This request for you to complete online survey is part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s efforts to get the public’s input on the future of charting. Pass the questionnaire link along to your boating friends.

Dear NOAA Customer,
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Coast Survey (OCS) wants to know you are satisfied with our products, services and data, and if you have suggestions as to how we can improve them. This information will be used to enhance our abilities to better meet your needs.

The survey has two tracks, one for professional maritime users of our products and data and another for recreational users. Both portions of the survey are built from trends previously gathered from similar surveys conducted by NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. You will only be asked to fill out one section of the survey; whichever is most pertinent to your interests. Either track should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. Please Click here to complete the online questionnaire.

The data collected from this survey will be analyzed according to the specifications of the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct, assuring confidentiality to participants. Answers to the questionnaire will only be used for statistical analysis.

When you complete the questionnaire click `SUBMIT’ and wait for the Office of Coast Survey website to be displayed to ensure your responses were received. A company that specializes in research on Charts and other navigation products called Strategy, Research & Action Inc., will receive and analyze the surveys and provide NOAA with statistical results.

Please complete the survey by June 1, 2015.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this survey or any other aspect of this collection of information, please contact Matthew Kroll (matt.kroll@noaa.gov ), National Ocean Service, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC3, Room 6350, N/CS5, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.

We appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Rear Admiral Gerd F. Gland
Director

Ferry service to Cuba? If these companies can survive the paper chase involved with actually obtaining licences, travel to Cuba via ferry might indeed be possible in the years ahead. This report is from MarineLog.com.

Companies receiving OFAC licenses include United Caribbean Lines

MAY 6, 2015 ‘” The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) yesterday issued a guidance regarding travel between the United States and Cuba covering on which individuals may be transported between the United States and Cuba by a person that qualifies for the general license to provide carrier services via aircraft or that has received a specific license to provide carrier services via commercial passenger vessel.

According to media reports, at least five companies were yesterday granted OFAC licenses to provide passenger vessel service.

It also seems clear that getting the OFAC licensing is just the beginning of a permitting paper trail that will also involve getting various approvals from Havana.

The five companies that have reportedly received OFAC licenses are:

Airline Brokers Co. of Miami, FL, a long-time licensed provider of air charter travel to Cuba;
Baja Ferries USA, a U.S. affiliate of Mexico’s Baja Ferries;
Havana Ferry Partners, which plans to operate as Cuba Ferry International and provide high-speed, passenger ferry service from Port Everglades and Key West, Florida to Havana, using 300 passenger high speed wave piercers
United Caribbean Lines, which is headed by cruise industry veteran Bruce Nierenberg and which plans to use overnight ferry vessels with over 400 cabins and capacity for 1,500 passengers; and
America Cruise Ferries of Puerto Rico.

If you northbound migrators are weary of inland sights, here’s something to look for offshore and she’s been following you all along your voyage! This story from the Washington Post is by Sarah Kaplan.

Meet Mary Lee, the East Coast’s friendly neighborhood great white shark

Mary Lee has all the trappings of celebrity status: a Twitter account with thousands of followers, fans who follow her every move, a heaping dose of media savvy. The fins, razor-sharp grin and taste for seal flesh are a bit more unusual, but every celebrity has her eccentricities.
Of course, Mary Lee is no Hollywood starlet. She’s a 16-foot, 3,456-pound great white shark. And she’s been lighting up social media this week as she makes her way along the Atlantic Coast.
After spending most of the year in the chilly, deep waters far off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, Mary Lee suddenly surfaced near Virginia’s Assateague Island early this week.
Since then she’s shot up north to Atlantic City, much to the delight ‘” or terror , as the case may be ‘” of New Jersey residents.

And this from WSMD.com:

Great white shark cruising East Coast becomes Twitter star
BY PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) – They’re gonna need a bigger Twitter.

An organization studying great white sharks is enjoying some welcome attention after one of the creatures they’ve been monitoring started gaining a loyal social media following. @MaryLeeShark is the fake Twitter handle for a very real, nearly 3,500-pound great white whose movements can be tracked online and in real time.
She’s drawn over 44,000 followers with her playful updates and witty replies as the real life shark cruises up and down the East Coast.

