(1:02) The US was hit by two devastating hurricanes. Events of this magnitude lead to much uncertainty and concern on the part of boaters beginning their winter migration. Immediately, we began receiving communications from boaters wanting to know the state of the waterway, marinas, and anchorages to the south.(0:53) It reminded me of the increased importance of communicating with the boating community following a major event of this nature. There are few things that are worse for a business than uncertainty on the part of their customers. In the face of uncertainty many boaters will become paralyzed and not move.
(0:45) That is why it is imperative that every marina and boatyard impacted, even tangentially, by a major weather event must come out quickly to inform boaters about the state of their facility and the waters nearby. What was the impact to you and the surrounding waterway? Which services are available and which are not? If there was no impact, make sure you let boaters know that as well. Silence only feeds uncertainty.
(0:35) This is a time to use every available outlet to get the message out. ActiveCaptain Partners can use their Pro-Op message to update boaters about your status and to keep them updated as repairs are made. (0:31) ActiveCaptain offers the networks, apps, and infrastructure to capture the changes to the waterways. We have a team at Garmin in place, ready to handle new data that arrives. We'll combine community updates with information received from marinas and boatyards about their conditions. All of this will be kept together within the normal ActiveCaptain database.
(0:20) We're adding new hurricane related data as new hazard markers. The name should begin with the storm name. For example, an inlet damaged by Irma will be a hazard named, "IRMA: Inlet Damaged." If a marina was heavily damaged in Texas, name it, "HARVEY: Marina Damaged." Describe the changes in the hazard. We'll adjust the position and fix up the text. Your job is to collect the information and create the new marker.
(0:05) I am available to answer your questions. We can work together to come back stronger.
(0:02) And that's the marina minute.
