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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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HomeCruiseSailing and Facebook is Changing how Sailors Communicate

Sailing and Facebook is Changing how Sailors Communicate

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What do Gary “Cap’n Fatty” Goodlander and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? You may be asking, “Who is this Mark guy and what does he have to do with Cap’n Fatty?” The answer is: more than you think.

First, Cap’n Fatty is sailing around the world and Mark is changing the world; second, they both started following their passions at an early age with little or no money; third, both have been very successful in their own endeavors; fourth, Cap’n Fatty has given us stories and books, while Mark has given us Facebook! You guessed it! Mark is the 20-something-year-old founder and CEO of the world-changing/social-networking site Facebook.com. As a sailboat captain and web developer, I find both their stories fascinating and inspiring.

Whether you live in one of the world’s greatest cities, such as New York, London or Tokyo or stay away from cities looking for quiet, secluded anchorages while cruising around the world, chances are you have at least heard of Facebook or use it on a daily basis to stay in touch with family and friends.

Facebook offers many useful features for sailors such as Pages, Photos & Videos, Applications, Groups, and Events that we can use to keep in touch and meet other sailors, manage our photos, sell our services, advertise our regattas and cruises, etc., from the comfort of our cabins and cockpits, most for the same cost as our precious wind … absolutely free!

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I must admit I have been a Facebook junkie for over a year now. I check it at least once every day and have over 300 “friends”, some I am not sure that I know who they are any more.

To get an idea of how awesome Facebook is, just log on and look at the photo of the “Sailor’s Gathering at Icacos”; downing Dark ‘n Stormies on our sailboat on that lazy afternoon, we had 14 people hailing from the United States, England, Spain, Nevis, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. They now can enjoy this photo and each other’s updates on all our lives from wherever they are, just by being Facebook friends.

I used to spend countless hours resizing my photos, creating web pages and adding them to our web site.  Now, thanks to the Facebook Photo Uploader, I can create an album and load my photos in a few minutes right after I get home from vacation or, better yet, during vacation from my phone.

As a web developer I appreciate how easy Facebook makes things for non-techies and as a sailor I really like how easy it is to plan a cruise with my sailing buddies or to enjoy the photos from sailors in faraway places.

My Facebook friends range in age from pre-teens, such as my kids, to the 70s, my own parents, from high school friends and teachers to the governor of Puerto Rico, and from power boaters to sailors such as “Cap’n Fatty” Goodlander! They are scattered all over the world from India to Spain, Bermuda to California, and Colombia to Canada. Just think of the possibilities and opportunities this provides.

Do a simple search for “Sailing Caribbean” in Facebook and you will get hundreds of hits…from the St Lucia Yacht Club to the Kialoa V Offshore Sailing & Caribbean Adventures, sailing clubs, sailboat owner groups, regattas, sailing charters—sailing venues are all taking advantage of Facebook to let everyone know they are out there.

If you have not joined Facebook yet, why not join today? If you decide to join, look me up, and invite me if you like, and I’ll be glad to be your first Facebook “friend,” but I must go now—I need to log into Facebook and see what my friends are up to today. Hasta la vista, sailors!

Capt. Tony Miró is a life-long sailor, photographer and web developer who lives in Puerto Rico with his family, where they sail aboard their Hunter 376 ¡Nada Mas! He supports three sailing web sites, www.huntersailors.com, www.sailboatspecs.com and www.caribesailingadventures.com

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