Celebrating 10 Years of Marinalife

Celebrating 10 Years of Marinalife Published: January 2010 in Marinalife Magazine, Winter Issue.

TEN YEARS AGO, Marinalife CEO and founder- and avid boater- Joy McPeters found herself frustrated by the lack of marina-related information available on the Internet. So she decided to do something about it. She set about creating a centralized online slip-reservation system that would connect marinas and boaters. Since then, Marinalife has gone from an ambitious start-up to the leading Web-based authority on boat travel, with a suite of innovative trip- planning tools and a comprehensive reser vations system covering marinas from Canada to South America.

The original mission of Marinalife has remained consistent throughout: harness the Internet to help make boating easy, enjoyable, and stress-free. "Marinalife's concept has always been focused on our members' needs," McPeters explains. "This has allowed us to tailor our services to best serve our members when they 're planning and taking trips." A toll-free reser vations number and preferred rates on dockage and fuel are among the many popular features developed in response to member feedback, all of which has helped make Marinalife.com the most- visited boat-travel site on the Web. "I have been a Marinalife member for 9 years, and have become completely dependent on their ser vices for planning all my cruises. The staff is always helpful and the marina recommendations are always right on. I have enjoyed watching the evolution of the Marinalife web site and enjoy finding new marina and cruise ideas on their site and through the expanded Marinalife Magazine. To top it off, the Marinalife discount program saves me hundreds of dollars on fuel and dockage on every cruise," says Dick Riley, Marinalife member since 2001.

Marinalife's extensive relationships with industry leaders and marinas have also been key to its success. By partnering with companies such as Bertram, Viking, Yachting Magazine, and Maptech, Marinalife has been able to dramatically increase its effectiveness, managing owners'clubs and customers'on-the-water needs, and leveraging these affiliations to benefit clients. Brad Peer, sales manager for Meridian Yachts, comments, "Marinalife offers our customers convenience when planning trips through the Meridian Yachts Owners Club (MY Club). The program has been a great success and has helped us substantially increase our brand affinity among our customer base. Marinalife is a true partner and directly adds value to the Meridian brand."

Throughout the 10 years, Marinalife has built strong relationships with thousands of marinas by bringing them together with boaters and offering an effective way to promote their marina to the boating community. George Bassett, Director of Marina Operations at Nantucket Boat Basin and 10-year Marinalife marina partner, says that "Marinalife offers a unique value to marinas with their hands-on approach to helping boaters find the right marina. This pro-active approach has resulted in hundreds of direct referrals from Marinalife - they exemplify hospitality and are a true partner.'

One of Marinalife's newest initiatives has been the Marinalife magazine. The publication was initially intended as a handy guide to cruising-related discounts and information, but it quickly took on an editorial life of its own. Today it is the leading magazine dedicated to the boating lifestyle and includes stories about destinations, spotlighted marinas, member itineraries- and, Celebrating 10 Years of Marinalife as ever, the director y of preferred rates.

With ten years now under its belt, Marinalife sees more ways than ever to continue enhancing boaters'travel experiences, and the company is roaring into its next phase full steam ahead. New features and tools have already been added to boost the "one-stop shop" ease of Marinalife.com. Members can now create their own profiles on the site, customizing itineraries or accessing pre- planned templates, tapping into weather and tides information, and requesting alerts to such things as special product offers and fuel-price discounts. In the coming months, look for an expanded Marinalife presence on Twitter and Facebook to help continue building member resources and connectivity.

And of course, first and foremost we'll continue actively courting and responding to feedback from our members. We're here to ser ve you, and we couldn't have had such an amazing ten years without you. Thank you. Here's to many more years of growth and travel together, exploring the rivers, lakes, ocean coasts, and open seas.