Phone protection & mounting

The first things you'll want to consider when using CrewNerd are how to protect your phone, and how you plan to mount it in your boat. Protecting your phone will depend both on your phone make and model, and whether you row or paddle on fresh water or salt water.

If you plan to row or paddle on salt water, having a waterproof case for your phone is essential. If you're on fresh water, you should first check to see what level of waterproofing is built into your phone. In recent years, phones models have become more and more resistant to rain and submersion in (shallow) water. Detailed information about water-resistance is available online for iPhone, Samsung, and Google Pixel devices.

If your phone is sufficiently water-resistant, you may want to focus more on how you plan to mount the phone. If you do need a waterproof case, there are several good options available from OtterBox and others. Hard cases are the best for mounting but aren't available for all phone models, in which case a flexible case can be used.

Regardless of the case you use, a lanyard connected to the case and attached securely to the boat provides another level of security in the event that you flip or capsize.

Mounting options

To detect your stroke rate reliably, CrewNerd requires that you mount your phone securely to the boat so that the phone's accelerometer can sense the motion of the hull through the water. How you mount your phone will depend a lot on whether you're using club boats or your own. If you use club equipment, a mount that you can easily attach and remove is probably essential. Often, you can attach a "belt clip" mount to a footstretcher, or wrap an "arm band" mount around a rigger. If you are using your own equipment, then you may want to do something more permanent.

LifeProof and QuadLock have a variety of cases and mounts for both temporary and permanent mounting.

Orienting the phone correctly

CrewNerd expects that your phone is pointed directly toward the bow or stern of your boat. The phone can be laying flat, but for most scenarios, you will want to tilt the phone up so you can view the screen easily. CrewNerd automatically senses the angle of tilt so that it can measure your horizontal and vertical acceleration accurately.

If you need to tilt your phone forward or backward, CrewNerd will adjust to the new angle in a few seconds.