is due. Document reading, Ask, Troubleshoot and assistant connections exist to save typing and searching. When they suggest something for your record, it is not saved until you review and accept it, so the record stays yours.

Yes, in the iPhone app. Ask answers plain-English questions, such as what oil the engine takes, from your own manuals and records, and shows the page the answer came from so you can check it yourself. Questions draw on a monthly allowance that every plan includes. Reading and searching your own records is never limited.

RelatedPlans and allowances

Troubleshoot helps you work through a symptom, like an engine that will not start or a bilge pump that keeps cycling, with safety-first guidance. It works on the web and in the iPhone app, on every plan. Troubleshoot questions share the monthly question allowance that every plan includes. It is a structured starting point for figuring out what is going on, not a substitute for a qualified marine technician, especially where fuel, electrical or safety systems are involved.

Yes, on every plan. Once connected, your assistant can answer from your boat list, what is due, recent work and passages from your own manuals. That basic access is read-only: it cannot add, edit, share or delete anything in VesselTwin, and it excludes hull and registration numbers and locations. Photo files are never included on any plan. The AI assistants page explains exactly what each level of access includes.

RelatedHow AI assistant access works

Only if you turn that on. Private-record access lets your own assistant answer from document text, notes, costs, identifiers and exact locations, and Inbox suggestions let it propose entries you accept or reject. Both are Owner Pro options that stay off until you enable them, and you can switch them off at any time. Private records from boats you only collaborate on are never included, whatever the setting, and photo files are never sent.

RelatedAI assistant access

No, which is why VesselTwin asks you to review what it reads before saving it, and why Ask shows the page an answer came from. Check extracted specs and intervals against the source, especially torque values, fluid capacities and anything safety-related. When in doubt, the manual and your mechanic win. The content standards page explains how public boat knowledge on VesselTwin is sourced and reviewed.

RelatedContent standards

No. A record starts private and stays that way unless you share it, and inviting someone gives them access to that boat only. Public model pages are built from what owners explicitly choose to contribute, with boat identifiers scrubbed, and your HIN, registration and exact marina location are excluded from public pages. Having a boat on VesselTwin never publishes it.

RelatedPrivacy policy

No. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not send advertising partners your boat records. Optional marketing measurement runs only if you turn it on in Privacy Choices, and Global Privacy Control keeps it off. The Terms and privacy policy do allow aggregated or de-identified data products that do not identify you or your boat; read exactly what that means there.

RelatedPrivacy policyTermsPrivacy choices

VesselTwin does not let the AI subprocessors it selects use your data to train their models. If you connect a third-party assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude, that provider’s own privacy and training settings apply to the limited data you ask VesselTwin to send it. The subprocessors page lists who processes data on VesselTwin’s behalf.

RelatedSubprocessorsPrivacy policy

Yes. Go to Settings, then Privacy & data, then Export my data, and download a private, machine-readable JSON snapshot of your account at any time. Downgrading a plan never deletes a record, so you are never forced to choose between paying and keeping your boat’s history. Your data leaves with you whenever you want it to.

RelatedPrivacy policy

Request deletion from your account settings. A 30-day grace period follows, during which you can cancel. After that, the account and its private records are deleted, with a few documented exceptions, such as identity-stripped audit logs. The account deletion page explains exactly what is removed, what is retained and why.

RelatedAccount deletion

One boat with the whole record: maintenance, documents, photos, parts, expenses and sharing with crew and vendors. Free also includes Troubleshoot, Ask questions in the iPhone app, read-only ChatGPT or Claude access, and document reads to set the boat up. It has no deadline, needs no card and never upgrades itself. Record-keeping is never capped on any plan.

RelatedCompare plans

Owner Pro is for owners with more than one boat, a big refit or a lot of paperwork. It adds email-in capture, so you can forward receipts and service emails to your boat’s own address, plus room for more boats, a larger monthly allowance of document reads and questions, private-record access and Inbox suggestions for your own assistant, and priority support. It does not unlock record-keeping, which is the same on every plan. Current prices, limits and the full list are on the pricing page.

RelatedOwner Pro details

Yes. Free covers one boat, and Owner Pro covers several under one account. If you later move back to Free with more than one boat, nothing is deleted: every boat stays viewable and exportable, one stays fully editable and the others become read-only until you upgrade again. You choose which boat stays editable.

RelatedCompare plans

Yes, any time. Pro stays on through the period you have already paid for, and your first Owner Pro purchase on the web has a 30-day refund window. Cancelling or downgrading never deletes a record; your boats and their history stay exactly where they are. The terms explain the refund and billing policy in full.

RelatedRefund and billing policy

Log jobs the day you do them, while the details are fresh. Take a before photo and an after photo. Keep engine hours current so hour-based intervals stay accurate. Scan invoices before they fade in the glovebox, and file each manual on the boat you use it for. Small, regular entries beat a big catch-up session every spring, and they make Today’s due list something you can trust.

Work in batches by system: engine, electrical, plumbing, rigging, then electronics. Scan each manual or invoice with your phone, let VesselTwin suggest what it found, and review it before saving. Do the documents you use most first; the rest can wait for a rainy day. On the Free plan, setting up your first boat comes with extra document reads, and anything past that you can still type in by hand.

RelatedBoat manuals

Start now, not the month before listing. Record owner work and yard work the same way, with dates, hours, invoices and photos, and note each upgrade and why you made it. Keep the survey and any follow-up repairs together. When the time comes, give the buyer’s surveyor read-only access instead of handing over a binder, and end it when the sale is done.

RelatedRecords for resaleService history

Yes. Choose metric or imperial under Settings, then Preferences, and VesselTwin shows lengths, capacities and other measurements in those units. Underneath, the record stores one consistent value, so switching units, or sharing with a co-owner who thinks in the other system, does not change your data. Pick whatever matches your manuals and your instruments.

Public model pages collect what owners of the same model choose to share: known issues, real-world maintenance intervals, parts that actually fit and step-by-step upgrade write-ups. You can browse them without an account, start your own boat record from one, and contribute what you have learned when you are ready. Your private record is never part of it unless you choose to share.

RelatedPublic model pagesUpgrade guides

Inside VesselTwin, use the support and feedback tool. It goes straight to the team, and it is the fastest way to report something that looks wrong. If you cannot sign in, use the public contact form instead. Telling us what you expected to see and what you saw, with a screenshot if you can, helps us fix it quickly.

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