Marty McOmber has this story at Three Sheets Northwest:

Fisheries Supply has revamped its website. But the changes go much more than skin deep.

Fisheries Supply has rolled out a totally revamped website with a host of new features that should make it much faster, easier – and in some cases cheaper — for boaters and marine-related businesses to find and buy parts and gear online.

The project was a huge undertaking for the 82-year-old locally owned wholesale and retail supplier located near the north end of Lake Union in Seattle. The result is a website that provides up-to-the-minute info on pricing and availability of marine items.

Read more

Regular readers may recall my feature on Realtime float plan updating with Twitter. My Facebook friends are certainly aware of it; they’ve grown accustomed to my cryptic status updates, which generally follow this form: “Two Lucky Fish underway Friday Harbor to Anacortes. 2 POB.”

This summer, I’m hoping to spend a good deal more time “off-grid”, in terms of cellular coverage. This presents a problem.

To back up a bit, I’ve been really happy using Twitter as a kind of "real-time float plan" manager. It lets my friends and family know where I am, how many POB (persons on board), where I intend to go, and what sort of conditions I’m encountering. There are two problems:

1. I haven’t found a location-aware Twitter client for Windows that will work with plain old NMEA (serial port) GPS data coming into my laptop from my Shine Micro Class B AIS unit. The upshot: I can’t feed my location data directly into Twitter, which is just kinda stupid.
2. if I’m out of cell coverage, I can’t tweet at all. And on my 22-foot C-Dory, I’m not about to install expensive pay-by-the-character satellite communication gear.

So my current thinking is that the new SPOT 2 (with two "I’m OK" messages, one configured to "Two Lucky Fish is underway" and the other set to "Two Lucky Fish is secure") would solve both problems:

1. Even when I’ve got cellular coverage, the SPOT-generated tweet offers the location-aware functionality I want, hopefully with a TinyURL Google map link or something included in my Tweet/Facebook update. Then I can augment the SPOT-generated "Vessel underway" tweet with unique text such as "Enroute Deception Pass, ETA 1430, 2 POB.”
2. And when I’ve got no cellular coverage, my online presence degrades somewhat gracefully (Thanks to Steve Roberts for suggesting the phrase “graceful degradation”), retaining the "vessel underway" and "vessel secure" location-tagged tweets. I can always provide folks with more details once I’ve got Wifi or cell coverage ashore.

That’s the plan, and it seems like it’s all within reach, this season.

More later, as I figure out the details…

This new blog is just getting started, but if they keep it up, they’re going to end up with a valuable collection of clever ideas! Take a look: http://smallboatprojects.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Zero To Cruising for the link, via Boat Bits.

[This is one of those MadMariner features, but I’m extremely late republishing it here, for some reason. I think I just forgot about it! So forgive me for republishing this about eight months late. —Tim]

Back in early 2008, there were only four passable online cruising wikis – boater-maintained, real-time electronic bulletin boards to exchange information about anything from fouled mooring buoys to new marinas. Of those, only two really achieved the goal of allowing skippers to help other skippers: ActiveCaptain and MyCruisingLog (read my reviews here).

Nearly two years later, have things improved? After conducting some new tests, I’d say "maybe."

This time around I used a new navigational hazard to rate the competition: The "hazard" was the removal of the old Union Oil pier that stuck out into Puget Sound from Edwards Point, just south of Edmonds, Wash. The Washington State Ferries removed the pier in February to open the views.

[ROSE POINT COASTAL EXPLORER 2009: The Union Oil pier still exists on the charts, even though it's been removed -- a hazard for me.]

And that’s fine with me – except that the pier is still on all the charts, and I relied upon it as a navigational landmark. When approaching Edmonds from the south, after clearing Point Wells, I routinely aimed just slightly to port of the end of the pier, knowing this will take me just outside the shoal area between the two points.

I could give it a wider berth, of course, but why bother? Sticking close to shore keeps me out of the ferry lanes, and puts me right along the breakwater for the Port of Edmonds marina.

Removing the pier constitutes a hazard for me. Or at least it did in May, the first time I cruised to Edmonds since the pier had been removed. I mistook the marina breakwater for the end of the pier and aimed slightly to its left. After a few minutes, it dawned on me that something didn’t seem quite right; checking all my navigational instruments told me that I was running (at full throttle) in about five feet of water, much closer to shore than I intended. Huh? Where the heck was the pier?

So now I want to report this change to fellow mariners. Here’s what I want to communicate: "The old Union Oil pier extending west from Edwards Point was dismantled and removed in February 2009. Virtually no trace of it remains visible from the water."

[Active Captain continues to be the strongest competitor in the wiki field. My grade: A-.]

