The gentleman on the left provided us with their boat card at our boat's christening in 2011, the only card we've received. He
Wifey B: Oh no, Mr. Mark.... That's going to stun some people.
The gentleman on the left provided us with their boat card at our boat's christening in 2011, the only card we've received. He
Wifey B: Oh no, Mr. Mark.... That's going to stun some people.
Saving money.
Allowing marinas to see your travel plans allows them to tempt you to stay at their facility. They'd do that with discounts.
Allowing boat yards to see the projects you'd like done will allow them to bid on them when they have down times and are looking for workers to do more than sweep the floors. Or when you say you want bottom painting and a new yard wants to specialize in that, what better way than bidding on your work.
Allowing a facility to see how much fuel you're down will allow them to tempt you with a special fuel price or discounts to beef up their sales before the end of the month. This would be especially attractive to trawler owners since our boats typically hold much more fuel and are more attractive to businesses.
Having an electronic boat card would give you the ability to allow certain groups or classes of people to see the information you allow them to see. It's not just the people you meet on the docks. It's many other groups of people and organizations. And it's all because there's no need to hand-deliver a piece of paper - it's out there in the cloud.
Switching the dynamic from us boaters calling a dozen places to decide where to go for dockage, service, or fuel, to a mode where they call us to bid on our needs, is an incredible shift that provides upside for the boater and more efficiency (and profit) for the commercial businesses. Needless to say, we've made the same presentation to a few hundred facilities and they all want it.
Somehow I must be hanging around a different type of cruiser because I think I've exchanged boat cards with others every week for the last 14 years or so. Gosh, just go to a wine social at Brunswick Landing Marina and you'd be guaranteed to walk away with a handful of new boat cards after a week.
Saving money.
Allowing marinas to see your travel plans allows them to tempt you to stay at their facility. They'd do that with discounts.
Allowing boat yards to see the projects you'd like done will allow them to bid on them when they have down times and are looking for workers to do more than sweep the floors. Or when you say you want bottom painting and a new yard wants to specialize in that, what better way than bidding on your work.
Allowing a facility to see how much fuel you're down will allow them to tempt you with a special fuel price or discounts to beef up their sales before the end of the month. This would be especially attractive to trawler owners since our boats typically hold much more fuel and are more attractive to businesses.
Having an electronic boat card would give you the ability to allow certain groups or classes of people to see the information you allow them to see. It's not just the people you meet on the docks. It's many other groups of people and organizations. And it's all because there's no need to hand-deliver a piece of paper - it's out there in the cloud.
Switching the dynamic from us boaters calling a dozen places to decide where to go for dockage, service, or fuel, to a mode where they call us to bid on our needs, is an incredible shift that provides upside for the boater and more efficiency (and profit) for the commercial businesses. Needless to say, we've made the same presentation to a few hundred facilities and they all want it.
The chances we would attend a wine social anywhere on the planet with people we don't already know (meaning, we already know we can tolerate them, at least for a brief period)... are slim to zip.
They could do all that today by monitoring AIS and calling us on the radio to offer us dockage, fuel, repairs, etc.
Perhaps I don't know how to use all the AIS technology I have already. ...................
You (a marina employee) are sitting in your marina office monitoring AIS. You see "Bills Boat" headed your way so you hail him on the VFH and ask if he needs dockage or fuel. You tell him how nice your marina is and offer him a special discount.
Out of curiosity, are you out cruising right now or has your boat been winterized?
I've been lobbying for "south" during this season, but just at the mo life has conspired against that.
I think I've said everything about boat cards that needs to be said. Be safe out there and have fun.
Perhaps you might keep your open mind on hold then and wait until you're a thousand miles from home to see the potential value. I have a feeling there's a difference in perspective when you're knee-deep in it all day-to-day.
I think I've said everything about boat cards that needs to be said. Be safe out there and have fun.
This is such a "first world problem" discussion.
That is this forums target market. Not too many folks listing Bangladesh as their home country.
Saving money.
Allowing marinas to see your travel plans allows them to tempt you to stay at their facility. They'd do that with discounts.
Allowing boat yards to see the projects you'd like done will allow them to bid on them when they have down times and are looking for workers to do more than sweep the floors. Or when you say you want bottom painting and a new yard wants to specialize in that, what better way than bidding on your work.
Allowing a facility to see how much fuel you're down will allow them to tempt you with a special fuel price or discounts to beef up their sales before the end of the month. This would be especially attractive to trawler owners since our boats typically hold much more fuel and are more attractive to businesses.
Having an electronic boat card would give you the ability to allow certain groups or classes of people to see the information you allow them to see. It's not just the people you meet on the docks. It's many other groups of people and organizations. And it's all because there's no need to hand-deliver a piece of paper - it's out there in the cloud.
Switching the dynamic from us boaters calling a dozen places to decide where to go for dockage, service, or fuel, to a mode where they call us to bid on our needs, is an incredible shift that provides upside for the boater and more efficiency (and profit) for the commercial businesses. Needless to say, we've made the same presentation to a few hundred facilities and they all want it.
Paul: the only mistake you've made is asking us for suggestions. Wow! 7 pages of chatter! Your card clearly shows a nice photo of your boat and your contact info. Anything else is bonus.
BB's comment about everything going electronic: I got into IBM PC's in 1983, when they first came out. The spreadsheet of choice was Lotus 1-2-3. I was a power "programmer" and developed many applications and models in that environment. Then came umpteen iterations of Excel and I developed applications in that environment. But there were some old models in the Lotus and Excel that can no longer be used, loaded or examined. Gone for ever. Same with the changes to Microsoft's early versions of Access. I had QB models that no longer worked with the newer versions of Access. It's fine if you have the people and resources to migrate or reprogram. However too many small companies, agencies or individuals simply don't have those resources. 100 years from now how much of Digital photos and other "digital" stuff will we be able to access? I suspect it will be an issue. It already is.
Greetings,
You're going to have to talk to the Nav-robot regarding that AIS stuff...
No, I pretty much understood the idea with AIS.
First, doing as you suggested would violate about 6 FCC regulations and would produce fines to the marina for transmitting commercial messages over marine VHF channels. They are specifically prohibited. It took a major, multi-year effort for SeaTown to get their automated radio checks through the FCC and I'm sure their message there are very regulated.
Second, AIS doesn't give enough information to target a boat. A 65 foot boat might just as well be a tug as a Fleming. No one would waste time with boat targets they see as blips on a screen.
Third, often by the time a boat is in range, it's too late to change their plans. We're formulating our plans now for April and beyond, far away from the reach of my AIS. And nothing about AIS shows where I'm thinking about being in April.
I like it. Too many options to say anything is right or wrong. But, I do have a few thoughts.
I'd reduce the size of your hailing port to be the same width (or slightly smaller if readable) as the boatname.
I'd switch the order of your first names so that your names are under the correct face in the photo.
I think it's okay if the cards are not "professional". Printing them yourself in small batches allows you to make changes or customize a small batch with more info if you want.
Paul,
Regarding concerns over printer ink running when it gets wet...
You could try a trick I use on my homemade wine labels. Just coat the fully dried sheets of boat cards with clear spray lacquer. Works almost as good as W/P ink.