How much money does Active Captain save you each year?

I tried it for a couple of months and it was ok. But I eventually went back to the simpler OpenCPN on my laptop for trip planning and off the boat referencing.

I much prefer the Garmin Chart Plotter and all it's features for actual cruising and fishing though.

Logged on and my computer locked up , have a different one now.

I don't think I have saved anything from active captain.
However I have used the reviews to great extent the couple of years we travelled, and hopefully some folks appreciated my reviews.
What I don't like is the hazard information people put in AC. At least what is in MY local area, as I do not consider most of them true hazards.

I like the dockwa information, it surely is more up to date than the cruising guides, and one has a choice whether to book via that app or simply use the information.

Is there any special reason it is named dockwa?

Surely no-one utilizes ActiveCaptain with saving money as the primary objective?? But I for one think it is priceless...I'm a huge fan and have used it around the world on the water...and at home from my arm chair

I think the question about how much it saves is not any more relevant than asking how much money a guidebook saves. It is merely an electronic guidebook that is continually updated by users. I have used it extensively on the east coast's ICW and found that after a while, some users and their comments began to stand out. For example, Bob423's comments are frequent and always exactly right, from experiences at anchorages to shoaling issues.


For those who are having trouble with the tablet version, I use AC on my iPad. It's data overlays on the tablet version of Gramin Blue Charts, which can be had for about $24. This ipad is dedicated to navigation and become a defacto third chart plotter.

Gordon

dhays said:

I am still trying to figure it all out with the iPad. My iPad is the cheap variety with no gps and no cell connection. I can't use the AC website with it because the iPad lacks flash support. I am sure that there are ways around it but I haven't pursued it to actively. I didn't bring my laptop this trip so am limited to Android phone and iPad.

Click to expand...

Dave...
Not familiar w iPads but my Android has no GPS...what I was able to do and liked was to download the chart sections...tiles...at home or when wifi available then you can reference it offline where ever you are.
My problem was I updated a tile and now all it's not accessible and no way I know of to go back?

Which tile?

I just did Florida to Main tiles...no problem on my Samsung tab4.

dhays said:

I am still trying to figure it all out with the iPad. My iPad is the cheap variety with no gps and no cell connection. I can't use the AC website with it because the iPad lacks flash support. I am sure that there are ways around it but I haven't pursued it to actively. I didn't bring my laptop this trip so am limited to Android phone and iPad.

Click to expand...

Get a Bad Elf external GPS... and then install an iPad nav app (several to choose from) that integrates ActiveCaptain markers. No need to go to the AC website to see and expand markers. WiFi and cell not necessary.

(Not sure how you'd enter a review or your own comments; maybe apps permit that, but I've always entered reviews right on the AC website.)

-Chris

I can't calculate direct savings, but I don't have to buy C-Map charts for our main plotter in order to have marina contact data easy to hand... and I don't have to buy as many cruising guides as we needed before... and I don't have to find room in the boat library for as many hard-copy cruising guides as we needed before... and the data in some of the markers is more current than it could be in some of the hard-copy cruising guides...


There's probably an analogy out there about transportation infrastructure: I sometimes pay for some of that via direct tolls, sometimes through taxes on fuel, etc. I don't use some of the roads I help pay for... OTOH, I benefit from those existing... as do others... as for example when an ambulance is able to actually get to a victim, get to a hospital... simply because all that infrastructure exists.


I think AC uses some of today's useful technology to improve the boating situation for all... simply by existing, now that it's possible. Of course there's no free lunch... but then the rising tide supports all boats, too. If I'm indirectly paying for a small part of that cost, so be it.


BTW, comments about advertising are right on the mark: Business X budgets amount Y, and then spends it in the most useful venues. The creation of a new venue (such as AC) doesn't change Y.


-Chris

Just to be clear, I doubt anyone started using AC with the intent to save money, it was about the resources. The point I was trying to make (that got missed) was that the average user saves money as a benefit of using AC. As a simple example, finding a free dock for the night when transiting an area without suitable anchorages might save you $50 or more over a marina.

Ted

Steve said:

Is there any special reason it is named dockwa?

Click to expand...

I thought dockwa was a typo. What is it?

Gordon J said:

I think the question about how much it saves is not any more relevant than asking how much money a guidebook saves. It is merely an electronic guidebook that is continually updated by users. I have used it extensively on the east coast's ICW and found that after a while, some users and their comments began to stand out. For example, Bob423's comments are frequent and always exactly right, from experiences at anchorages to shoaling issues.


For those who are having trouble with the tablet version, I use AC on my iPad. It's data overlays on the tablet version of Gramin Blue Charts, which can be had for about $24. This ipad is dedicated to navigation and become a defacto third chart plotter.

