Nauti-Control for Garmin Watches – Wireless Marine Instruments & Autopilot Control

Nauti-Control is now available for Garmin watches. With the launch of Nauti-Control 3.0 for Connect IQ, sailors can view live boat data and control their autopilot directly from a Garmin wrist, with no phone required on deck.

Whether you sail with classic SeaTalk gear or a modern NMEA 2000 network, the Nauti-Control wireless hub bridges your boat to your watch over Bluetooth. Wind, speed, heading, depth and autopilot status stream to your wrist in real time.

What You Can Do From Your Garmin Watch

Nauti-Control turns your Garmin into a wireless marine display, part of the same Nauti-Control 3.0 ecosystem as our Android, iOS, Wear OS and Apple Watch apps.

Live Instruments

Speed & heading — Speed over ground / course over ground, or speed through water / heading. Tap to switch. Depth shown in metres or feet.
Wind — Apparent and true wind on a compass-style display with angle and speed, plus layline arc zones for sailing angles.
Autopilot status — Current mode, target heading and lock state synced with the hub.
Data freshness — A green, amber or red connection indicator on every instrument page so you always know your data is live.

Autopilot Control From the Wrist

Autopilot commands use a deliberate two-step flow for safety: view-only first, then arm with SELECT before any command is sent. Once armed, all four hardware buttons send configurable commands, with short press and long-press actions.

Default button mapping:

UP — +1° / hold: +10°
DOWN — −1° / hold: −10°
SELECT — Standby
MENU — Auto

Every button slot is fully configurable under Settings → Autopilot. Available commands include heading adjust, port/starboard tack, Auto, Standby, Wind mode, Track mode, Man Overboard alert, Cancel MOB and Start timer.

When autopilot lock is enabled on the hub, commands are blocked on the watch, using the same safety behaviour as the phone and web apps.

Voyage Recording to Garmin Connect

Start a voyage from your watch and record a native Sailing activity that syncs to Garmin Connect. Custom fields include:

Average and maximum wind speed in knots
Minimum and maximum depth in metres
Average speed through water in knots

Distance and speed come from the GPS track. Prefer watch-only stats? Disable FIT recording in settings and use the in-memory voyage accumulator instead.

More Features Built for Life on Deck

Glance view — Autopilot mode, speed and wind summary in the glance carousel on supported watch faces.
Watch GPS for SOG — Optionally use the watch’s built-in GNSS for speed over ground.
Reorderable pages — Arrange Speed/Heading, Wind, Autopilot and Voyage in the order that suits how you sail.
Man Overboard — Trigger and confirm MOB alerts from the watch.
Secure Bluetooth PIN — Enter a 4-digit PIN on the watch when your hub requires authentication.
Demo mode — Try the full UI with simulated boat data, no hub required.
Multilingual UI — English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Swedish.
Sleep / always-on display — Simplified layout while your wrist is down, full instruments when you raise your arm.

How It Works

Nauti-Control connects your boat network to your Garmin watch via the Nauti-Control wireless hub:

Boat network, SeaTalk or NMEA 2000 → Nauti-Control hub → Bluetooth → Garmin watch

The hub reads instruments and autopilot data from your boat and broadcasts it over Bluetooth. Your phone, watch and tablet can all connect at the same time, so crew can each have their own display without fighting over one screen.

For the best experience, use hub firmware 3.0 with Nauti-Control for Garmin 3.0.0.

Compatible Garmin Watches

Nauti-Control for Garmin supports 52 Garmin models across the Fenix, Epix, Venu, Forerunner and related lines. Requires Connect IQ 4.x or later.

Fenix & Marine/Tactical Series

Fenix 5 Plus — fenix 5 Plus, 5S Plus, 5X Plus
Fenix 6 — fenix 6, 6 Pro, 6S, 6S Pro, 6X Pro
Fenix 7 / Quatix 7 — fenix 7, 7S, 7X, 7 Pro, 7S Pro, 7X Pro, including non-WiFi variants
Fenix 8 / Quatix 8 / tactix 8 — fenix 8, 43 mm and 47 mm, fenix 8 Pro, fenix 8 Solar, fēnix E
Enduro — Enduro, Enduro 3

Premium & Aviation

MARQ Gen 2 — MARQ Gen 2, MARQ Aviator Gen 2
D2 Mach — D2 Mach 1, D2 Mach 2

Epix AMOLED

Epix Gen 2, Epix Pro 42 mm, 47 mm and 51 mm

Venu & Vivoactive

Venu — Venu 2, 2 Plus, 2S, Venu 3, 3S, Venu 4 41 mm and 45 mm
Vivoactive — vivoactive 5, vivoactive 6

Forerunner

Forerunner 255, 255 Music, 255S, 255S Music
Forerunner 265, 265S
Forerunner 955, 965, 970

Not currently supported: Descent, Instinct, older Fenix 5 non-Plus and legacy Forerunner models. Support may expand in future updates.

Boat Network & Autopilot Compatibility

The Garmin app works with any Nauti-Control hub running firmware 3.0, connected to either:

SeaTalk — Classic Raymarine instruments and autopilots
NMEA 2000 — Wind, speed, depth, heading, autopilot, AIS and more on modern networks

Autopilot remote control is supported for compatible systems including:

Raymarine / SeaTalk autopilots
B&G / Simrad autopilots on NMEA 2000
Simrad TP22 / TP32

Choose your autopilot type in the hub setup page. Phone and watch stay in sync automatically.

Getting Started

Install Nauti-Control from the Garmin Connect IQ Store by searching for “Nauti-Control”, or visit via the Garmin Connect app on your phone.
Power on your Nauti-Control hub with Bluetooth enabled. On a new setup, complete the first-time wizard to set your admin password, WiFi and Bluetooth PIN.
Launch the app on your Garmin watch. Read and acknowledge the safety warning.
Scan and connect. The app finds your hub automatically. Enter your 4-digit Bluetooth PIN if prompted.
Sail. Swipe between instrument pages, arm autopilot when ready and start a voyage when you cast off.

Part of Nauti-Control 3.0

Garmin support launches as a new platform in the Nauti-Control 3.0 release, alongside hub firmware 3.0, updated phone apps, Wear OS 3.1+ and Apple Watch 3.0.

Together they deliver:

PIN-protected Bluetooth for secure connections
Autopilot lock synced across hub, web, phone and watch
NMEA 2000 support alongside classic SeaTalk
Guided first-time setup on hub and mobile apps
Multiple devices connected simultaneously

Whether you’re trimming sails, steering from the helm or moving around the deck, Nauti-Control for Garmin keeps wind, speed and autopilot control on your wrist, where you need them.

Important safety notice: Nauti-Control remotely controls an autopilot. Always pay attention to your surroundings to avoid hazards. This app is not intended for navigation. Use autopilot controls responsibly and in accordance with your vessel’s operating procedures.