Read more: http://www.wsmv.com/story/29085292/great-white-shark-cruising-east-coast-becomes-twitter-star#ixzz3aVG6abVX

Great white Mary Lee pinged near Eastern Shore today

Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2015 6:49 pm
By Rex Springston Richmond Times-Dispatch

Update: 12 p.m. May 24
The latest ping from the tracker on Mary Lee ‘” a 3,500-pound great white shark ‘” occurred at 10:29 a.m. today east of Hog Island on the Eastern Shore.
(This has been a news update. An earlier version of the story appears below.)
If you go take a dip off the Virginia coast this Memorial Day weekend, you could be swimming with a toothy, 3,400-pound buddy.
Mary Lee, a 16-foot great white shark and an Internet sensation, is touring the Atlantic coast ‘” sometimes close to shore.
The nonprofit research and education group OCEARCH caught Mary Lee off Cape Cod in 2012 and attached an electronic tracking tag to her dorsal fin. Researchers ‘” as well as legions of Mary Lee fans following her online ‘” have been tracking her ever since.
The shark recently passed the 20,000-mile mark on her travels up and down the coast. As of Wednesday evening, she was most recently recorded off Virginia’s Eastern Shore near Chincoteague on Tuesday afternoon.

The United State Coast Guard moves further into the digital age with a mobile app to give you lots of information in the palm of your hand. Click About the App Video below for more information.

THE U.S. COAST GUARD MOBILE APP

Your safe boating needs in one free easy app! Available for download May 16, 2015 – Android

The USCG Boating Safety App features include:

Find the latest safety regulations
Request a vessel safety check
Check your safety equipment
File a float plan
Navigation Rules
Find the nearest NOAA buoy
Report a hazard
Report pollution
Report suspicious activity
Request emergency assistance
Click here for About the App Video

As the nation’s recreational boating safety coordinator, the Coast Guard works to minimize loss of life, personal injury, property damage, and environmental harm. Our boating safety program involves public education programs, regulation of boat design and construction, approval of boating safety equipment, and vessel safety checks for compliance with federal and state safety requirements. The Coast Guard Mobile App supports these missions by providing the essential services and information most commonly requested by boaters.

Features of the app include: state boating information; a safety equipment checklist; free boating safety check requests; navigation rules; float plans; and calling features to report pollution or suspicious activity. When location services are enabled, users can receive the latest weather reports from the closest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather buoys as well as report the location of a hazard on the water.

The app also features an Emergency Assistance button which, with locations services enabled, will call the closest Coast Guard command center.

The Boating Safety Mobile app was not designed to replace a boater’s marine VHF radio, which the Coast Guard strongly recommends all boaters have aboard their vessels. The app was mainly designed to provide additional boating safety resources for mobile device users.

The app is self-contained, so personal information is stored on the phone and is not sent to the Coast Guard unless the user chooses to send it. The Coast Guard does not track a user’s location, and the app does not track a user’s location unless the app is being used.

This is not the usual Keep It Simple Stupid acronym we use, but it still works for this boating safety message! BoatUS continues to be the nation’s leading advocate for boating safety and new ideas are always most welcome. SSECN is proud to have BoatUS as a SPONSOR!

NEWS From BoatUS
Boat Owners Association of The United States
880 S. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com

National Safe Boating Week helps boaters look ahead to help plan for a safe summer of the water (credit: Maddy Roberts).

Take the K.I.S.S. Principle Home for National Safe Boating Week

ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 11, 2015 ‘“ May 16-22 is National Safe Boating week, reminding anyone who spends their time on the water to think about ways they’ll have a great summer and avoid any chance of becoming US Coast Guard statistic. The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water has four tips that follow the familiar K.I.S.S. principle ‘“ but with a bent for boating safety ‘“ that are near universal:

Keep your life jackets handy: This means readily accessible within arms reach, not still in it’s plastic bag or behind compartment doors buried under junk. Better yet, wear it. You’d be surprised at how comfortable and slim today’s newest inflatable life jackets are.

Instruct your passengers on where to sit and how to move about the boat safely. This applies to all boats, but the smallest ones can have biggest problems: swamping, large wakes and overloading can turn your day into one you’d rather forget.

See that all passengers are briefed on where emergency equipment is kept and how to use it: don’t forget to show how to use the VHF radio, and what everyone needs to do in case someone falls overboard (designate a spotter).