I tried to update all of the cruising wikis I could find, and although I succeeded in every case, the overall usability and utility of the sites varies quite a bit. Here’s the play-by-play:

THE SOLUTIONS

ActiveCaptain: It came as no surprise that I was successful in adding a note to the "Interactive Cruising Guidebook" at ActiveCaptain, because it was the strongest wiki 18 months ago, and they have continued to make improvements ever since.

However, I was a little disappointed that not all of the feature categories were available. To accomplish my goal, I had to "misuse" the inlet category, while the appropriate category would have been "hazard or warning," or perhaps "other." Both of those categories, however, are unavailable, producing a note saying "The category you selected for a new local knowledge marker is not yet available." But the integrated text and map search functionality is intuitive and relatively easy to use. My grade: A-.

MyCruisingLog: I couldn’t find an existing entry for Edwards Point, Edmonds or Port of Edmonds. The site uses the familiar MediaWiki software"”the same interface Wikipedia uses"”so it was easy to create a new entry. I created one for Edwards Point. Although I was successful, I am disappointed that MyCruisingLog hasn’t gained more momentum. My edit is the only one made to the entire site for the past 30 days. My grade: D

CaptainWiki: I found an entry for Edwards Point, complete with a Google map inset. I added my comment and saved successfully. It was a bit annoying that the Edwards Point article included an almost empty article template; before I added my comment, the article consisted largely of irrelevant headings containing no content. But, because it uses the familiar MediaWiki software, I fixed it.

Still, a lot of content at CaptainWiki consists of empty templates and boilerplate. There is a good deal of genuine content, some of it recent, so CaptainWiki is still in the game. And, the Google map insets are helpful. But the lack of full map integration is disappointing. My grade: C.

CruiserLog: This site is also based on the MediaWiki engine. I found an entry for Seattle, but that’s as close as I got. CruiserLog content seems to be very thin for my cruising region. Once I had registered for an account, I was able to create a new page for Edwards Point. There is content and recent activity here, so somebody must be using it, although the lack of a map-based interface is limiting. My grade: C.

YachtPals: This site features a Google Maps view allowing you to find entries using the map as well as by searching for text. The search and navigational interface isn’t quite as smooth as I would like; I got lost a few times before I figured out how to find what I wanted. The editing environment is unfamiliar, but it seems to work well once you figure it out. My grade: B.

There are lots of options out there, but in my opinion only a couple exploit the full potential of today’s technology. I think map integration is crucial; geographic content should be presented geographically. It’s interesting that the two sites that feature geographical content-navigation interfaces are also the only two that do not rely on Wikipedia’s MediaWiki engine.

This product is still young, however, and even the leaders have room for improvement. I encourage you to take all of them for a test drive. Look up places you’re familiar with, and when you spot something that should be revised, update it.

Jesper Weissglas has put together a clever web page that allows you to view sample raster and vector chart renderings produced by many of the major chartplotter and navigation software products, including Active Captain, Rose Point Coastal Explorer, Expedition, Fugawi, Garmin, MacENC, Nobeltec VNC, OpenCPN, PolarNavy, Tiki Navigator, and TimeZero.

I’ll let Mr. Weissglas explain what he’s done, and why:

Features of charting programs are discussed a lot. But chart graphics quality is often overlooked. This page attempts to fix this.

Only unscaled screenshots and lossless file formats have been used. I have attempted to get the same area covered, but all programs differ in how they treat zoom and scaling, and the screenshots have been made by different people. So the shots are not identical.

I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I am a Swedish boat designer who is very picky about the visual appearance of my charts.

If you’re in the market, or just and interested observer, time spent on this site is very much worthwhile!

Great coverage by my friends Deborah Bach and Marty McOmber over at Three Sheets Northwest:

Showgoers loosen grip on wallets

Seattle Boat Show organizers and exhibitors reported a strong start to the region’s premier annual boating event, with higher attendance and showgoers who were not just looking, but actually buying.

Attendance was up 23 percent over last year for the first four days of the show at Lake Union, while the indoor portion of the show [Full Story]

And another one:

Dealers hope to entice price-conscious buyers

Seeing the big yachts moored at marinas around Puget Sound, it’s easy to assume boating is only for those with deep pockets.

But boat dealers at the Seattle Boat Show are hoping to convey a different message to showgoers: that boating is more accessible than they might realize.

“I think that there are people who pass off boating without really understanding the access and affordability of it,” said Mark Helgen, vice president of sales for Lake Union Sea Ray. [Full Story]

Time for another Navagear feature at MadMariner. This time, I talk about my favorite blogs. The ones I actually read every day. You may be familiar with some of them.

Bob over at Boat Bits tells of his satisfaction with the Northill folding anchor:

Sadly, these are no longer made anymore, but if you ever come across one at a nautical flea market my advice is snap it up as they are one of the best anchors ever made!