Gordon

Click to expand...

Exactly! AC overlays nicely with Garmin Bluechart Mobile. Get a new iPad w/ GPS and enjoy! In many ways it is better than the $10,000 (+/-) chart plotter that came w/ the boat, but we use both, along with paper charts.

The way AC is set up as it is will increase prices for all boater. That it can be be done without this site-effect is proven by the site most sail-boat users use Noonsite, Up to Date information about everything important for sailers with input from other sailers...

www.noonsite.com

From Sailers For Sailers and not For Boaters from ........

I will bite..... how is Noonsite any different than AC?

Are the marinas listed in Noonsite listed for free? Or are they involved with advertiser packages mentioned?

Looks like some marina in the Dom Rep is an advertiser in Noonsite. Is their slip rate higher for advertising in Noonsite?

Off their website...

"Prices to suit your budget

Our range of simple advertising options start from just $120 per lyear for an enhanced listing or from $2,000 to advertise on all pages in the country of your choice."

Again...how are they different than any other advertising? And how do these electronic versions drive up the cost of boating....exactly?

I answered that AC doesn't save me any money. That may not be entirely correct because I can compare fuel and slip prices and choose the less expensive options if they meet my needs. For example, I recently found a difference of about $.70 per gallon on diesel fuel using Active Captain so I filled up at the lower price even though I didn't really need to fill up yet. I saved $30 or so.


To me, Active Captain is The Waterway Guide or one of the other publications, but up to date and a little easier to use in some cases.


As for reviews, remember that half the population is below average intelligence and I am reminded of this fact every time I read reviews in AC. I take them with several grains of salt. Besides, what one boater is looking for in a marina can be very different from what the next boater is looking for.

WesK said:

As for reviews, remember that half the population is below average intelligence and I am reminded of this fact every time I read reviews in AC. I take them with several grains of salt. Besides, what one boater is looking for in a marina can be very different from what the next boater is looking for.

Click to expand...

I totally agree
I have loved some places others have poo pooed, have found power where others have said it does not exist, found dog beaches where others have said do not exist, etc.

But generally speaking taking an average I found the reviews usefull

One "famous" review gave an anchorage a low rating because the nearby marina would not let the reviewer dock his dinghy and tale a shower for the $2 he expected to pay. Then of course, there are the ones that say "we touched bottom" without mentioning their draft or the state of the tide.


As for marinas, we should not expect the same amenities and service for $1 per foot as we should for $3 per foot.

Gordon, Dave and many others are right about the overall value of AC. It seems to me that it takes on even more significance down in the Bahama islands and Caribbean. I consider it now an indispensable tool.

Paul

Premise one: Time is money.

I could find the fuel prices by calling around. I could find the marina prices the same. Other ways to research marinas and anchorages.

However, it is convenience. I don't spend hours searching or developing my own information with no head start such as AC gives me. I put >$1000 because that's what it could easily save me on one fuel stop. Might I spend thirty minutes here, an hour here, and find the same information? Of course. But it was so easy to see the great price in Dublin MN as I entered Lake Superior and time to fill there. What does it save with good information on entrances to marinas? Well, no way to know, but one prop would tell you. Or what about avoiding going to a marina that wasn't as advertised, deciding to leave and move elsewhere or staying there and the boat getting damaged from the Ferry or from the nails sticking out.

Sometimes saving can't be quantified. The reality is if it was a paid service, I would pay, and I can't say that about much on the internet. Now, better not start charging, Jeffrey. Still it is worth a good bit to me. I'd put the value on an annual basis very high.

The initial question/survey was posed to a group of usual posters who are biased toward cruising and who use Active Captain. There are probably thousands of multiples of this small slice of boating who do not leave their local area and who wouldn't use Active Captain, or any other on-line cruising aid even if they knew about it. They know their area after years of experience. If they need a prop shop, they know exactly where to find the best one. THAT is the majority of boaters on the Great Lakes of North America...don't know about the rest of the world. The posters on this string would be outliers. I am curious if advertisers really understand who, and how many, actually see their ads. Function of many factors, I'm sure. I will be contacting them.

Active Captain and the other similar internet operations are competing for control in a small niche. Now, they could opt for pay-for-play, but they won't. Why? Because over the long haul this way is more profitable. They want big advertisers on the funding side, and yes they want the entirety of the boating community absorbing the cost...whether they like it or not. Expansion is always in the long range plan.


Active Captain and others are moving into marina management consulting. There's no doubt they're using the data provided to their site. Slick strategy. Anyway, somebody is going to pay for this. If they save the marina money, the boater won't see it. If it costs...they will. Either way, the boater pays....transient AND seasonal. Those that never look at Active Captain will get to subsidize your "free" stuff whether they like it or not. Small businesses who are currently operating local boater information publications will be crushed along the way. I like the regional hard copy material. It's going the way of the newspaper. Hold onto your pocketbook, because "free"....isn't.

psneeld said:

I will bite..... how is Noonsite any different than AC?