Share your float plan with someone ashore to let them know where you’re headed and expected to return. The simple act of telling someone has been demonstrated to greatly reduce a rescuer’s response time.

For more information on boating safety or to take a no cost online boating safety course, go to BoatUS.org.

About the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water:

The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the over half-million members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the non-profit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America’s waterways and keeping boating safe for all. A range of boating safety courses ‘“ including 34 free state courses ‘“ can be found at BoatUS.org/courses.

This is good news for you spring migrators voyaging on north. BoatUS continues to be the nation’s leading advocate for boating safety and this new service will be most welcome. SSECN is proud to have BoatUS as a SPONSOR!

NEWS From BoatUS
Boat Owners Association of The United States
880 S. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com

TowBoatUS Sodus Bay safely wrangles a sailboat into its slip.

New TowBoatUS On Water Towing Service Opens in Sodus Bay, NY

SODUS POINT, NY, May 11, 2015 ‘“ Capt. Tim Maxam, the new owner of TowBoatUS Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario, an on water towing and assistance service for recreational boaters, describes himself as `back to basics boating guy,’ who loves to help other boaters. Last summer he realized that opening a TowBoatUS port in his home waters in Sodus Bay was the best way to do that.

Maxam is no stranger to TowBoatUS operations. He worked as a captain for TowBoatUS Rochester for many years, including in 2012 when Jake VanReenen, the Rochester port’s owner, stationed a boat in Sodus Bay. After that boat moved back to Rochester, 35 miles to the west, Maxam did many long-distance tows. Now that he is retired, he realized he could bring TowBoatUS back to Sodus Bay full time. `VanReenen is my mentor,’ he said, `I couldn’t have set this up without his help.’

With his own towboat docked at the same marina where he and his wife, Alisa, live aboard their 36-foot Carver cruising boat, he’ll be able to answer calls from boaters in need in a matter of minutes. If someone has a mechanical breakdown, a dead battery, a soft grounding or runs out of fuel on the lake, Maxam will be there to help 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Much like an auto club for boaters, TowBoatUS offers Unlimited on water towing plans for freshwater boaters and anglers for just $72 a year that includes BoatUS membership. Without a towing plan, boaters face costs that average $750 per incident nationally.

Maxam, who holds USCG 100-ton Master License and is an active member of the Sodus Bay Maritime Captains Association, started boating at age 11. After 38 years working in the HVAC industry, he is excited about his new retirement project. `I am happiest when I am on the water,’ he said. He spent the winter buying dewatering pumps, battery jump packs, towing lines, radios, and more to get ready to outfit his new boat.

Now everything is on the boat, a 22-foot aluminum SeaArk with a 300-horsepower inboard/outboard engine. The boat, which is painted with a distinctive white `TowBoatUS’ on the red hull, is fully equipped to render any kind of assistance. But the biggest asset is Maxam himself, a savvy boater and born troubleshooter. He remembers a frantic call from a boater who thought his craft was sinking. When Maxam got aboard to investigate the source of the in-coming water, he immediately noticed the water on the floor was warm, and realized the boat was not taking on water. A hose from the boat’s water heater had disconnected. As soon as he remedied the problem, the owner pumped out the boat and the problem was solved.

TowBoatUS Sodus Bay is based at Katlynn Harbor Marina and can be hailed on VHF channel 16 or reached by calling Maxam directly at 585-738-2495 or by calling the BoatUS toll-free 24/7 Dispatch Center at 800-391-4869, and via smartphone with the free BoatUS Towing App. To see the location on a map go to BoatUS.com/sodusbay. BoatUS is also the only towing service that offers services with both SPOT and DeLorme inReach satellite communication devices. More information can be found at BoatUS.com/towing or call 800-888-4869.

About BoatUS TowBoatUS and Vessel Assist:

Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is the nation’s leading advocate, services and safety group for recreational boaters. We provide our over half-million members with a wide array of helpful services, including 24-hour on water towing that gets you safely home when your boat won’t, will bring you fuel if you run out, jumpstart your dead battery, or provide a gentle pull after you’ve run aground. The TowBoatUS and Vessel Assist towing fleets are the North America’s largest network of towing ports with over 300 locations and over 600 towing assistance vessels, responding to over 70,000 requests for assistance each year. See more at BoatUS.com/towing.