Active Captain

It was purchased by Garmin, but you can still research marinas. The fuel pricing pages are no longer.

Some of the charting software that previously did have it does not now, but much of that relates to changes made to accommodate new EU privacy rules and the failure of the third parties to make the programming changes necessary.

Using it online, it will do most of what it did before. Some features have been slow to come back in the new form but gradually made it. Also, the positive, is they have moved it away from the Flash framework in which it was initially developed.

I still use it regularly for planning ahead and finding marinas and for a quick look at bridges and locks and inlets and information on them. I never used it for plotting or routing. I have found one thing and that is that the reviews seem to me to be way down in volume so fewer people placing reviews on the site. However, I don't think this is just recent. It seemed to me that the volume of reviews peaked around 2015 and it's gradually decreased since then.

Still, I find Active Captain useful and have used it when traveling in many different areas, including some that lack other comparable resources. I can look ahead and see marinas (or anchorages), can look at them in satellite view or NOAA view, and find their web page address and go check them out further.

I use it without using Garmin and I've never used it as an integrated product with any plotter but as a stand alone product.

For the East Coast, Waterway Guide has a decent listing. You can still check marina by marina on AC. Marina Life has some. Cruisers Net is excellent for the Southeast. There may be others.

I need to add that Active Captain was never a comprehensive list. Also, depending on quantity, prices are often quite variable. We typically check in the area we're headed and try to talk our preferred marina into a reasonable price. Often commercial docks are less and fuel delivery is nearly always the least expensive way.

I tried AC here in Europe. Utter rubbish and now ignored.

I have only glanced at Active Captain once in a blue moon. I usually rely on the Waterway Guide cruising guide. I too have found what Pascal found and half of the people are sailboaters looking for restroom facilities (for free) and a different set of circumstances. I'm looking for a good dock, fast fuel pump, and a good restaurant nearby.

I'm starting to resent some of this sailboater bashing. We lived aboard and cruised for six years and never looked for "free restrooms". Our onboard facilities worked just fine. When we stayed in marinas we did use their facilities but always assumed that it was part of the dockage.

Yes, restroom facilities are generally free to all boaters who rent a slip. My comment was not really aimed at that. What I was saying is that, most of the reviews on Active Captain are from Sailboaters who have a different set of circumstances (amenities) they are looking for than a traveling yacht. We are looking for high speed diesel at the fuel dock, a slip to accommodate and suited for a larger yacht with a larger beam, a quick restaurant nearby that is very good (cost is not an issue) and easy in and out of the marina. A lot of the reviews are from people who are in no hurry, price is one of their main concerns, and they're on much smaller boats. But I agree wholeheartedly with Ralph Crapps line that is in bold.

I've seen numerous sailboaters over the years who have earned the title. I've seen many pull into a closed marina after hours simply to top off their water tank and dump 5 bags of garbage on the dock. I even saw one draining what little diesel was left in the diesel fuel nozzles, he'd paddle his dinghy over to Sampson Cay Marina every night for 5 nights in a row and do that.

So how does a sailboater looking for "free facilities" on AC affect your use of AC to find the next fuel dock? We have covered more miles and spent more nights in quiet anchorages, without "free facilities", than most power boaters ever will. We tried the power boat thing and hated it. You are always tied to where the next fuel dock is located. You set the throttles and the AP and all there is to do then, is to listen to the noise of the engines. Not our cup of tea, but if you enjoy that, more power to you. Power boats are about the destination, sail boats are about the journey. I don't belittle your choice, why do you have to bash my choice?
We have the same equipment you do, stove, fridge, freezer, water maker, A/C, entertainment system, so why do we have to bash each other?
We came back from the BVI and ended up in Clear Water, FL. Decided to head back to TX. Headed out across the Gulf to Galveston, no sweating about fuel docks or "free facilities".
Capt Ralph, if you are getting ripped of by a certain group of customers, maybe there is something wrong with your business model, not to mention your spelling.
I have come to realize that I am probably in the wrong forum here, just being a lowly snail boater and not a rich yacht owner. So in the future I will refrain from visiting this forum.

Bobhorn this is not directed at YOU, but sailboaters in general. 8 out of 10 of them give boating a bad name.

