Naftelia

Product Logo

Inspiration

Naftelia was inspired by the need for safer, smarter voyage planning on small boats and coastal cruisers. We wanted a lightweight app that brings official NOAA marine/weather data together with AI guidance so captains can plan routes without digging through multiple services.

What it does

fetches NOAA/NWS forecasts and NOAA CO-OPS station data
generates a conservative 24-hour voyage recommendation
stores voyage history and vessel profiles
offers a demo auth flow for quick local use
provides a modern web UI with route planning and weather snapshots

How we built it

Backend: Flask API with NOAA and Gemini integration Frontend: Vite-powered web app using vanilla JS and modern UI patterns Local auth/demo mode to avoid external Auth0 dependency Uses public NOAA endpoints plus a Gemini-style LLM route planner

Challenges we ran into

Auth0 setup added complexity, so we simplified to a hardcoded demo auth
Windows port/socket issues blocked the default Flask host port
Balancing real data fetch logic with a fallback route planner for unavailable regions

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Real NOAA integration for weather and tide data
AI-driven voyage planning fallback that still gives useful guidance
A working full-stack prototype with frontend/backend communication
Simplified developer experience for local demos

What we learned

Public NOAA APIs are powerful but regionally constrained
Removing external auth can greatly simplify onboarding
Small boats and coastal route planning benefit from conservative safety-first guidance
Demo mode is useful for rapid testing without production secrets

What's next for Naftelia

add broader regional weather providers beyond NOAA improve route planning with real navigation data and hazard awareness add user profiles, saved plans, and offline map support migrate from demo auth to a lightweight custom auth flow if needed