Are the marinas listed in Noonsite listed for free? Or are they involved with advertiser packages mentioned?

Looks like some marina in the Dom Rep is an advertiser in Noonsite. Is their slip rate higher for advertising in Noonsite?

Off their website...

"Prices to suit your budget

Our range of simple advertising options start from just $120 per lyear for an enhanced listing or from $2,000 to advertise on all pages in the country of your choice."

Again...how are they different than any other advertising? And how do these electronic versions drive up the cost of boating....exactly?

Click to expand...

You simply don't want to understand, thats okay.

Just looking at the two home pages tells more then a thousand words...

psneeld said:

Which tile?

I just did Florida to Main tiles...no problem on my Samsung tab4.

Click to expand...

Tile I lost is in NY on St Lawrence in 1000 Is area.

Bacchus said:

Tile I lost is in NY on St Lawrence in 1000 Is area.

Click to expand...

yeah...saw where AC put something out about tile uploads and Map quest no direct access.

Either Map quest or AC may have sometbing...just tried to upload the tile and got the Map quest "so sorry" block.

I think that was a change as of this July.

Reiziger said:

You simply don't want to understand, thats okay.

Just looking at the two home pages tells more then a thousand words...

Click to expand...

I finally caught the donate button, but not sure that changes a whole lot. Plenty of non-profit organizations have very well off organizers, etc. So still don't see where a small advertising ament to active captain is driving up boaters costs any more than noonsite or any other "guide".

Now if someone can show me where the active captain fees are almost madatory to survive and they are out of line with competitor guides, then I will be interested. Shuffling money around the economy is normal, and I don't see this as an anti-trust/monopoly issue quite yet.

psneeld said:

I finally caught the donate button, but not sure that changes a whole lot. Plenty of non-profit organizations have very well off organizers, etc. So still don't see where a small advertising ament to active captain is driving up boaters costs any more than noonsite or any other "guide".

Now if someone can show me where the active captain fees are almost madatory to survive and they are out of line with competitor guides, then I will be interested. Shuffling money around the economy is normal, and I don't see this as an anti-trust/monopoly issue quite yet.

Click to expand...

That was all you could find?????

Cruising the Golf Area, Bahama's, Caribbean etc. East Coast US, then my advice is to ALL cruisers visit www.noonsite.com and see what it gives to you, with the special thanks going to Mr. Jimmy Cornell.

Reiziger said:

That was all you could find?????

Cruising the Golf Area, Bahama's, Caribbean etc. East Coast US, then my advice is to ALL cruisers visit www.noonsite.com and see what it gives to you, with the special thanks going to Mr. Jimmy Cornell.

Click to expand...

I agree it is a great site...but you still haven't pointed out to me the difference between it and how active captain costs us boaters more and this one doesnt.

psneeld said:

I finally caught the donate button, but not sure that changes a whole lot. Plenty of non-profit organizations have very well off organizers, etc. So still don't see where a small advertising ament to active captain is driving up boaters costs any more than noonsite or any other "guide".

Now if someone can show me where the active captain fees are almost madatory to survive and they are out of line with competitor guides, then I will be interested. Shuffling money around the economy is normal, and I don't see this as an anti-trust/monopoly issue quite yet.

Click to expand...

Jeffrey goes out of his way to assure his freebee advocates that he will never impose a user fee. There's a reason for that. He wants outside funding so he can make that claim and at the same time spread the cost around over the entire boating community. Everybody thereby pays a little bit...whether they use the site or not. AC is not free...you just don't pay a direct fee for access. The tens of thousands of other boaters along with you are picking up the tab for advertising on his site....again whether they want to or not....and unbeknownst to most of them. You know it because you use the site. Obviously a similar marketing/funding methodology as used on this site.

When you buy a hard copy cruisers guide, you offset a chunk of the company's cost....the rest is picked up by their own advertisers. But you, the end user are absorbing a fair piece of the product cost as opposed to letting fellow boaters who have no interest in the product pick up that portion of the tab. Seems more fair and honest to me. Of course, there's no way of following the money trail. Jeffrey says show me proof that there's any cost to anyone anywhere. I'd say show me proof that there's not. Nobody is going to show you their books.

psneeld said:

yeah...saw where AC put something out about tile uploads and Map quest no direct access.

Either Map quest or AC may have sometbing...just tried to upload the tile and got the Map quest "so sorry" block.

Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me....AC is now dead on my Tablet..