I don't go by active captain because on Active Captain, the marina reviews and ratings are not worthwhile to me. They may say that a marina is great and blah blah blah, and you get there and the diesel pump is 5 gpm and the only thing great about the marina is the price. Look up the ad for "Alligator river marina" in NC, people on active captain rave about how great of a marina it is and how great the restaurant is and blah blah blah. It's a 30 slip marina at a SHELL service station for cars. The restaurant is a cooktop behind the gas station convenient store counter and has a few tables to sit in the gas station and eat. The restaurant has $5 crappy hamburgers and fries for $20, for example. There is NOTHING great about the place. You literally are tied up directly behind a shell gas station for cars on a busy highway. When it rains the walkway is a foot underwater to the showers. Yet they boast that 80% of their customers are repeat customers and how it has all of these amenities and how wonderful it is. They make it sound like it's the Ritz Carlton. Go on google, google it and look at the pictures of the place.

Another area sailboaters give boaters a bad name. Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, there are 10 sailboats in there that are complete derelict boats that never move. People take them there and just anchor them and they sit there for years as an eye sore to the home owners. It's a real rarity that a powerboater would do this. You look at anchorages all over the place and they are flooded with derelict sailboats that the owners just park there, don't take care of, and they aren't seaworthy enough to make it out of the inlet. Look across the ICW from the City of Charleston Marina, Jupiter Fl, and on and on......litered with derelict sailboats that are a complete eyesore......

Meanwhile, I look in the waterway guide and it tells me number of slips, largest boat accommodate, shorepower available, amenities, fuel options, all at one glance.

First, as to Active Captain. It does tell the largest boat accommodated, the fuel options and the shorepower. There's a lot of information other than the reviews.

As to the reviews, I find them useful. I don't just grab the rating, but I do look at the details. If they fault the price, I ignore them as price is a given, it is what it is. If they talk about the showers, restrooms and laundry facilities, while I don't use those, I do consider that as reflective of the general condition of the marina. However, mostly, I read about conditions of the docks, I read comments suggesting the North marina is right by a loud club and the South is quiet, I read comments about service. I also consider the size and type boat of the reviewer.

Now as to who is making the comments you don't find useful and complaining about being charged for pump out or using a dinghy dock or the condition of the showers, I've found most of it is power boaters. Trawler owners in particular are heavy reviewers of those things. Actually, I don't find a lot of it to be sailboaters as the sailboaters tend more toward anchoring than the marinas. I do find the anchorage reviews to have more sailors.

Now, I don't like when powerboaters condemn sailors or sailboaters condemn powerboaters across the board as I don't like generalizations and stereotypes. However, to bobhorn I do have to state that sailboaters have earned a reputation for cheapness and whining about even minimum costs. More of an impact to marinas, is sailboats that don't use them, and the fact sailboats buy very little fuel. Unfortunately some trawler owners whine about the least costs too. I've seen long discussions over a $5 pump out fee. I am a member of a largely sail forum and I read some of the threads with dismay, but I'm sure many sailors do as well.

I feel very bad for the sailor who is subject to being lumped in the stereotype which doesn't fit them at all. It's not fair.

I hear statements about Sea Ray owners, about speed boat owners, about yacht owners, about trawler owners, about sportfish owners, about sailboat owners, about every possible group and really don't like any of them when they're stated in such a way as to imply it's all or even the majority.

As to Ralph's business, there are many sailboaters, trawler owners and cruiser owners who shop price on everything and may well not be the right customer for him.

Now, most disappointing is that all this sailboat argument is totally off topic of changes and quality of Active Captain. The reviews there are like they are anywhere, they're from a wide cross section of people. Reviews on Google, Trip Advisor, and Yelp are the same. One must read reviews with a discerning eye. I use all those sites and for every business I see some ridiculous and useless reviews. I dismiss those from my consideration. Same thing I do of Active Captain reviews that are not relevant to me.

But the folks are friendly, and the fried chicken is pretty good.



Docks are in good shape. The place is clean. Makes a decent staging point for northbound crossing of the Albemarle, or a decent recovery point after a bumpy southbound crossing... and it's relatively inexpensive. Positive, sometimes even glowing, AC reviews are probably heavily influenced by that.

But it's not the Ritz... not even the Ritz Cracker. As with any other review system, reading between the lines is useful.

Did I mention the chicken?



-Chris

You realize that those stories where around in the 90s when we bought our cruising boat.

Capt Ralph, I have been thinking this for some time but now have to say it out loud, you are a pompous ass.
"My gamer and spelling is fine" Really?