ProBoat Radio

Our guest is Josh Chiles, the CEO & Founder of Engaged! A Social Media Firm which specializes in the Marine Industry. Josh started his career in the marine industry at Prince William Marine, the 2010 winner of Boating Industry Magazine’s Top 100 Dealers. But now Josh is on a mission; to help the marine industry successfully use social media to grow and strengthen their online communities. Josh also writes blog posts for Boating Industry Magazine about social media and the marine industry. Josh will be speaking at the PowerSports Business Conference & Expo in September 2011 and the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo in November 2011. His sessions are titled: “Engage Your Customers Using Social Media”. You can follow Josh on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/StartEngaging or join him on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/StartEngaging    

AIR DATE August 2, 2011 Our Surveyors Roundtable members talk with Darel McCormick (NOAA Small Boat Program) about hidden corrosion. Based in Seattle, Darel is responsible for coordinating and scheduling boat inspections, as well as identifying applicable regulations, and marine surveying. In his time at NOAA, he's encountered many metal vessels with inaccessible structural areas. "Corrosion can take place in them unobserved," says Darel, "and this causes the hull to lose integrity." The ProBoat Radio surveyors have their own observations to share, so join us for some clues about what you can do to determine just what is going on in the areas you can't see.

 Northwest designer and builder Sam Devlin says he likes a free-form approach to custom designing. Although he has numerous stock designs, he still wants to make sure he hits the mark with a new customer. “It’s important for me to get a feel for what they like in similar boats, and their boating lifestyle–both realistic and imagined.” In this ProBoat Radio West interview with Ann Avary, Sam will answer questions about how he works from that first conversation through to the preliminary design, hull lines, offsets, panel projections, bulkheads, and construction “3” views, before going on to make both detail drawings and engineering drawings. Join us to learn more about how one builder has developed a design process that serves his company and his customers well.

Our previous show on copper-based bottom paints featured the coatings-industry point of view. In this segment, we’ll find out more about the environmental issues that are leading to bans on the west coast. Our guest, Nan Singhasemanon (California State Department of Pesticide Regulation), will fill us in on the current status of new legislation and why the regulations have so many supporters. We’ll also find out more about how coatings can prevent the growth of barnacles, algae, and other marine organisms,  and we’ll find out what environmental concerns are associated with copper-based paint.  Finally, we’ll discuss what California has already done to reduce copper contamination, and we’ll talk about existing and upcoming alternatives to copper-based paint.

Ben Ellison (Panbo) joins us to talk about the impact of smart phones on board and throughout the marine industry. What do you need to know about smart phones, tablets, and handheld navigation devices? We’ll cover both onboard and shoreside communications with smart phones, and we’ll talk about what data you might want to gather and display on your smart phone. And of course, we’ll answer the question, “Is there an app for that?”

For our 100 show, we welcome back our Surveyors Roundtable: Pat Kearns, Jonathan Klopman, and Steve Knox. For almost two years, they have responded to listener questions about marine surveying on the first Tuesday of the month. For this show, we’ll review some of those questions and topics, which range from “What do I have to do to become a marine surveyor?” to “How do I make a good impression when I'm called to testify?” We’ve also covered how to write marine survey reports, and what resources and tools to use to give those reports the professional finish that your clients want. More than once, we’ve focused on professionalism and ethic, a topic that is sometimes glossed over in the push to speed up report generation and moving on to the next job. Past shows also gave you some details on pre-purchase work, valuation surveys and how they differ from damage claims. We looked at severe damage in our show on catastrophes, and we discussed the details of surveying an older vessels in our episode on Classic Boats. At IBEX 2011, our Roundtable regulars will make a presentation on the hazards of marine surveying, following up on a radio show from a year ago. And in October, they talked to Dean Pike about Boat Moving and Lifting, a topic that ProBoat E-Training is developing as a hybrid course for boatyard personnel. And of course we’ve discussed technical topics including loose keels, coatings, corrosion, and more. We encourage you to submit your questions for our surveyors by sending an email to radio@proboat.com. (If you want to ask it on the air, be sure to include your name and phone number.) You can also ask question during the show in our chat room. We look forward to hearing from you.

