A guide to keeping your in-tray empty whilst at sea.

1) The cloud is your friend - GoPaperless

The key to the mobile office is going paperless and a plethora of cloud based apps are available to help you. Dropbox for your files, Evernote for notes that synch across all devices and Slack to keep in contact with your team are some favourites.

2) Waterproof Laptops/ Phones / Tablets

Rugged laptops such as Panasonic Toughbooks are admirably robust but are expensive. If you are looking to preserve your laptop for use when calmly moored, then a protective case such as a Peli 1495 may be a better solution.

3) Long life laptop batteries and a Powerbank to recharge your devices.

That little bit of extra charge can make all the difference.

A rechargeable Powerbank for your portable devices and a spare long life battery for your laptop are great for extending time between power points.

4) Satellite phone hotspot.

Satellite internet is expensive, look at your route on a network coverage map before you leave and if possible plan your communications to coincide with when you can connect via a mobile network.

There is something amazing however about Satellite internet and the ability to be connected anywhere on earth. Our freedom to travel has never been greater.

5) Electronic Signatures

Why fly back just because you need to sign the deal? eSign and Sail on. eSignatures allow contracts to be signed from anywhere with an internet connection.

6) Office 365

Microsoft’s solution for the mobile office allows access Microsoft Office from a remote location. One Drive stores all your files in the cloud.

7) Don’t forget to reclaim tax…

Your boat expenses may be claimable

8) Use Dictation apps to write on the move.

Voice recognition has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and dictation services such as Nuance’s Dragon flawlessly transcribe speech and also allow your computer to be controlled by voice commands.

9) Text to Voice.

Emails and reports can be read to you while you sail! Natural Reader can have you up to date on all correspondence

10) Scan my Post

Have all your post scanned so you can keep up to date. Scanmypost.co.uk are happy to do this for you.

Written by Richard Croft of the UK based electronic signatures company, Legalesign

The CEO of Legalesign, Ben Eliott, is a keen yachtsman, having sailed the Atlantic 5 times.