We've been building a web-based site for boating over the last 14
months. There are a few things that come close to what we've been
working on, but nothing that goes as far or as deep. It's called
ActiveCaptain (
www.activecaptain.com).
ActiveCaptain is not commercial. There is no cost. There are no
advertisements. It is designed to be a place where you can find
marinas, anchorages, and local knowledge visually on worldwide maps.
It should be fast and interactive...and fun.
We've loaded the initial database full of 8,000 marinas in the US.
Each entry holds 116 fields broken up into 5 sections and 49 groupings.
The database includes common things like phone number, lat/lon,
website, etc. but we also track things that aren't often documented -
are pets welcome, diesel price/date, internet access, slip price per
foot, and many other items. There is also an extensive capability for
reviewing and rating a facility. Anchorages and "local knowledge" are
much simpler and will be added next.
We need people to review the marine facilities in their area and make
additions, corrections, reviews, etc. We need a lot of people.
ActiveCaptain is all about community. The framework will allow others
to share their knowledge and experience. Adding the information you
know into this framework will help many others and end up helping
yourself when you cruise to an area that you are less familiar with.
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Jeffrey and Karen Siegel
Castine, Maine