First Thai Destination on sQuidd.io

 Yacht Heaven Marina Phuket

Photos are copyrighted by their owners

Recreational boats using AIS by country

again, using code 36 and 37 of the AIS classification, we have compiled a table of the number of recreational boats (sailboats and powerboats) currently using AIS. This is based on a sample of approximately 4000 AIS MMSIs  reported in the period June-November 2013.

Country	Sailboats	Powerboats	Total
Australia	15	18	33
Belgium	15	12	27
Bermuda	3	21	24
British Virgin Islands	8	28	36
Canada	23	28	51
Cayman Islands	43	482	525
China (People's Republic of)	28	146	174
Denmark	25	31	56
Finland	20	9	29
France	21	7	28
Germany (Federal Republic of)	105	34	139
Gibraltar	3	10	13
Greece	7	28	35
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	3	12	15
Italy	13	22	35
Japan	11	3	14
Korea (Republic of)	8	50	58
Luxembourg	3	10	13
Madeira (Portuguese isles of)	1	10	11
Malta	23	76	99
Marshall Islands (Republic of the)	13	107	120
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)	155	525	680
Norway	45	36	81
Panama (Republic of)	15	16	31
Russian Federation	8	8	16
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	6	27	33
Singapore (Republic of)	19	1	20
Spain	23	14	37
Sweden	32	20	52
United Arab Emirates	5	14	19
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	256	257	513
United States of America	207	477	684
Vietnam  (Socialist Republic of)	6	4	10
Other	92	97	189
Total	1260	2640	3900

Top 20 World Marinas by unique AIS visitors

sQuidd.io tracks the number of times a Pleasure Craft (code 36 and 37 of the AIS classification) checks into a marina, anchorage or other sailing destination. Below is the ranking of the most popular destinations during the month of September 2013.

		Destination	Type	City	State	Country	Unique Visitors
1		Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Anchorage)	Anchorage	Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	70
2		Puerto Palma	Marina	Palma	Islas Baleares	Spain	60
3		Fort Lauderdale (Harbour) - Las Olas Circle	Marina	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	United States	49
4		Port Hercules	Marina	Monaco		France	36
5		Port de Plaisance Cap D Ail	Marina	Cap-d'Ail	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	36
6		Monaco (Anchorage)	Anchorage	Monaco		Monaco	36
7		Heikendorf (Anchorage)	Anchorage	Heikendorf	Schleswig-Holstein	Germany	31
8		Baia di Porto Venere	Anchorage	Porto Venere	Liguria	Italy	30
9		Oneglia (Harbour)	Marina	Imperia	Liguria	Italy	25
10		Antibes (Anchorage) - Rue des Saleurs	Anchorage	Antibes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	25
11		Cannes (Harbour) - Jetée	Anchorage	Cannes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	25
12		Marina di Imperia	Marina	Imperia	Liguria	Italy	24
13		Antibes (Anchorage)- Route du Bord de Mer	Anchorage	Antibes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	24
14		Antibes (Anchorage) - Boulevard Maréchal Juin	Anchorage	Antibes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	24
15		Port Vauban Antibes	Marina	Antibes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	24
16		Cagnes Sur Mer (Anchorage) - Promenade de la Plage	Anchorage	Cagnes	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	France	23
17		Calvià (Harbour) - Carrer Antoni M. Alcover	Marina	Calvià	Islas Baleares	Spain	23
18		Marina di Sestri Ponente	Marina	Sestri Ponente	Liguria	Italy	20
19		Falls At Marina Bay	Marina	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	United States	20
20		Fort Lauderdale (Harbour) - Southwest 20th Street	Marina	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	United States	20

Those Côte d'Azur destinations were pretty busy this last summer! Time to head to the Caribbeans? We expect things to get pretty busy over there too once the 2013 hurricane season is over. Look forward to the December report to see how many of those sQuidders have headed over to the warm waters of St Barth!

Granted, when the ITU refers to these boats as "Pleasure Crafts", the emphasis is on the word pleasure: some of these boats are over 100mt in length, have a helicopter landing pad and gold-plated shower faucets, but, regardless, the number of recreational boats (i.e. the type you and I are likely to ever own) using AIS is increasing by the day. More on that subject in a later post.

sQuidd.io supports AIS for member-to-member position tracking

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS Base stations. While originally intended for large cargo and passenger ships, low-cost AIS transponders are becoming more affordable and are increasingly popular among pleasure boaters. In addition to providing a vital anti-collision warning service, the AIS has enabled the advent of an accurate and inexpensive peer-to-peer position tracking system, particularly useful in areas where cellular coverage is poor or nonexistent.

sQuiddio is enhancing its popular Follow-me feature by adding AIS support. The Follow-me feature allows members to constantly advertise their position and track their friends' boat's position on a map. You can also  post position updates on your Facebook page. 

