New Recreational Mariner E-Newsletter Focuses on Safety at Sea
St. Paul, MN (PRWEB) October 15, 2009 -- OceanGrafix, NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), http://www.noaa.gov/, print on demand supplier of nautical charts, has launched a monthly e-newsletter "for serious recreational mariners" which underlines the mission of OceanGrafix (http://www.oceangrafix.com) and of NOAA, which is safety at sea.
Called OG News, http://www.ixfr.com/survey.asp?IX=e_e_e_mig_jkf_e_gmfn&SL=hkjm, the monthly e-news is objective in nature, with articles focusing on sailing and charting information, education for experienced and novice mariners alike, and the importance of using NOAA paper nautical charts along with electronic navigational systems. OG News launched its first issue with more than 3,000 subscribers.
"We researched newsletters for recreational mariners and found most to be product-focused or promotional in nature", states Larry Kocon, Business Director, OceanGrafix. "Our main goal in planning OG News was to provide truly helpful information, focused on mariner safety and education. A secondary goal was to ensure that mariners are more aware of how, and how often, nautical chart data is updated, and how NOAA paper charts should be used with electronic systems for optimum safety and fail-safe backup."
The topic of chart updates was a key driver behind the launching of OG News, and research supported the need for such information to be disseminated to mariners.
An extensive December, 2008 survey by OceanGrafix and USPS (United States Power Squadrons) found that recreational mariners in general don't pay a lot of attention to official NOAA chart updates: 55% do not update their NOAA charts using the Local Notice to Mariners (LNMs), which are important, ongoing chart updates provided weekly by each of the nine U.S. Coast Guard Districts; and 88% of mariners either are not aware of, or don't normally obtain, a new NOAA chart when it is issued as a new "Edition", which brings the chart fully up to date with all LNMs and other changes deemed important by NOAA.
OceanGrafix, http://www.oceangrafix.com, is an official USPS partner and they have signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding where both parties promote boating safety and education.
Analytics from the OceanGrafix website also contributed to its decision to launch OG News: research showed that the demand for objective sailing, charting and safety news is very strong, as evidenced by its highly popular Resources Page, http://www.oceangrafix.com/o.g/OceanGrafix-Nautical-Charts-Info.html. The company found that as it continually added helpful, non-promotional content to its Resources Page, that the page quickly became the most popular page (among 26 pages on its site) in terms of visitors' time spent.
Articles in upcoming issues of OG News will cover topics such as: how NOAA updates its charts; how to combine GPS with charts for optimum safety, how charts become out of date; NOAA Local Notice to Mariners and Editions; "chart kits" versus full sized charts; how today's technologies allow charts to be 100% up to date (printed on demand); a video (http://www.youtube.com/B2Binc#p/u/1/iR0brOhSB1s) on how to fold a NOAA chart, and more.
"Our plan is for OG News to be around for a long time, and for it to be considered a valuable resource for information on safe boating," says Mr. Kocon.
The World’s Biggest Sport Fishing Website Just Got a Whole Lot Bigger
Boothwyn, PA (PRWEB) October 26, 2009 -- SportFishermen.com, the leader in online sport fishing information, is proud to announce the launch of its new online store. The store is not just for fishermen; it also features products every hunting, camping, boating and outdoor activity enthusiast will love.
The catalog includes nearly 16,000 products from industry giants such Garmin, Furuno, Raymarine, Simrad, JBL, Jensen, Cobra, Garmin, Lowrance, Northstar, Coleman, and more. Product lines include: marine supplies, boat supplies, nautical chart cards, global positioning systems, camping equipment, boat and automobile electronics, trolling motors, hunting supplies, cameras, and much, much more.
Electronics Guru brings the newest, fastest, and most sought after gadgets in marine electronics right to your desktop. The freshwater and saltwater tackle sections are rapidly expanding, with a full line of tackle currently available from Offshore Innovations. Visit SportFishermen.com's fishing tackle, marine supply and outdoor gear store at http://www.sportfishermen.com/shop/home.php.
www.SportFishermen.com hosts over 400,000 unique readers every thirty days, and is the online sponsor of most major sport fishing tournaments across North America, from Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin, to the White Marlin Open. If you are a vendor / manufacturer, and have a product you want to get in front of as many eyes possible, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for. Any company can apply to get in on the action, and become a part of the SportFishermen.com experience; where thousands of loyal SportFishermen.com members from across the World come for great news and content, conversation, and top-notch tournament coverage, all from a trusted website. Now is the dawn of a new age, where one website brings manufacturers, vendors, advertising, and consumers together in an online community. Stop guessing whether you're reaching your target audience. Join the online leader. To be a part of the SportFishermen.com experience, contact tim (at) sportfishermen (dot) com.