Boat Cards

We were in Jacksonville, FL at a marina and someone asked us if we had a "boat card" (a business card with names, contact, and boat information). Of course, we didn't.

It seems like a good idea. So, how many folks here have "boat cards" and pass them out to people they meet as they cruise?

We do.

It really is a great idea, but like most things further down on my priority list....... You know, this is really rediculous......I've got the blank card paper, the printer, the software....why don't I have my own boatcard, for heavens sake?!

We do, they are easy to make yourself or relatively inexpensive a a print shop.
If you print them on thin stock they won't take up so much room in your wallet
Steve W

Just got some a month or so ago (to replace my business cards as I am now retired). Very inexpensive. Plenty of online sites where you can design your own and upload a photo or two to put on the card.

dwhatty said:

Just got some a month or so ago (to replace my business cards as I am now retired). Very inexpensive. Plenty of online sites where you can design your own and upload a photo or two to put on the card.

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Can you get them in Breton Pink?

Moonstruck said:

Can you get them in Breton Pink?

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How did you guess?

Our card has our names, mailing address, email address, boat name and boat picture on it. We hand them out when we are on other peoples boats, at pot lucks, shore parties and with officials.

We also have a note book with plastic card holders. It's a great organizer for the cards that you get from other boaters and business contacts.

Untabbed Business Card Pages

They are called "Boat Courtesy Cards". We had some made up for cheap at a local printer. There are places online that offer them for free, but I don't know where that is. I'll bet Cruiser's Forum people will know. You've seen the design. They are all the same with a glossy pic of their boat and the same white script in the design. We wanted it to be more custom, so we opted for the $50 to get something unique.

Don't have them and have no use for them. I deal with people all day every day at work both in the Puget Sound area and around the world. I enjoy the hell out of it when I'm at work, I don't want any part of it when I'm not at work.

As I've said before we bought the boat for the same reason we fly the floatplane--- to get away from people, not meet them. So the fewer people know who we are when we're out and about on the boat the better. People coming over and saying hi and trying to strike up a conversation is not part of what we want out of our boating experience.

I think boat cards are a great idea for people who are interested in the socializing aspect of boating. But not everyone is.

With a cel phone...if I want to stay in touch with someone...it's pretty easy now. Cards just get lost in clutter all too often.

They were nice in the day and some very elegant...tho some wanted to make me puke as they were really business cards for captains with more resume' than experience.

I never ran into anyone passing out boat cards.Sounds like a good idea,especially for people that live and work on their boat.I'll be keeping this in mind.

Yes we do. Photo of the boat, blog address, emails and phone numbers for both of us. We occasionally have someone ask for a card or an email address and I'd rather give out a "boat card" than a business card with my work info. I've actually given them to work colleagues before as well if we start talking about personal stuff and it comes up that I have a boat. One person assumed we must charter out our boat or why would we have cards.

We also have cards. Have had them for many years. We make them ourselves. Wife does the graphics and I convert them to print out on card stock.

Marin said:

I think boat cards are a great idea for people who are interested in the socializing aspect of boating. But not everyone is.

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But Marin, what do you call your participation in Trawler Forum?

timjet said:

But Marin, what do you call your participation in Trawler Forum?

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He's got a point there, Marin. I am a devoted anti-social, according to my Admiral. I do my socializing here because I like to choose where and when I do it. Put me in one of my Admiral's many receptions, and I'm contaminated. I'm no good at the "social competitiveness" of parties and crowds. I gotta do it so I do it, but I'd rather not. Still, I must have some kind of gene inside that keeps me from being a total hermit. I enjoy this kind of "social interest sharing".

Marin talks tough, but he really is friendly in person.

We have had boat cards for years. Just a photo of the boat under way and our phone numbers. We are very selective as to who we give them to. We're still undecided as to whether we'll give one to Marin.

We don't spend a lot of time in marinas away from home, but when we do, we generally end up in conversations with other boaters. We meet some nice people that way and often learn something we didn't know.

I'm planning on making cards or having them made. It's just a few cents each, why not.

I figure a photo of the boat (or line drawing), our first and last names, home port, and email address should do it.

timjet said:

But Marin, what do you call your participation in Trawler Forum?

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Excellent question. It's entertainment, pure and simple. Like watching Family Guy. It gives me quick breaks during the day from what I'm doing, be it editing or directing a shoot here in China. It's just writing on a screen. I will never meet anyone on this forum nor have I any interest in doing so. So I don't regard the forum as a social activity at all. It's basically an excercise in writing and occasionally perhaps a chance to pass on some information someone newer to boating than we are might find useful.

I do. Just use Avery business card stock and print a few at a time.

I think they're really cool. In fact, I'm curious as to what some of your cards look like. If you can scan them, I'd like to see'em (who's is the coolest?).
It's so nice that there are some gregarious folks around here. KJ

Marin said:

Excellent question. It's entertainment, pure and simple. Like watching Family Guy.

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Like watching Family Guy... Ummm, no

Art said:

Like watching Family Guy... Ummm, no

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I dunno.... got the same collection of some really bizarro characters.

Art said:

Like watching Family Guy... Ummm, no

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Given the other choices on TV, I watch Family Guy. And The Simpsons.

Both take a few episodes before you understand the "plot". Once you do, they are hillarious!

We have come across boaters for years that use "boat cards". I think they're cool. Certainly more personal and germane than getting someone's business card. We made our own. Overnightprints.com can make 250 cards on premium stock (w/cool rounded edges, even) for as low as $20 plus shipping. And if you choose ground delivery the shipping cost is around $6. We use them for other business purposes and always wait for their frequent special deals on business cards.

We have been using boat cards for 20 years and most other cruisers do too. Here is our current, minus personal information. Over the years we have printed our own on our printer but recently ordered them on line from Vistaprint. They are really cheap and look much better than our printer. Chuck

Capn Chuck said:

We have been using boat cards for 20 years and most other cruisers do too. Here is our current, minus personal information. Over the years we have printed our own on our printer but recently ordered them on line from Vistaprint. They are really cheap and look much better than our printer. Chuck

View attachment 11682

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If you're going to block out personal information, what's the point?

Don't you pass them out to strangers anyway?

Seriously, I would have names, homeport, and email. Of course if it's a documented boat, any Tom, Dick or Harry can get youe full name and address from the Internet.

http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/CoastGuard/

Well I'm not in the habit of posting my phone number and address on the internet. And maybe the info on my documentations is different then my boat card, maybe not. But if you want my personal info you'll have to work for it and not by using web crawlers. And no we don't pass the cards out to strangers. We pass them out to cruisers that we know and feel comfortable with. Without my documentation number and nothing more than the boat name you will probably wind up with more than 50 and less than a hundred Beach Houses. But you can give it a try and see what you come up with. We don't include email addresses because we often give these cards to marinas and don't need any spam while we are cruising. We also use a couple of different email addresses and give certain ones to people we want to hear from and another for those we don't care. We are pretty much all over the internet anyway so it's not too hard to find out who we are, but info is limited. Anyway, this was about boat cards. Chuck

Capn Chuck said:

But you can give it a try and see what you come up with. ... Chuck

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Charles B. of Sarasota?