IMPORTANT: sQuiddio relies on AIS position updates available on the Internet and provided by a network of private and independently operated AIS Base stations around the world. Coverage is therefore limited to certain areas, mostly within a 20-50 mile radius of heavily populated areas. THIS SERVICE IS THEREFORE PROVIDED ON A BEST EFFORT BASIS and should not be relied upon when sharing your position with others at all times is critical. Check our AIS service provider's coverage map to find out what areas are currently served. To update your follow list in areas not covered by AIS you should continue to rely on cellular phone or satellite phone updates.

To enable AIS tracking, simply add your MMSI to your sQuidd.io Boat profile (please allow between 10 and 30 minutes for the first position update to be reflected on sQuidd.io).

Check our FAQ for additional information on Follow-lists ans AIS.

Places API released

For the technically inclined sQuidders out there, we have just released a new Places API which allows you to retrieve all marinas, anchorages and other sQuidd.io places based on lat/lon coordinates from our database of over 10,000 boating destinations of interest worldwide. The API may be useful if you are creating geo-based applications such as marine charts and cruising guides. The results you get by using this particular API  call are the same you would obtain by searching for places through web UI, only in machine readable format.

The use of the API requires a sQuidd.io Business Account. If you have not yet signed up for one you can do so  at http://squidd.io/accounts/new. Business Accounts are free. Our APIs are REST-ful, and all responses are in JSON format. The basic request for a list of sQuidd.io Places looks like this:

http://squidd.io/places/?api_key=2CJ4ZIFWLPkuVitGs&latitude=37.589&longitude=-122.317&frame_size=1000

• api_key: the API key associated with your business account. To obtain your key, go to your Account/Contact Info view and look for the value at the bottom of the form. 

• latitude/longitude: the coordinates for the center of the search, in decimal format (south and east are negative numbers). 

• frame_size: the half size of an approximate square centered on your lat/lon position, in meters. For instance, if you ar searching for all marinas and anchorages in the San Francisco Bay Area (latitude = 37.589, longitude=-122.317) with a frame_size of 1000, the results will include all places located in an area extending 1 Km north, 1 Km south, 1Km east and 1km West of  the specified coordinates. The maximum allowed value is 10,000.

And here is an example of the JSON response that this request would generate:

[
  {
    "address": "385 Oyster Point Blvd # 8A",
    "address2": null,
    "ais_unique_visitors": null,
    "city": "S San Francisco",
    "country_code": "US",
    "elevation": 6.615729808807373,
    "id": 1496,
    "latitude": 37.66389846801758,
    "longitude": -122.38500213623047,
    "name": "Oyster Cove Marina",
    "place_type": "Marina",
    "postal_code": "94080",
    "squiddio_url": "http://192.168.1.155:3000/places/1496",
    "state_code": "CA",
    "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
  },
  {
    "address": "400 Sierra Point Parkway",
    "address2": null,
    "ais_unique_visitors": null,
    "city": "Brisbane",
    "country_code": "US",
    "elevation": 5.1478800773620605,
    "id": 1493,
    "latitude": 37.673301696777344,
    "longitude": -122.37999725341797,
    "name": "City of Brisbane: Brisbane Marina",
    "place_type": "Marina",
    "postal_code": "94005",
    "squiddio_url": "http://192.168.1.155:3000/places/1493",
    "state_code": "CA",
    "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
  }
]

sQuidd.io introduces: Business Accounts

Manage your Charter Agency through sQuidd.io

Announcing the first SaaS (Software as a Service) solution for Chartering Agencies

Do you own a Charter Agency, or plan on starting one soon? Do you manage a fleet of third-party owned boats and are looking at ways to grow the fleet? Are you frustrated with the limitations of your web-based reservation system, or overwhelmed by the cost and complexities of acquiring or developing one? The sQuidd.io Business account may be the solution you are looking for.

By signing up to a business account you can:

• Start your chartering business or expand your existing fleet: Use sQuidd.io to manage your own or  third-party owned boats
• Grow your revenue: Reach thousands of potential customers by appearing in searches from renters all over the world
• Reduce risk: View renters' sailing resumes and ratings prior to accepting reservations
• Manage more effectively!: Eliminate paperwork by handling the entire registration process online, including contracts and check-in/out documents. Reduce cruising dead times by allowing your customers to submit their pre and post-cruise checklists though a smartphone.
• Simplify payments and speed up collections: Receive payments securely ans directly on your PayPal account.
• Keep close tabs on your fleet: View your boats positions on a map. Receive automatic notifications when your renters reach recommended sailing locations, or stray into dangerous waters.