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.

BoatUS tries to publish fuel prices.

I still use it.... for fuel prices, i always call to check in advance as it varies anyway.

There has been many conspiracy theories about garmin and active captain but haven't seen much changes the **** EU privacy BS

Problem with the views is that every user cares about different things... hold the marina reviews critique bathrooms and laundry facilities... i dont care about that obviously... or people whining that it took too log to get a dock had to assists... gee... learn how to drive your **** boat

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.

Dear Mr bobhorn

I did not see your name called out, I am sorry your feeling may have been hurt and some comments may have upset you.
BUT, you do have to recognize the attitude that many of other boaters, marina owners/managers and service service delivery companies have of many snail boters.
Many of your snailing brethren have already instilled and remind us frequently of their rag based gypsy attitudes and styles.
I gave up long ago trying to figure out what snail boter may or may not rip us off after services rendered.
Our company has had enough abuse where we do not service any transient snail boats anymore, even if their sinking.

If your have a problem, take it up with your brethren who have set these attitudes.

Have a pleasant day,
Captain Ralph Crapps
Marine Solutions & Assoc. Inc.

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.

I don't belittle your choice, why do you have to bash my choice?
Still, where do we bash you?

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.
Our business model was corrected long ago. My gamer and spelling is fine. Seems communications were established and understood.

We and many of our friends anchor out and rarely stay on a dock.

Again, let me repeat my comment, I'll type slower for the reading impaired;

If your have a problem, take it up with your brethren who have set these attitudes.

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.

Don't make these threats and not keep them.....

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?

SSDD