YACHTING NOW EASIER AND SMARTER WITH GOOD ANCHORAGE
Thanks to the latest in crowd-sourcing technology, mariners around the globe
can plot their anchorages, view weather, stay on top of official regulations,
recommend local services and facilities, and effortlessly navigate unfamiliar
countries.
Navigating international waters can be
daunting, with concerns ranging from outdated government surveys, incorrect
charts and language barriers to piracy, petty crime and political unrest. Captains
on all types of vessels spend up to 40 percent of their time researching and
planning, using cruising guides that can be both obsolete and costly, while
also seeking a multitude of resources for current news, anchorages, customs and
immigration procedures, and other services before entering the waters of an
unfamiliar country. Good Anchorage, launching at the Annapolis Boat Show
October 9, 2014, is the first and only provider of real-time, verified maritime
information freely available 24/7 to mariners around the globe.
Good Anchorage provides exact anchorage coordinates
including all-important depth, charts, images and visual aids, waypoints
integrated with 72-hour weather forecasts, wind and swell protection, latest
local news, customs and immigration procedures, with new features added weekly
for provisioning, fuel, boat parts, restaurants, events and cultural
activities. Anchorage sites are quality-controlled by Good Anchorage experts
who live in each maritime community and are likewise continuously updated by
mariners who visit the site to both share and verify data and add new
anchorages.
Captain Dietmar Petutschnig, CEO of Good Anchorage, says,
“Good Anchorage will be a game changer for those contemplating releasing their
lines and exploring foreign waters. Access to quality, dependable data for all
maritime needs will increase the opportunities for current captains and less
experienced mariners to explore a planet that is 70 percent water.”
Captain Todd Rapley, COO at Good Anchorage, states, “We
are making yachting tourism easier and expanding the planet 10 percent by
increasing the range of where boats can travel. Many destinations like China,
Burma, and Vietnam in Asia, former Eastern Bloc countries in Europe, and Latin
American destinations such as Cuba and Columbia are opening their waters;
meanwhile, the South Pacific, once intimidating to all but the most experienced
captains, is experiencing a 35-percent growth in yachts and cruising boats.” A
Superyacht Captain for more than 10 years, Todd sees continued increase in
demand from yacht owners and charter guests to travel further afield to unique
and exotic locations now that accurate information and tools to maintain safety
standards are readily available.
Yachting is a multibillion-dollar industry operating on
old technology. In the U.S. alone it’s worth $36.7 billion and predicted to
grow five percent in 2014, with 8.5 million registered boats and more than 80
million Americans on the water in 2013. Internationally, 10,000 sailing/motor boats
are cruising the high seas along with 30,000 Superyachts and 20,000 small
commercial vessels.* Global totals indicate an estimated 25 million boats,
ranging in size from 27 feet to the largest Megayacht at 590 feet. Another
estimated 650 Superyachts are currently under construction.
Good Anchorage is a leading niche innovator of Maritime
information technologies, specializing in providing live, accurate anchorage
data, weather, local news and service information for yachts, motor and sail
boats around the globe. The company launches globally with more than 3,000
anchorages from Antarctica to Greenland, USA to Australia and everything in
between, with the goal to provide 50,000 certified anchorages covering all
maritime nations by 2018.
*source: www.nmma.org