Multihull designer Kurt Hughes will fill us in on how boatbuilders in Africa and India are working with his designs. We’ll also talk to him about his concept of “post-apocalyptic boatbuilding,” or “Strategies and Substitutions to save Money on Boat Construction.” Hughes has paid close attention to changes in the market and offers some interesting ideas about how builders can make boats more affordable. “Conventional wisdom says that building light is costly,” says Hughes. “If building light means carbon fiber, that is true.  If building light instead means using superior engineering to configure the materials in efficient highest and best use, it saves cost.” Join us for this engaging episode of ProBoat Radio West, hosted by Ann Avary of the Northwest Center of Excellence in Marine Manufacturing and Technology.

So! Your website is up and running and looks great, but where are your visitors? As the marine industry becomes increasing visible online, that’s the big question–whether you are promoting a boat line, a marina, a repair yard, a training program, or a radio show. Maybe you need to increase your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) skills. What’s SEO? It’s an internet marketing strategy that takes into account how search engines operate, what your potential customers are searching for, and what search terms they are most likely to type in. To optimize your website, you need to know how to increase its relevance with appropriate keywords, and how to block any barriers that may be preventing customers from making contact seamlessly. At Dominion Marine Media, David Main specializes in SEO as well as search engine marketing, and social network marketing for Boats.com, YachtWorld.com, and Boat Trader.  For this edition of ProBoat Radio,  David joins us to share his expertise in the field of search engine optimization (SEO), and to give us all some advice on how to sharpen our competitive edge.

Fall protection and respirator standards are two top areas where OSHA inspectors find violations in boatyards, marinas, and production boatbuilding shops. Do you know how these regulations apply to your facility? At IBEX 2011, Kellie Thornell-Crete (Ink Inc.) will review all the steps that you need to take to be in compliance. On this show, she’ll give us an overview, tell you how the standards protect your workforce, and explain how a simple violation can spiral into a costly experience if you aren’t prepared.

“Classic” is one of those enticing but unregulated terms like “Lite” or “Natural”: The value may well be perceived rather than real. When a boat owner believes that his or her boat has special characteristics that qualify it as a classic, though, what extra precautions and concerns should be taken by the surveyor writing up a valuation report — or a damage survey? The Pat Kearns' article posted here will get you started on this topic.  You might also want to read Jeremy McGeary’s Cruising World article, Old Boats for an Old Salt.

For the past three years, high school students in Maine have competed in a Wind Blade Challenge, learning through hands-on application with math, science, and alternative energy. Responding to the 2011 challenge, students from across the state tested their skills to determine which team had the best performing wind wind blade rotor using a given set of advanced composite materials. Interestingly, the majority of sponsors who devoted time and resources to this project are from the marine industry. Our guest, Paul Williamson is Director and Industry Coordinator of the Maine Wind Industry Initiative. He says, “The event itself is a very interesting subject for the boatbuilding community. We have also done a bit of market research on other wind-related opportunities that are developing that boat builders may be able to provide services to, so we’ll touch on some of that as well.”

For more than 60 Years, ABBRA has actively represented the boatyard and marine service industries. On this show, ABBRA President Pam Lendzion (Legendary Marina Management) will tell us about the organization’s mission, its plans for the coming year, and the products and services that it provides to its 250 members. We’ll also touch on the upcoming seminars that will be of special interest to boatyard employees and managers attending IBEX 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. To comment or leave questions for Pam, check out our website at www.proboatradio.com.

Our guests are Neal Blossom (American Chemet Corporation) and Frank Winkleman (Pettit Paint), who fill us in on new regs affecting the use of antifoulants in California and Washington. But first, they also provide some solid information about marine antifoulants and biocides, and explain why copper will continue to be an important ingredient in bottom coatings well into the futures.

This year at IBEX, the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) will be presenting six seminars covering a wide range of electronics topics. For this edition of ProBoat Radio, NMEA Technical Director Steve Spitzer will be on hand to fill you in on those sessions, and to talk about the role of NMEA within the marine industry. Join us to find out what this association has to offer you in terms of electronics education, communication, training and certification. As always, if you have questions for us, send them now to radio@proboat.com so we can answer them on the air for you. Got comments? Add them to the web page for this show, so we can continue the discussion.

You may have surveyed boats for many years, but does that qualify you to testify on marine-accident reconstruction in the eyes of your home state? If you advise boat owners on a regular basis, do you know whether or not you are breaching state insurance regulations for public adjusters? The first time that opposing counsel begins to grill you, you’ll discover what it really means to be an “expert witness” and you may leave the stand feeling somewhat shaken. Our surveyors will share their own courtroom experiences, and they’ll point out the key elements that could pose substantial barriers to your testimony in court, too.