I use the app for my boat records, and I am still developing it. Keeping a useful history depends on recording what actually happened and reviewing the details as the work progresses.
What is NautiFile?
NautiFile is the boat-records app I’m building to organize projects, equipment, service history, documents, photographs, and expenses around the boat they belong to. The documents in my workflow live in Google Drive; the app gives them context alongside the work and equipment they describe.
A manual is useful. A manual linked to the right equipment, its service history, the current problem, and the relevant receipts is much more useful. That is the idea behind the project.
Why build another boat project?
Preparing Além Mar means learning its systems while working through repairs and improvements. Each job produces a different trail: measurements, photographs, support replies, part numbers, quotes, purchases, and the next thing to test.
I chose the NautiFile name and registered nautifile.com in July 2026. The project has continued to develop alongside the boat work.
I wanted a record that could answer practical questions: what have I already tried, what did it show, what did I buy, and what still needs doing? My memory is enthusiastic. Its filing system is less impressive.
That made NautiFile a substantial software project alongside the physical boat projects. It brings my interest in building useful technology into work I am actually doing.
A project is more than a receipt
The stern-thruster investigation is a good example. A photograph of corrosion, a resistance reading, and a replacement quote each tell part of the story. Together with dated updates, they explain why the next step is a communication test rather than a declaration that the controller is fixed.
| Record | Question it helps answer |
|---|---|
| Equipment and documents | Which unit is this, and where is its manual or supporting paperwork? |
| Project updates and photographs | What did I observe, try, and learn? |
| Service history | What work was actually completed, and when? |
| Expenses and receipts | What did the work cost, and what supports that amount? |
| Open work | What remains unresolved, and what should happen next? |
That distinction between a finding, a possible explanation, and a confirmed result matters. Cleaning a board belongs in the history. Calling it repaired requires a successful test.
Putting AI to useful work
The connected NautiFile tools let me work with the records through ChatGPT: retrieve a project, search documents, review equipment history, and assemble the information needed to decide what to do next. I can also ask for updates to be recorded as a project develops.
Document intake has its own review step. Emailed or uploaded paperwork can arrive in an inbox, where it can be checked and filed with an expense, service record, or piece of equipment. Reducing retyping is useful; a neatly filed wrong amount is still a wrong amount.
I want AI to help with the searching and organization while keeping the source material and the owner’s judgment in the process. It should help preserve the evidence, including the inconvenient bits.
What using it teaches me about building it
Using the app on real work makes the details matter. A receipt can cover several items. A quote can become an invoice with tax and freight. A physical installation can be complete while commissioning remains unfinished.
- Keep the source. A summary should lead back to the document or observation that supports it.
- Keep related records connected. A purchase is easier to understand when it belongs to the correct project and equipment.
- Make status precise. “Ordered,” “installed,” and “tested successfully” describe different milestones.
- Reconcile the spending. Deposits, credits, shipping, and unsuccessful attempts can change the total.
These are the practical standards I am working toward as I continue developing NautiFile. The point is to make the next search easier and the record more dependable.
From a private record to a useful article
NautiFile is where I keep the detailed working record. This journal is where I explain selected projects for other owners: the original problem, the useful tests, the options and costs, and the outcome so far.
The stern thruster, house batteries, and radar articles are examples of that approach. I have also written about using AI to turn project notes into articles.
The detailed records remain private. An article needs the relevant evidence, not delivery addresses, boat location, private correspondence, or identifying paperwork. Photographs get the same review.
Still building, still using
NautiFile remains an ongoing project. I am using it on my own boat work while improving how information gets captured, linked, and found again.
The goal is straightforward: less time hunting for the thing I know I wrote down, and more time making progress aboard the boat. Apparently, getting a little nauti can involve a surprisingly respectable amount of recordkeeping.
Visit NautiFile to see the boat-records app behind these project notes.
Loading comments…