The Northill broke the mold as the first anchor that used clever design in place of brute weight.

See, the Northill folding anchor was originally designed as a lightweight anchor for seaplanes, where weight reduction is even more critical than it is aboard small boats.

Following up on Bob’s piece, I spotted an interesting anchor website that appears to be a “labor of love” on the part of a recreational mariner named Richard. The images above are from his page about the Northill, where he also has a reproduction of an old advertisement from a 1940 issue of Flight magazine.

Richard’s Anchors R Us page, which does not sell anchors at all, appears to be a valuable resource for those trying to select an anchor.

Or even for those of us who just want to learn more about old anchors like the Northill.

I love Google Analytics. It provides a lot of information about website performance. It’s fun to see a graph of Navagear’s growth since we relaunched the site about three years ago, for instance:

Besides those big numbers (visits, pageviews, etc.), though, one of my favorite Analytics feature is the Content Overview. I especially like to see the top content. What pages are people looking at?

As you would expect, the Navagear home page gets the most traffic. Surprisingly, though, it only constituted 15.4% of page views during 2009. A lot of Navagear traffic is generated by search engines. As a result, a lot of site visitors never bother with the home page; they just jump right to the page they want.

Apparently, 7.5% of Navagear visitors are absolutely nutty about refilling disposable propane cylinders! It’s also interesting to see that a few posts from 2007 are still getting a lot of views.

Here are the top 24 Navagear posts for 2009, according to Google Analytics:

[AND the links have been fixed now! —Tim]

/2008/04/refill-disposable-propane-cylinders/
/2009/02/hobie-mirage-pro-angler/
/2007/04/ugrib-weather-data-for-free/
/2007/01/torqeedo-electric-outboard-motors/
/2007/02/totally-free-navigation-software/
/2007/02/the-simplest-electric-motor-system-yet/
/2007/07/should-your-next-repower-be-electric/
/2008/07/anchor-rode-rope-to-chain-splice/
/2009/08/how-to-refill-disposable-propane-cylinders/
/2008/05/the-best-margarita-recipe-ever/
/2007/02/building-a-better-crab-trap/
/2008/05/tide-tables-for-mobile-devices/
/2007/06/sailflowcom-the-ultimate-weather-site-for-boaters/
/2009/07/structurescan-sonar-for-lowrance-high-definition-systems/
/2009/04/vessel-tracking-system-roundup/
/2009/07/navionics-iphone-app-going-gangbusters/
/2009/01/jolly-good-folding-crab-shrimp-traps/
/2008/05/the-best-navigation-software/
/2009/02/feathercraft-baylee-on-the-water-test-report/
/2007/03/another-clever-folding-crab-trap/
/2008/04/stupid-propane-tank-tricks/
/2009/05/keep-eggs-fresh-without-refrigeration/
/2008/02/nauticraft-pedal-powered-boats/
/2007/02/wind-turbine-powered-sailboat/

Happy Birthday to my blog,
Happy Birthday to my blog,
Happy Birthday Puget Sound Maritime,
Happy Birthday to my blog!

It was just one year ago (tomorrow, actually) that I posted this at Navagear.com:

Announcing A New Blog: Puget Sound Maritime

If you read Navagear regularly, you already know that I don’t stick to “gear and gadgets” exclusively. Sometimes, I stray into territory I find interesting, hoping that some of my readers share my enthusiasm.

For over a year, I’ve tried to strike a balance between relevant, on-topic gear and gadgets posts and fascinating, off-topic regional maritime stories. A lot of the great stories I’ve encountered were so far off-topic that I was obliged not to include them on Navagear at all. It’s been a bit of a struggle.

One year later, Navagear’s still growing, and Puget Sound Maritime has grown from no readers at all to several thousand. It’s difficult to know how many people are reading; I don’t have figures for RSS subscribers, for instance.

What I do know is that over the past year, over 26,000 “absolute unique visitors” have loaded over 58,000 pages from the site itself. I have a small, dedicated group of truly devoted readers (Hi mom!). Seriously, over 300 people have visited the site over 200 times during the year, and another 1,100 have visited between 100 and 200 times.

Financially, Puget Sound Maritime isn’t earning anything to speak of. Puget Sound Maritime is purely a labor of love, at this point.

Perhaps I’m spoiled, though: Navagear’s gear and gadgets focus dovetails extremely well with the ad-supported blogging model, so it has been a money maker for a long time. Don’t ask me to work out my hourly rate for Navagear, though—I don’t want to know!

Anyway, I wanted to acknowledge the anniversary of PSM’s launch, and invite readers who are only aware of Navagear to stop by for a visit at PSM, and vice-versa.